It takes a lot of work to achieve a messy look

Eric Susyne
Special to The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND - There they stood, three in a row before the mirror. Pulling. Teasing. Plucking up. Twisting. Rearranging.

A common sight in any mall bathroom, you say?

Perhaps. Except this was the men's room, and the object of such furious and devotional upkeep was none other than the trendy "It Male" hairdo of the past year.

Although it has escaped a particular name, unlike the Shag, the Caesar or the Faux Hawk of the recent past, its hallmark is immediately recognizable: short, tapered sides topped by upswept, soft yet voluminous spikes. A studied sense of messiness is key to this look.

"Bed head" is what the casual observer might call it, but don't let that fool you. No one wakes up with a look this studied, this stylized. Not even Eric "Greg Sanders" Szmanda, of television's "CSI," whose 'do in the third and fourth seasons not only popularized but also defined The Look.

"I call it organized mess," says Jimmy Sharaba, managing director of Dino Palmieri and self-described "hair coach" at Studio Palmieri on West Sixth Street in Cleveland. He should know. He creates variations of The Look daily for zany media types and power-suited attorneys alike. His particular specialty is a soft-lined textured cut that goes from office-approved by day to "up, up and away" after 5.

That so many guys in their teens and 20s have embraced The Look seems like a direct reflection of the more stylized, formalist aesthetic that we're seeing in men's street fashion. Slim suits, skinny ties and very pointy-toed dress shoes have replaced the vintage track suit top and indie-rock Adidas of the late 1990s. Take a look at any of the members of Brit band Franz Ferdinand or the Kaiser Chiefs. There's neither a sneaker nor a barber's buzz cut in sight.

You would be right to think that this all sounds like a case of sartorial history repeating itself. The Mods, those first style-obsessed, Vespa-driving teenage dandies of the early '60s, have at least in part provided the inspiration for up-styled young men's hair.

While the infatuation with self-styling has remained from the Mod era, styling products have made it easier to achieve the all-important inches of height.

Eddy Maddox, owner of Fast Eddy's Chop Shop on Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights, agrees that the latest range of matte-finish products allows guys to easily "create weight on top like the Mod style." The secret to creating volume without either a greasy flop or the dreaded hard spikes (aka "the Gotti boy" look) is the use of a matte-finish styling product such as d:fi molding cream on dry hair. For $10, it's street cred in a plastic tub.

Although the bulk of his clients are asking for the "textured, up look," Fast Eddy also crafts an asymmetrical version if you're feeling edgy.

"Guys are definitely polishing up their look like [the rock group] the Killers, and growing their hair out and putting it up," he says, pointing toward a stack of well-thumbed British rock magazines in the waiting area of his salon, where both Mods and rockers peacefully coexist.

A word to the wise, though, guys. If you haven't already textured, teased and matted up your hair, you may want to do so while it's still hot this season. Amy Yang, stylist at Studio Palmieri, predicts the next It Look will be an extremely sharp side-parted, shiny style a la '50s Hollywood glamour-inspired models seen in the recent Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign.

If the anti-bed-head aesthetic does come to fruition, you might just find yourself rummaging for a relic, the comb.

Remember that?