Appreciation post: the old timer who told me I was fading too high on necklines

Last summer in a shop in Columbus, a barber who's been cutting since the 80s watched me finish a cut and told me I was leaving too much weight above the occipital bone. I argued at first but after three days of trying it his way I finally saw what he meant and my fades started looking way cleaner. Has anyone else had a stubborn habit that took some old head calling them out to fix?

3 comments

3 Comments

willow_morgan27d ago

That "too high on necklines" advice fixed my fades too.

the_ryan27d ago

Yeah dropping the neckline down about half an inch on my second or third fade completely changed how it looked. Before that I was ending up with this weird ledge above my ears that made the whole cut look off. Once I matched the fade to where the neck actually starts instead of guessing higher up it blended way smoother into the rest of the hair. Took me a few tries to get the hang of it but now I won't do a fade any other way.

nina_jenkins27d ago

That "guessing higher up" thing you said, @the_ryan, is exactly it. It made me think about how we do that in so many parts of life, not just barbering. Like I used to always cut corners on cleaning my kitchen counters, just a quick wipe, until my grandma stayed over and showed me how I was missing all the grime buildup along the edges. Once you see it done the right way, that lazy version just looks silly. It's funny how a simple fix in one spot can make you realize you've been coasting in a bunch of other places too. The old heads have a way of calling out the little shortcuts we don't even notice we're taking.