bald is in

[Professor Melon]

  On the aesthetics front. My daughter, a New Yorker but presently living in LA, where she's learning filming-making, has requested the official NYFD calendar for Christmas since 9/11. So I went to Barnes & Noble to pick one up. Of the 12 hot firefighters, four are totally bald (two by nature, two by head shaving). Only one firefighters is black, so the bald look is no longer a largely black phenomenon. The guys are in great shape, so, now that we've mastered the art of shaving, it's time to get back to the exercises and workouts to complete the look. Professor Melon

[PigPen]

As always, well spoken Professor. We would probably exude even more confidence with the bald look if we were in shape as well.

Guess I can tell my wife she's wrong, I am a pillar of fashion...and stuff.
Ah hell, nevermind...she wouldn't buy it anyway.   

[marshd1000]

Professor Melon, you are right about getting in shape.  I really need to do that and my doctor says so!  But that reminds me of a commercial I recently had seen for Bowflex.  This commercial shows a really buff 49 yr old guy.  He seems to have it all.  A great career, great body (via the Bowflex) and a gig in a rock band.  He even performs shirtless and shows those abs of steel.  But while he is in great shape, it also shows that bald, specifically shaved, is very in and acceptable!

[MC HammerHead]

I have been shaving my head now for 7 years.  It was a functional thing for me not a fashion thing.  Like many of us I was thinning at my crown and my forehead but I was also participating (and still do) in sports  that require putting on and taking off a helmet several times during an event or a practice session.  I began like most of you probably did, using a trimmer (at the barber), working my way down to a 1 blade and then no guard and finally taking the shaving plunge.
For me I was NOT trying to create a particular look or style. 

What is interesting to me though is over the last three years in particular it seems as Pro. Mel has pointed out,  become a fashion style that is getting a great deal of acceptance.   As early as only 1O years ago you could only name a small handful of celebs that had the shine going on: Teli Savalis (sp?) and Yul Brenner.  Now there are bunches of them.

Headblade made its debut around 2000 I believe.  They saw the trend coming and helped promote it.  They also made it easier in many peoples minds to actually maintain the look. 

I have never been one to follow trends.  Being an old extreme sport guy my casual style has always basically been reflective of my sports.  Being a former rugby and soccer player I also trended toward european styling when it comes to dress clothes.   It seems now that my shaved look has me smack in the middle of a growing trend.

I will be 44 years old on Saturday....it has taken this long to finally be COOL!  I am STOKED!!  (ok..I know..stoked dates me but stoked and dude removed from my vocabulary would be like taking the phrase "Get er dun" out of Larry the Cable Guy)

[Professor Melon]

  Happy Birthday, Hammerhead! I've got twenty years on you  but agree that chossing total baldness has put me where I never thought it would, in the middle of a cool fashion trend. And, yes, I think the bald look goes better with Euro than American clothes. I was indifferent to clothes until the first head shaving. I just plugged along in the traditional, conservative Ivy League (Brooks Bros.) style I grew up with, and really old jeans-and-pullovers on weekends. To my wife's delight, I have now noticed turtlenecks, silver or stainless jewelry, black leather jackets, and shades. It's a mode I never had before baldness; call it "casual cool," for lack of a better phrase. This new awareness, she tells me with sly hints, has made her and my daughter's Christmas shopping for me easier than it has ever been. So, while it's still "academicals" for teaching, there's a whole new persona for playtime. Professor Melon

[MC HammerHead]

I hear you Pro Mel.  I was an exchange student in England in 1980 (back when I had hair ...ha ha).  I left North Carolina looking like all of the other teenagers around here looked (Izod, cords, button downs...yeah....PREPPY!) and came back with silver hair, a pierced ear (which I have never relinquished to this day), leather jackets, boots, etc....punk/new wave/mod blend.

As I got older I drifted back into what I called "conformity"......which my wife mentioned to me last night when she said "you know, you dress alot better now than you did when we first got married!.....but over the last several years have gone back to being what is more comfortable.  Some days you will see me wearing skate clothes, other work out stuff, but on a daily basis during the week (my office is casual every day...I own the company..I make the rules..) its good stylish euro influenced jeans, shirts, jackets, etc.

Way to style it out Pro Mel. 

We are bald by nature, but smooth and sly by choice!!!

[Tyler]

Melon and HammerHead,

I too found myself making a wardrobe change when I shaved my head.  I used to wear pretty preppy clothes and still do if I'm visiting a client, but on m downtime it's more of a surf/skate type look.  I also have quite a few button up "work shirts" from Fox Racing that project more of a "tougher" look.

[PigPen]

I'm still the same ole country hick I once was. But my attitude toward life and the attitude I project have changed. At least I think so.

[Noner]

Melon and HammerHead,

I too found myself making a wardrobe change when I shaved my head.  I used to wear pretty preppy clothes and still do if I'm visiting a client, but on m downtime it's more of a surf/skate type look.  I also have quite a few button up "work shirts" from Fox Racing that project more of a "tougher" look.

After I shaved I realized that the one color I could not wear anymore was red! For some reason when I wear red, my whole head gets that red glow like I have sunburn. I assume its becuase of the reflection off of my sly bald head.

At least I look great in Green!

[Professor Melon]

  I love you guys. I could never have taken the plunge if I did not know you were out there. This is the first major decision I have made based on computer contacts. When I am down, I think of all your shiny pates and take heart. Professor Melon

[PigPen]

The feeling is mutual Prof!!! At least for myself anyway. That's why we're here. To a point at least. When anyone asks what this site is about, I usually say it's like a support group for guys trying to take the plunge.

[PBurke]

we are cool.

[BaldRob]

we are cool.

Better late than never joining a thread Paulie! 

[PBurke]

revisiting older ones.

[PigPen]

Paul is threatened by my superior post count, that's all