High and Tight Haircut 2010

The term 'high and tight' as used with reference to hairstyles has its origins in the armed forces, where it is used in reference to the specific variety of the buzz cut hairstyle that members of the armed forces wear. True, many military forces in the world have stopped insisting on the high and tight haircut for all their (serving) members, but at the very least, most of the militaries in the world do expect people training with them to wear the high and tight haircut during their training courses, with many members who become accustomed to the hair and tight haircut during their training opting to keep them for the rest of their military lives and even beyond.

Don't get confused by the word 'high' on the phrase 'high and tight haircut' because in spite of being referred to as a 'high and tight hairstyle' this turns out to be one of the hairstyles that are defined by the shortness of hair worn; because the basic characteristic of the hair and tight haircut is that the wearer's hair is cropped very short indeed.

Close cropping aside, another defining feature of the high haircut is the pattern of clipping of the hair on all sides of the head (including at the back), with only the front part of the head, (what is referred to as the temple) being left with more hair, at least enough hair to be combed. The rationale behind this arrangement, where the sides of the head are cropped short, with only the temple being left with some hair is to ensure convenient accommodation of the military helmet, which would obviously be very uncomfortable to wear if the whole head was cropped closely.

It is important to note that although the high haircut has its roots in the disciplined forces, it has over the years found widespread appeal among civilians, who love it for among other reasons, its low maintenance costs (both in terms of financial cost and time), and the distinguished look it confers to its wearers, especially the men who love the military machismo that the high and tight haircut is associated with.

It is worthy noting that when it is worn outside the military circles (where it has its cradle), the high and tight haircut gets referred by a variety of other names, the commonest of which is as the 'skin fade' hairstyle in the United States.

Although quite a simple hairstyle, and although it is itself a variant of the larger 'buzz cut hairstyles' family, the high and tight haircut is not altogether bereft of variations. Indeed, there are quite a good number of variations in the high and tight haircut, the most popular of these being the recon (which is defined by its rather pronounced boundaries on all sides and the fact there region of the head that is left with some hair is very small right on the temple), and the horseshoe flattop (which is the variety of the high and tight haircut described earlier, where all the sides of the head are closely cropped, but with a relatively huge region of the head surrounding the temple being left with some hair); resulting in what distinctively looks like a horseshoe on the head.

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