The Coolest Cuts

Ask little girls how they want their hair and you get a one-word answer: “Long.”

Ask a little boy and you’re likely to get an earful.

That’s because lately, boys are combining every style that has come down the pike in the last five years into one haircut.

They’re asking for surfer cuts with etched lines on the side and a tail in the back. Or they want a fade with etched geometric shapes and a tail. Translation:

* Fades and surfer cuts. In both, the crown is left long, while the sides and back are shaved close to the head. If the hair hangs down, it’s a surfer cut. If the hair has a very tight curl, and is brushed up in an anti-gravity style, it’s a fade.

* Etched lines and shapes. These can be done on all types of hair with small electric clippers.

* Tails. Aptly-named long hanks of hair left at the nape of the neck.

Sabrina Feldman, manager of the Yellow Balloon hair salon for children in Studio City, says the terrifyingly cool kids want to look like Luke Perry, with a ‘50s-style forehead curl and sideburns. Sideburns, no less, from males years away from their first shave! Feldman is able to create a facsimile of sideburns by leaving hair long in front of the ears.

Feldman wasn’t surprised to hear a request for a 90210. Many clients want their hair cut just like Bart Simpson. In fact, the more outrageous the cut, the better.

Ollie Carter, owner of Styles Ville in Pacoima, says a first-grader asked that a school bus be etched on the back of his head. Carter’s salon, in the Valley since 1958, is where Alfonso Ribeiro (“Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”), Lou Myers (“A Different World”) and Philip Bailey (Earth Wind and Fire) go.

Requests for artwork such as roses, African masks, ships, and logos from athletic shoe companies and movie trademarks such as Batman have decreased this year, says Carter, and geometric shapes and lines have replaced them.

With all this shearing and shaping and etching and sketching going on, you’d think little girls would be getting in on the act. Most just want a trim.

Kyara McGee couldn’t wait to grow long braids, so she got her long tresses the way a lot of big girls do, by adding extensions. The 3-year-old calls hers dookie braids and they are attached to her own hair.

Extensions might catch on, if kids saw the screaming bright colors that are available--Little Mermaid red, Malibu Barbie pink, Ninja Turtle green, and Rainbow Bright multicolor.