David Cassidy on the Web
The Bieber bob
May 13, 2010
Tween boys are asking for haircuts like Justin Bieber's
By Bruce Ward
The Ottawa Citizen
www.ottawacitizen.com
Kareem Khadr, 13, is no fan of Justin Bieber's high-pitched singing. "It's kind of girly," he says.
But Khadr, who is in Grade 8, clearly likes the 16-year-old Canadian pop sensation's bangs-in-the-eyes hairstyle.
Khadr wears his brown hair in a close copy of the Bieber bob. "It has long sideways bangs, and it's kind of puffy," Khadr says of his hairstyle. "It's like that (Bieber's) but mine is a little bit longer."
The Bieber style is spreading among tweeners and young teenage boys, and the reason seems to be basic biology: girls go for it.
"The girls like my hair long," says Khadr, who dropped by the Texture Hair Salon on Dalhousie Street after school on Monday to have his styled by Ramsey Sayah, the salon's owner.
Sayah is seeing a steady parade of boys asking for the Bieber look at his trendy salon.
"It has been a while that we've been doing that -- like months," Sayah says. "A lot of young guys have that (hairstyle). A lot of young teenagers like it, especially the ones who like music and skateboards.
"The guys on the Suite Life of Zack & Cody show on TV, they have hair like that, too."
Sayah says the Bieber bob is reminiscent of the surfer look, popular in California in the mid-1960s.
"You know how it's all sweeping to the side. Surfers used to have that look because they just didn't cut their hair. Now it's cut to look that way. It can be done with scissors, but you have to texturize it a lot. I tend to do it with a razor; it's a lot easier to get that wispy finish."
Bieber, who is from Stratford, Ont., is at the top of the record charts with Eenie Meenie (sample lyric: "Eenie meenie miney mo, Catch a bad chick by the toe"). The Bieber bob -- long, sideswept bangs and textured layers on the sides and back -- is a reminder of the lyrics from Hair, the 1960s rock musical:
"Oh, say can you see/ My eyes, if you can/Then my hair's too short."
Bieber bangs have to be constantly flicked or flipped aside. The trick for boys is to do the required flipping in a manner suggesting hidden depths or brooding teenage trauma. So girls will notice them, in other words.
Bieber's female fans are so vociferous that 29-year-old model Kim Kardashian was swamped with "death tweets" when Bieber recently posted a photo of them together on the Internet and jokingly referred to her as "my girlfriend."
When Kardashian complained to Bieber, he sent an electronic message to his fans, saying, "Ladies, calm down." He also clarified that he and Kardashian are merely friends.
A video of Bieber blow-drying his mop is a favourite on YouTube, and is being used as a teaser for his new show on MTV, The Diary of Justin Bieber.
Teenage boys have been copying rockers' hairstyles since Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. When the Beatles played the Sullivan show in 1964, Elvis' ducktail look was quickly replaced by the mop-top style.
In the 1970s, Donny Osmond's fringe and David Cassidy's layered look were high style for boys in junior high school. The Cassidy cut was based on Farrah Fawcett's feathery style.
In the following decades, many boys went for the mullet look -- a favourite with NHL players and Canadian rockers.
Khadr is sticking with his Bieberesque look for the foreseeable future. When he opted for a short hairstyle last year, reaction among his female friends was unanimous.
"They kind of freaked out," he says. "It was, 'No, no, no, no, no, grow your hair back.' "
