The Man Bun: Better or Worse Than the Man Ponytail?
Here's another thing to add to the growing list of Things for Men That Used to Be for Women: The bun. As in one's hair, wound into a knot at the back or top of one's head.
Yes, the 'do that many movie directors use to indicate "this girl is a geek" is now the hot hair trend for hipster guys -- mainly in Brooklyn, though we've heard rumors that the librarian look is catching on with men in other cities as well.
Long-haired celebrities have rocked the man bun for years (think Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, actor Orlando Bloom, Patriots playerTom Brady, and comedian Jim Belushi as the Samurai Deli guy on SNL). And in other cultures, men routinely bundle their locks up to get them out of the way. Ponytails used to be the way to go, but now, guys in the know say, invoke images of "Steven Seagal, hippie uncles and the like," Sam Anderson, a 30-year-old bartender in Brooklyn, told the New York Times.
The man bun isn't very complicated, which may be it's biggest plus; unlike the careful coifs favored by the guys of "Jersey Shore," a man bun requires an elastic or two, and that's pretty much it -- no product, no hairdryers, no massive time commitment.
While long-hared guys may find it cool and convenient, the reviews among women are decidedly mixed.
"I was a teenager in the '90s, which means that every single one of my boyfriends from age 15 to 21 had long hair," Claire Kiefer writes on her blog, Bicoastally. "The man bun makes me weak in the knees."
"David Beckham helped usher in the metro-sexual male, and I guess it's here to stay, but men in buns don't seem the least bit attractive to me," writes Lynne Marshall on the Harlequin community message board. "Even on great looking guys, I find the hairstyle detracts from their appeal."
"It just doesn't strike me as sexy," she added. "I guess anything is better than a mullet, though, right?"
Also on Shine:
Disney theme parks loosen employee beard ban
Dear Diary: Is my boyfriend a metrosexual?
Dudes with long hair: Yay or nay?
