History is full of men’s hair icons. From film stars to footballing legends, a simple search for ‘men’s hairstyle inspiration’ returns millions of shots of styles made famous by celebrities, from Clark Gable to Paul Newman, Brad Pitt to David Beckham, George Clooney to Madame de Pompadour… Wait, what? Madame de Pompadour?

The very same. Not a man, of course, but surely the mother of one of the greatest men’s hairstyles in history, the pompadour haircut. Sure, Madame de Pompadour was the chief mistress of the French King Louis XV, but that didn’t stop her towering hairstyle becoming beloved by blokes the world over two centuries later.

What is a Pompadour Haircut?

While the Madame’s was a sort of upstyle on acid, what we over the years have come to know and love as the pompadour haircut is, at its simplest, a style that calls for hair to be swept up and back over the head. The sides and back are combed neatly and kept close to the head while a sort of mound, or quiff, is constructed using the longer hair at the front.

If that sounds complicated, it’s not. Trust us, for a style created by a French mistress, the pompadour hairstyle is a lot more versatile than you might first think. There are so many variations on the style that it can be cut and tweaked to suit men of all ages, tastes and professional obligations. After all, what other style could work as well for men as disparate in their tastes as a footballer (Becks) and a film critic (the unfortunately named Mark Kermode)?

Here, you’ll find a step-by-step expert guide to everything you need to know about the pompadour, from how it came about to how to get one and how to make sure it looks its best.

History of the Pompadour

Primarily a women’s hairstyle until the 1950s, the pompadour’s first great male ambassador was a man who liked his hair as greasy as his diet: Elvis Presley. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was one of a new generation of male stars, along with actor James Dean and fellow musician Little Richard who, from the 1950s and 1960s onward, proved that this heightened hairdo wasn’t just for girls.