Evolution of Hairstyle ‘03-‘25
I recall being marveled at the ridiculous efficiency of getting my hair shaved on day one, or was it day two, of boot camp. All it took was a few sweeps of clippers with a vacuum attached.
Throughout my military career, I kept the sides at zero. For 11 years, I got an eight-dollar haircut every Sunday evening. Doing otherwise meant a messy look, a messy self, a shitbag who is grossly out of regs. But the top—the top must have grown an inch by an inch as I gained seniority. It was me softening up, relaxing a bit, adding a little more character to my agency-less self.
Post-military, I quickly realized there was no such thing as an eight-dollar haircut. More importantly, I didn’t need one every week.
So I got a buzz cut every other week.
A few months out, I felt I could change it up. After all, what hair regulations? So I tried an asymmetric style—let the top grow long enough to comb down to one side while the other stayed buzzed. That didn’t last long.
Then I kept it short again. But this time, around the beginning of my full-blown college experience at UT Austin, I wore a UT hat and I wore it backwards. Why? Because I thought it made me look younger. My classmates were twelve years younger than me. I probably wanted to fit in, or at least didn’t want to stand out as that old veteran dude. No one gave a shit.
Then the pandemic hit. I was done with school by then. I was home, and I thought, well, why not? I was saving money, not exposing myself to COVID, and for the first time in my life, I really let it go. Someone called me Korean Jesus. I didn’t mind it. It got to the point where I had to make a man bun. It was a thing.
Once the world reopened, I cut my hair but kept it at medium length. It was a look for someone who is pensive, curious, calm, and intelligent. It felt right. It felt like my hairstyle, as if it should have always been this way. Like finding clothes that are actually my fit and look. A pair of glasses, which I now wear thanks to aging, definitely completes the look. Ha.
This took 22 years of adulthood. My hairstyle will continue to evolve, as I continue to evolve, just as I have been, just as my hairstyle has been.
