Parting Men's Hair: Where Should I Part Mine?

[inappropriate]

Hi!

My hair was never "trained" - I can part it anywhere I please and it always does something interesting.

Some days I think it's best on the far right, or high left - or any number of places, even down the middle.

So - what considerations factor into the final decision? What should I really be looking for?

Another thing I don't quite get is the angle of the part. It's a little hard to tell from the old photographs just what angle they're parting at. What kind of line should I be following - from where to where, or away from what?

Or is any one part as good as any other? That might be - but maybe not! I remember that Cary Grant parted his hair on the left early in his career, but one day a director had him part it on the right, and that stuck for the rest of his career because it just looked better.

I have one eyebrow with a more prominent arch than the other. Maybe that's the thing to work around? But should I part to put more hair over it, or part it so that it hangs more heavily over the flatter eyebrow?

I have a lot of really wavy black hair!

Thanks! Bye!

 

[David V]

On which side is your cowlick?
Mine was (yes, was) on the right so that is were I used to part my hair.
I once had to wear a hairpiece for a play and moved the part to the right side because I just couldn't comb it parted on the left.

 

[John in Covina]

My mom said that it had to do with where the hair swirl is on the back of your head, but i can't recall any specifics at all on it. I'd say you have to play with it and see how your hair lays with the part in a variety of places to see what looks best.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Just a thought

Part
A line of scalp (usually running parallel with the sides of the head) that can be seen when sections of hair are divided and combed in opposite directions. A part can be made on any style where the hair is long enough. In the recent past, the conventional side for men's hair parts was the left side, but hair may be parted on either side, or in the middle. The natural part begins at the crown, which can occur on either side of the head.

Crown
The top, rear portion of the head, usually where hair growth begins in a swirl pattern.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Wherever the part holds best and looks best.

 

[mike]

Locate the place of your sweet sorrow. And then it will just feel natural.

 

[johnny]

If you look down at the crown of your head (or have someone else do it for you) you will notice your hair swirls either clockwise or counterclockwise. If your hair is cut really short or is very long you might not be able to tell. Your hair will probably part the best if you work with the swirl. So, if it swirls clockwise when looking down at it from above part your hair on the left (thus the hair on top of your head flows with the swirl). If it swirls counterclockwise part it on the right. I read somewhere that clockwise is more common and is a "dominant" trait while counterclockwise is less common and is a "recessive" trait, but it may be polygenic. Of course, having a cowlick in the front might mean you need to do the opposite.

 

[Dr Doran]

Don't part it in the middle. I did that long ago, and now I have a "chip" where the hair is thin ... right in the front and middle of my damn forehead. A slight reverse-widow's-peak. This is inevitable if you part your hair in any place over and over -- look at Robert MacNamara's low side part when he got old, very bald looking at the part; but on the side, it doesn't matter much because you can always flop your hair over it. If the part has sparse hair in the front and center, it's quite hard to hide.

 

[mattfink]

As long as you don't part it slightly above the ear and strap it over a big bald patch, any old part will do!

 

[Paisley]

Your barber should be able to tell you where your cowlick is and where your hair will part better.

 

[WideBrimm]

As long as you don't part it slightly above the ear and strap it over a big bald patch, any old part will do!

Nothing is quite as sad appearing as a "comb over" I no longer part my hair as it has been a long time since I had that much hair on top but there's no way I'd ever do a comb over

 

[Dr Doran]

Nothing is quite as sad appearing as a "comb over" I no longer part my hair as it has been a long time since I had that much hair on top but there's no way I'd ever do a comb over

Nowadays a man with receding hairline or bald patch can simply shave the whole head bald and it looks quite cool. I mean, I always thought it looked totally cool, and kind of mean, which I like; but nowadays it is less freakish than it used to be and is more accepted.

(Although in a decade or two it may look depressingly retro 1990s.)

 

[Paisley]

FWIW, I think a man who is going bald looks best if he cuts his hair short, but not stubbly-short. As for the prickly pear look (stubbly hair, two-day growth of beard), I'd run my hands over that...if I needed to exfoliate.

 

[Dr Doran]

I defer to your opinion, Paisley, as you are a woman. And women should give us advice as to what looks attractive. But I think that a bic-razor bald head looks very cool with a 3-piece suit, tie, and good shoes -- although not every man can pull it off.

(In fact I am eyeing my shaving equipment right now.)

 

[johnny]

And women should give us advice as to what looks attractive.

This is very wise advice for all us men!

 

[Dr Doran]

This is very wise advice for all us men!

My mother gave me this advice as a lad. (when I was a lad, I mean. Not when my mother was a lad. For she was never a lad.)

 

[Paisley]

A female friend of a friend told us about something that happened at work. Around closing time, some of the women were picked up by a man with a shaved head (or very short hair) and a goatee and mustache, driving an SUV. At first, she thought it was the same man. It took her a while to realize that these were different men picking up their wives.

I think it's important not to look like an interchangable man.

 

[The Good]

Well, I'm not sure if this is necessarily "Golden Era," but I part my hair on my left side, and comb the hair on the right of the part, towards the back, slightly facing towards the right often times. I'm going to have to try emulating some of the hair styles at some point, but I'm afraid that since I have ear-length sideburns (as in, just to where the ear droops down at the bottom), it wouldn't look very Golden Era, probably more '50s than anything...

 

[scotrace]

My hair just falls where it wants to be parted.

 

[CircuitRider]

A female friend of a friend told us about something that happened at work. Around closing time, some of the women were picked up by a man with a shaved head (or very short hair) and a goatee and mustache, driving an SUV. At first, she thought it was the same man. It took her a while to realize that these were different men picking up their wives.

I think it's important not to look like an interchangable man.

Exactamundo!!!