Curtained hair or curtains is a hairstyle featuring a long fringe divided in either a middle parting or a side parting, with short (or shaved) sides and back.
Origins The Baiyue (1st millennium BCE) of modern day Vietnam appeared to keep their hair short and curtained in this style.
For the first couple of decades of the 20th century, a longer variant of the undercut was popular among young working-class men, especially members of street gangs. In interwar Glasgow, Neds (the precursors to the Teddy Boys) favoured a haircut that was long on top and cropped at the back and sides. Despite the fire risk, much paraffin wax was used to keep the hair in place.Christie, Stuart (2002). My Granny Made Me an Anarchist. Oil & Gas USSR. pp. 87–88. . Other gangs who favored this haircut were the Scuttlers of Manchester and the Peaky Blinders of Birmingham, due largely to the disadvantage caused by longer hair in a street fight.Davies, A. (1998), "Youth gangs, masculinity and violence in late Victorian Manchester and Salford", Journal of Social History 32 (2)
Revival
During the late 1980s, centrally parted hair, derived from the bowl cut, made a comeback among fans of new wave, synthpop, and electronic music as an alternative to the mullets and backcombed hair worn by glam metal bands.
In the 1990s, actors such as Brendan Fraser have worn the hair style.
In the 1990s to 2000s, in the manga and anime of Monster, the main antagonist Johan Liebert was seen with middle-parting curtains.
More recently, it has been associated with K-pop artists (e.g. members of BTS, Monsta X, and NCT).
See also Ducktail List of hairstyles 1980s in fashion 1990s in fashion
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