What do Grace Jones, Duke Nukem, Simon Cowell and Paul Phoenix from Tekken have in common? Well, aside from the fact that they could probably all kick your ass (although we’d take our chances with Cowell), you’d be forgiven for thinking not a great deal.

However, cast your gaze hair-wards and you’ll notice a common theme emerging. All four are follically equipped to carry their pints from bar to table in handsfree mode thanks to their rather fetching angular haircuts.

Jokes aside, flat tops often get a bad wrap. The mere mention of their name tends to conjure up images of either stern-faced 1950s US military officers or, on the total opposite end of the spectrum, Will Smith wearing his high-school blazer inside out, circa 1992. There’s no in-between… or is there?

Well, yes. With the right approach, you can sport this throwback cut without your style credentials falling, er, flat. So get your spirit level at the ready and discover how to embrace one of barbering’s most interesting and challenging creations.

What Is A Flat Top Haircut?

It should be fairly self-explanatory but just in case you’re a bit slow on the uptake, a flat top, in the broadest sense, is any haircut where the hair has been cut or styled to look flat and level across the top of the head. This can include anything from traditional military crew cuts, right through to the high-top fades of the eighties hip-hop community.

Flat tops are usually taken short on the back and sides, narrowing and elongating the shape of the face, meaning that If you’ve got a peanut head, this classic cut may just be your new best friend.

Granted, this approach hasn’t quite worked for Kim Jong Un, but we can probably all agree that he’s a fairly extreme example.

History Of The Flat Top

Created for the military, the flat top crew cut quickly became one of the most popular armed forces trims in the United States. Its shorn back and sides offered all the practicality of a buzz cut while the patch of hair on top enabled it to sidestep the ‘white trash’ connotations that a fully shaved head carried with it at the time.