To the bald

[Fletch]

"Fringe-Friar??" lol lol lol

That's too rich...I finally have a name for this hairstyle that I've had for the past several years!

And believe me, when I go bareheaded in the sun, I fry (but not my fringe).

I have shaved my head completely a few times and have always gotten positive responses to it. At 6'2", 265 lbs. and also having a scar on my head, I had the same reservations as you, Tony. If it's something that you want to try, go for it!

Remember to dress entirely in black, affect a monocle and heavy cane, and glower and growl a lot.

Actually Tony to me somewhat resembles Paul Whiteman, an elegant big dude despite having lost most of his hair to scarlet fever as a boy.

 

[catsmeow]

A big thumbs up for the "balding" gentlemen. It gives them personality and can look distinguished.
I have a soft spot for the balding men due to the fact my late father was bald.

 

[LadyDeWinter]

I agree with catsmeow. It can give personality and look distinguished. I mean what the bald gentlemen loose is just hair and not their personality, brains or virility. Yul Brynner was bold and looked fabulous.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Any bald members around that went to hats from lack of hair?

 

[Miss 1929]

Resurrecting the bald thread for any particular reason? Is it hot and you are tempted to shave?

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I remember the first time I got peeling sunburn on the top of my head. I think I was about 27 or 28.

 

[JimWagner]

Any bald members around that went to hats from lack of hair?

Went to wearing them religiously (instead of sometimes) after going bald on top and then having a skin cancer removed from my face 12 years ago.

Never go outside uncovered now.

 

[Touchofevil]

I have been shaving my head for the past fifteen plus years. I hate the feeling of morning stuble so I shave every day. The look works more for me than that hair thing in the past did so I plan on keeping it. The only possible downside is that when working out in the yard, I always need to wear a hat.

 

[Edward]

Weighing in here on an old thread... but it's a topic in which I have a strong personal interest.

I have said that once I start to go blad I am totally shaving my head. I think I'll have another 10 years before that gene kicks in, so for now I'm enjoying have a full head of hair.:cool2:

That was the way I thought too - just so happened my hair started to go ten years earlier than I'd expected it would!

I started going bald as a teen. Because of that I don't invest too much of who I am with hair.

Jings, that's early.... I remember a kid in my brother's year at school who had a very sizeable 'egg in the nest' at sixteen.... A guy in my year was fully bald over the top by 21... My hair was always fine, but it started to thin noticeably when I was about 27... I responded with shorter and shorter buzzcuts until a number 1 wasn't (at least not to my eyes) hiding it any longer, and four years ago I just started to shave it completely. I think I have a fully bald patch now (not really sure..... I don't let it grow more than a couple of days at a time), but the problem I had was that it thinned all over the top.... significantly less hair (or so it ooked to me), but evenly spread out. For some reason I found that much harder to cope with than had I receeded... My sole regret is that I didn't shave it off completely years earlier. It was such a relief to take matters into my own hand, to be fully bald by choice rather than to attempt to hide it.... I'm much, much more confident sicne I became 'electively bald'. lol

If Tinkerbelle landed on my pillow tonight and granted me a wish to have a full head of hair, would I go for it? Difficult one, as people know me now for what I look like and at the end of the day most folk judge me on how I come across as a person, rather than my hair count!!

This is the thing.... I'm in the same place with it. I've gotten so used to the convenience of a shaved head - superb for costuming work, with or without wigs... I've been able to pull off certain costumes (such as Blofeld) in a way that I never would have before.... the shaven headed look has become such a personal trademark now, I'd look odd to myself with hair. Funnily enough, I usually shave it every forty eight hours (it's no trouble at all now, I have it down to less than five minutes....) - any longer between shaves and it actually doesn't feel clean... lol

I think the people who embrace it have a natural personality. The ones who try to avoid it are deep down insecure and its like a circle of no confidence. "oh god Im going bald, gotta try to hide it" "hes trying to hide hes bald I bet he has no confidence Im not going to talk to him" "no ones talking to me, I gotta try harder to hide my baldness" "Look how hard hes trying to hide hes going bald...he must be a wuss" and the circle goes on and on and on. and who needs hair when you got a killer hat :cool2:

There's something to be said for that... I was very affected by my hair thinning until I took charge and shaved it all off - now I'm far more confident than ever I was with hair. I should think it's the thought pattern: now, I'm in control - I am bald by active choice, rather than because I lost my hair. That makes a world of difference.

Anyone who shaves their head even though they can grow a full head?

Eh.... kinda. I had thinned evenly over the top to a noticeable degree when I started shaving, though my hairline hadn't receeded at all. I had been gonig with shorter and shorter buzzcuts over a few years, and went from a number one to full shave just when it had gotten to the point that a number one didn't hide the thinning anymore. I guess you could say that I began to shave it all by choice just before nature sent me bald.... lol It's not unknown for it to be a pure choice, David Beckham being the most obvious public figure to go that way in recent years.

I think cueball heads make men look nasty. Not ugly nasty (unless you have little pig eyes and a roll neck), but skinhead, supervillain, leather-freak nasty. I see a cueball cuddling some cute young thing with flowing hair and I wanna go kick a lamppost or something. YMMV.

There was a time when people would have associated it with the Neo-Nazi skinhead stereotype, though that hasn't been the case for very many years over here - not since the eighties. In the nineties, folks were as likely to assume you were gay over here.... in the past decade, what with people like David Beckham mainstreaming the look, and prominent musicians such as The Edge (who formerly wore a cowboy had over the top of a skullet to hide the bald spot) adopting the look, it's become very much an accepted norm for those who bald young. At least, for those of us who are white. Young black men have been shaving their heads electively for years without anyone batting an eyelid (presumably because it has never carried that negative Neo-Nazi stereotype for them!).

Any bald members around that went to hats from lack of hair?

As a kid, I would wear a woolly hat in the Winter, ball caps occasionally in the Summer. When I turned seventeen, I bought my first wool fedora, which got worn out as a fashion accessory on occasion. Really, though, the first hat I wore regularly was a corduroy yachting type cap when I went to university. In Belfast in the Winter, when it rains, by the time the rain is heavy enoughh that you would bother with a brolly you can guarantee it's also far too windy for one. Necessity being the mother of invention, and all that... about five years ago, the wool fedora became the norm with a suit, still wearing the caps otherwise, and by this point I spent the hotter Summer days in one of several boonie hats. Vintage and vintage style hats arrived for me about four years ago, as a stylistic choice when I first really got into a vintage look. I now never leave the house without a hat - i'd feel naked without one on. It has become second nature. I'm certainly a lot more careful about keeping my head covered at all times when outside nowadays. Chances are I'd have been the same had I not gotten into vintage, but probably in a much more utilitarian and much less stylish way!

 

[Spitfire]

Being one of the proud and bald types too, I wear a straw Borsalino in the summer to avoid sunburns - and skin cancer (My uncle just had larges parts of his skin on top removed - not nice!)
In the winter - when its really cold - I wear whatever I can get, as long as its warm.
Besides that I never ever think about hair. Or lack of the same.
Started to go bald when I was around 30 - so I've plenty of time to get used to it. Same goes for my surroundings.

 

[SGT Rocket]

I think cueball heads make men look nasty. Not ugly nasty (unless you have little pig eyes and a roll neck), but skinhead, supervillain, leather-freak nasty. I see a cueball cuddling some cute young thing with flowing hair and I wanna go kick a lamppost or something. YMMV.

Oh, I don't know Fletch. I think one can have a commanding presence, look like a good guy, and be bald too. You have to think about the whole package.

or

or, and he is one of my favorites (I'm not gay, but I think he's sexy, LOL)

and with a hat:

And there is always:

 

[SGT Rocket]

Any bald members around that went to hats from lack of hair?

I'm bald on top, and I keep my hair fairly short, similar to a Winston Churchill cut or a Jean Luke Pecard cut.

I'm 42, and have had four skin cancer operations in the past four years. That is what drove me to fedoras. I've always hated the baseball hat, so I never wore one.

 

[Chainsaw]

It hit over 40' the other day, so I clipped my hair, down to the wood. I was driving back after doing a job in a small suburb, and saw a older couple in a classic car. I look over so I can give the "nod", like nice car. now I'm a big guy, but I'm very proud of my good maners. This guys wife looks over, and turns all pale like she saw the devil incarnate.

I'm not too crazy about the bald look.

 

[Jennifer Lynn]

I'm pretty sure my grandfather turned to hats (dress and casual styles) as he gradually lost his hair. I do wish he were more comfortable when he didn't wear a hat though...perhaps trim or buzz to the combover. In the wind it just stuck straight up, and it took a bit of effort to not crack a smile.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Ugh, combovers. Don't get me started. :rage:

 

[Spitfire]

Here you go, Tony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Sb...4259096B6&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1
lol lol lol
A classic ad from Hamlet Cigars.

 

[jdbenson]

Embrace the Pate

I started shavin' my head about 8 years ago. Bein' bald was destined for me, as every male (except one) on both side of my family was bald. I fought it for a looooooong time. Growin' up in the 70/80s, you had a LOT invested in your hair. Finally my Dad said, "Look, you only have just so many hormones; why d'you want to waste them growin' hair?"

So now that I shave, I'm wearin' hats all the time. At first I just wore ball caps and the occasional newsboy just to avoid skin cancer, but since discovering this place, I'm a fedora lover.

 

[Chainsaw]

"Grass don't grow on a busy street." Archie Bunker. "It don't grow in concrete niether!"Edith Bunker

 

[jamespowers]

I'm pretty sure my grandfather turned to hats (dress and casual styles) as he gradually lost his hair. I do wish he were more comfortable when he didn't wear a hat though...perhaps trim or buzz to the combover. In the wind it just stuck straight up, and it took a bit of effort to not crack a smile.

It always reminds me of Mel Fisher of The Atocha fame. He looked like he had seaweed growing on his head when he was underwater and the combover floated around his head. lol lol lol

 

[Spitfire]

Got to tell you this true story:
A copywriter I used to work with, had extremely long, blond hair that also almost covered his eyebrows.
What we did not know then was, that he suffered from a special and rare dicease, so he had absolutely no hair. It was impossible for him to grow any hair (eyebrows, chest whatever.)
Now after some years this young guy got a job at a new agency, where I happened to freelance the day he arrived for the first day at his new job.
The whole agency was gathered for a welcom cup of coffe, when this young copywriter entered the room - completely bald as an egg!
The CEO of the agency - who was a bit of a bossy type - asked him:
- "Didn't you have more hair, the last time we met - when I hired you?"
- "Oh yes, but I recokned it was me you hired - and not my hair!" came the answere.
- "But if you like, I can bring it in tomorrow." He followed up.

Which he actually did - from that day and the rest of his years at that agency he had his toupe standing on his desk.
To remind me, how stupid I had been for so many years, he told me.