June 30, 2015

"The new big trend for men? Merman hair."

"Yep, men are hopping on the colourful hair bandwagon, following in our mermaid and sand art inspired hair footsteps by dyeing their hair magical shades of turquoise, lilac, and sea blue."
Obviously, calling it mermaid hair isn’t quite manly enough, so now, Instagram is all about the #merman hashtag, with dudes all over the world sharing photos of their majestically coloured ‘dos.
Via Metafilter, which has in this paragraph I'm copying a lot of links that I'm not copying:
In fashion news, apparently, Merman colour is the next big thing in men’s hair. This styling and particular coloring replaces "man buns" as the in-thing for the man-about-town. Radiant blues and purples predominate, with the occasional green, and the occasional very green. The effect also used on beards and mustaches for that rainbow-hipster identity. Headwear co-ordination is a possibility, and age is not a barrier; neither is being a merman when in a serious boardroom meeting. Yellow is also a choice, and many bright colors at once are possible. For MeFites wanting to make a statement, some do's and dont's. And finally, a personal favorite: you can be very old and still cool.
I lived through the Manic Panic days of the 1990s, and what I remember most was how hard it was to do blue. When you try for blue, the hair wants to force you to green. 

This is one of the don'ts, by the way:



What exactly makes that a don't, in the context of a phenomenon that also has dos? You're not answering the question correctly if you say: Don't dye your hair blue. There's something specific, supposedly, about the way this man went about it. I'd say it's the shirt and the other orangeness with which he surrounds himself, but that's not the answer.

52 comments:

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Might catch on with sports fans.

Scott said...

"Yep, men are hopping on the colourful hair bandwagon..."

I think not.

George Grady said...

And now they can marry!

rhhardin said...

It's a latest trend narrative.

khesanh0802 said...

Blah!!!

Monkeyboy said...

In nature bright colors are a sign of toxicity.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

When they said Merman hair, I was thinking Ethel.

Meade said...

"In nature bright colors are a sign of toxicity."

*squawk*

Michael K said...

A new way to celebrate gay marriage because, well you know...

Monkeyboy said...

"Camouflage is a very complex science, and it seems to sometimes dismiss logic. The very feature that makes a parrot stand out in the animal world: its coloring, is the same one that helps keep it hidden from the eyes of a hungry predator."

tim in vermont said...

I think it's the talisman. Too "matchy matchy."

traditionalguy said...

The blue man's faux pas in below. He is blatantly wearing shorts.

tim maguire said...

I can think of plenty of situations where this would be just fine. The "boardroom" is not one of them.

Do I have to click on the link to find out WHY that's a "don't"? I'd rather not. (I've seen enough children's television to know the orange shirt is not the problem.)

Etienne said...

Camouflage is a very complex science

There was this Airman who was getting discharged in a week, and every day he would go out the main gate pushing a wheel-barrow full of straw.

The gate guard stopped him, fished around in the straw with his bayonet, but didn't find anything, so let him pass.

The next few days the same thing. The gate guard knew he was stealing something, but he never found it. Finally, on the last day, the Airman walked out the gate with his discharge papers, but the gate guard stopped him.

Come on, he said, you have to tell me what it was you were stealing! So the Airman, laughing a bit, said he was stealing wheel-barrows!

rhhardin said...

There's the Blue Matador with Peter Sellers, which is sort of worthwhile.

clint said...

I didn't see any "don't" attached to that picture -- the caption is, "Yes." in giant bold.

A lot of those just looked silly to me, but the first two looked quite good. (guy with blue-green hair and a natural brunette week's-growth beard and the guy with purple just at the front of his hair and a long green beard)

The problem with any of these "LOOK AT ME!!!" styles is that you can't just roll out of bed, pull on a pair of jeans, start the coffee pot and go walk the dog in the morning. You need to spend an hour primping, and worrying about whether your shirt clashes with your beard... Way too much work.

Titus said...

I saw a guy on the street with a hot pink mustache.

Skyler said...

Real men don't dye their hair. Real men know that it is their strength that is important, not their looks. For women, it is their looks that is important. Men who are overly concerned with their appearance, beyond the basics of cleanliness and propriety, are acting like women.

But our entire society now seems to favor men who want to be like women.

Ann Althouse said...

"I think it's the talisman. Too "matchy matchy.""

No, and the only other don't is a complaint about too much contrast, specifically a man whose "carpet" doesn't match the drapes... with the "carpet" being the eyebrows. He's got 2 different blues.

Curious George said...

Simply fucking fabulous!

tim maguire said...

Skyler said...our entire society now seems to favor men who want to be like women.

Our society might, but biology doesn't. There's an old saying, "no woman ever fantasized about being ravaged by a hippie."

Roughcoat said...

In Boulder CO during the early seventies male musicians and other like-minded souls took to dying their hair in rainbow colors, in the manner of Todd Rundgren. This was when glam/glitter rock was peaking. Ugh. Very unmanly. But the phase soon passed, kicked aside by punk. Also ugh, but better than glam.

LYNNDH said...

He was wearing SHORTS!

LYNNDH said...

Also, I have a naturally nice colored beard and hair - all White

BarrySanders20 said...

Go for the Oompa Loompa look with green hair and orange skin/shirt.

It's Halloween every day for these types.

walter said...

A shitty trend for women makes it to men. Yay. Can we do tramp stamps too?

Ann Althouse said...

"Real men don't dye their hair. Real men know that it is their strength that is important, not their looks."

Ronald Reagan wasn't a real man?

Ann Althouse said...

Dyed hair is a pretty standard thing, for men and for women. The question isn't whether people are dyeing their hair but how subtly they are doing it.

The "dos" on the dos and don'ts list include being subtle. So even when going with a non-natural hair color, it's possible to be subtle.

Haircuts themselves are not natural. All this careful sculpting.

Who are you to draw the line between what's real and what's fake in manhood? Who made you the arbiter of manhood?

rhhardin said...

Haircuts themselves are not natural. All this careful sculpting.

I cut mine without looking, just using scissors whenever something feels too long.

Nor do I inspect the results.

tim in vermont said...

Who made you the arbiter of manhood?

said the doyen of shorts derision.

tim in vermont said...

I don't know how it looks to women on men, but when Carrie Feinstein wears one of those colored wigs for a character on Portlandia, it looks great every time.

tim in vermont said...

I want her to wear one of those wigs on our wedding day.

kcom said...

So let's all look like that guy who shot up the theater in Colorado and killed all those people. Yeah, that's the ticket!

Lewis Wetzel said...

Althouse should reconsider her "men look immature in shorts" opinion. I think that she is imagining that they have chosen to wear shorts rather than pants. It may be that they have chosen to wear shorts over wearing nothing at all. Count your blessings.

Fernandinande said...

"Yep, men are hopping on the colourful hair bandwagon, ..."

No they're not.

Wilbur said...

That hair reminds me of Ethel Merman: loud, brassy and off-key.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

My conscience is now bothering me for the loose way I've been throwing around the word "homo," lately, realizing just how thoroughly some people could reasonably misconstrue my intendment.

Facetiousness is a bitch.

tim in vermont said...

Carrie Brownstein. Oops.

pfennig said...

I would rather that people be judged by the content of their character than the color of their hair.

Bob Boyd said...

Or you could sign up for swimming lessons.

kzookitty said...

Another fashion trend for guys with too much sugar in their gas tank. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
kzookitty

Craig Landon said...

"Haircuts themselves are not natural."

I have a Brit friend who cuts his own hair about twice a year, and then probably only because he's a (damn fine) school teacher. From NE England--probably Viking stock.

Robert Cook said...

Todd Rundgren did them all one better back in the early 70s...multi-colored hair.

What's not visible here are the other colors, more prominent on the sides and back of his long hair.

Known Unknown said...

I cut mine without looking, just using scissors whenever something feels too long.

Nor do I inspect the results.


I bet you're a real catch.

Known Unknown said...

Todd Rundgren ... a tiny-nippled man.

Unknown said...

How about men? What are men supposed to do? I don't see any men in those pictures.

Meade said...

Real men rarely pose for pictures. They're too busy commenting on Althouse.

Unknown said...

But is hr wearing shorts?

Mary Beth said...

They could have switched the "Fun" Do one with the "Too bright" Don't and it would have worked just as well.

For the one that they complained that the eyebrows were dyed a different color, the brows weren't dyed, the color was on his skin.

Skyler said...

"Ronald Reagan wasn't a real man?"

Not in the hair category. Or the movie acting category. Real men don't play pretend, either.

I need not admire all traits of a person to admire other traits.

David said...

I was thinking Ethel. That would be much better.

kcom said...

"I would rather that people be judged by the content of their character than the color of their hair."

Would someone with fully contented character do that to their hair?