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Hairy Hipsters: Man Buns Are All The Rage, Says Paper Of Record
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 26, 2012
Modified Jan 26, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 26, 2012
Modified Jan 26, 2012
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Next time you see a guy wearing his hair in a bun, you can thank the NY Times for being on top of this trend. Because there's a feature on the proliferation of this new 'do: "In certain arty neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Bushwick, some men are twisting their long hair into a form more famously worn by librarians, schoolmarms and Katharine Hepburn. But don’t call the male version an up-do or a chignon. Call it a man bun."
Of course, Gawker points out that just three guys from Brooklyn ("the white part") seem to be the local early adopters (alongside tennis players Alexandr Dolgopolov and Xavier Malisse and Top Chef contestant Chris Jones). But this hairstyle was examined by a blog far from the gentrified streets of Brooklyn, the Red Dirt Chronicles in March of 2011:
I somewhat accidentally discovered the continual twisting of a pony tail will eventually roll up into a bun. And double-wrap a hair band around said bun and it is almost like a temporary shearing. Amazing! And, it fits around the inside straps of a hard hat. Tremendous!
But here’s the deal. Not since the time of the Samurai have hair buns been cool when worn by men. However, being the trendsetter that I’ve never been, I don’t mind stepping out there in an effort to - as in the days of the great sworded, martial arts warriors of old - make hair buns cool for men.
So, here is where I need your help. I need a cool name for the “man-bun” because man-bun just is not going to cut it, so to speak. So keep it clean and send your suggestions on a cool name for the man-bun. Help me make this thing as respectable as possible, okay?
Red Dirt readers suggested chump stump, man-gnon, knump (knot+lump), ninja knot, and bro non. Question: How does a bro non look with a fixie?
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brooklyn
hair
hipster
man bun
trend
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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