Appearance???

[BaldRob]

Hi and Welcome AdamsvilleAce!

[PBurke]

welcome ace.

[PigPen]

Welcome AdamsvilleAce! Glad you decided to join us

[Moon]

My experience was a fun one.  I lost my hair, long hair to boot over a Superbowl bet I guess three years ago.  Another Sly blad guy was there for the cutting so to say.  pburke.  He was the one that actually made me honer the bet.  It was not a complete shave but it was taken down to a Mo-hawk. The sides were taken down with a trimmer with out a guard.  I had to wear the mo-hawk to work for three weeks.  The reaction with the mo-hawk was not what Ihad expected.  I am a big man naturally.  I fill out a 3x t-shirt and make it look good.  I've got some gut but haven't been accused of being skinny for sure, but poeples reaction to the new haircut was not good.  Smaller children were scared and the mothers would pull there kids away and move to the other side of the room.  If you know me, you would know that I love children and people in general.  This was more than I could stand and decided to cut it all off then and there.  I love being bald.  People see your soul through your eyes and I think that they can see better without hair distracting them.  I have never had someone turn away from me since I am shaved.  And I seems like people listen to me more now too.  I like being BALD.  I like who I am without hair. 

THE WORLD WOULD BE BETTTER OFF WITH MORE BALD GUYS.

[Vash]

Do you think shaving your head makes you more or less of an individual?

I think the individuality question is contextual. In a situation like prison, concentration camps or even the military shaving the head can be a powerful component of robbing people of their sense of self image and individuality. But in those situations, shaving the head is involuntary and is only one part of taking away the sense of self.

Conversely, in modern American society, where the societal norm for men, and indeed the image of masculinity is a well groomed and styled full head of thick hair, then it is indeed an act of individuality to remove all the hair on your head (no matter how little may be left) and proudly and confidently be bald.

So it kind of goes both ways depending on the context of the head shave. I think the personal CHOICE to do it or not is the key part of it all. Nobody likes being told what they are going to look like. The power of personal expression in our looks is a mighty freedom and something that we don’t often think of, but we enjoy it every day.

Consider how much is tied up in the way we look. All of the ideas, judgments and stereotypes mentioned above in this thread are made not only from hairstyle, but from clothes, posture, etc. When someone feels like they are in a rut and in need of a radical personal change, they will often change their hair cut or color, buy some new clothes, get a tattoo; they change the way they look to change the way they feel.

I happen to be friends with a couple of pretty serious dread heads. They tell me that they see their dreads as being a part if their personal expression and when one of them chose to shave his head after being dready for over 20 years, he said he just needed to feel free. He said that everything about you is tied up in your dreads. All your thoughts grow from your head into your hair and so cutting off all his dreads and starting from scratch was an act of cleansing and release.

So I think it CAN make you more of an individual and it can be USED to make you feel like much less of one.

Maybe Vash will chime in on this topic.  He's one of our kilt wearing bald guys.
http://www.myspace.com/v45h0n

As for Kilts.... kilts are fantastic. Comfortable, stylish and defiantly a little different in this day and age. Though they aren’t necessarily for everyone. Wearing a kilt, much like shaving your head, can garner you quite a bit of attention in public, and not everyone is ok with that.

 I own 3 “traditional” Scottish Tartan kilts and 5 UtiliKilts (think kilts with pockets). (Outside of work) I think I have worn pants maybe 3 times in the past 3 years. I only wear my tartan kilts for formal dress occasions as they are expensive and have to be dry-cleaned. My UtiliKilts are very convenient, durable and easy to care for. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have about kilts and kilt wearing.

If you are looking for affordable tartan kilts I highly recommend Matthew Newsome http://kilts.albanach.org/index.html . And I’d seriously suggest looking into UtiliKilts http://www.utilikilts.com as a modern American alternative to a tartan kilt. 

[Robmeister]

Vash!  You are one articulate bald dude!

I appreciate the depth of your posts, man.  Gotta sit down with a cup-o-coffee or martini to soak it all in 

I'm Scotch/Irish/Brit....never even considered wearing a kilt.  HHHhhhmmmm....I'll have to check out them websites.

[Tyler]

Great post Vash! 

I would like to add that I think if you choose to make you an individual by shaving your head, then it will. 

[Vash]

Great post Vash! 

I would like to add that I think if you choose to make you an individual by shaving your head, then it will. 

Absolutly Tyler... if YOU choose it, then it does. If someone else chooses it for you, then it would seem it doesn't

[happyharry]

Aaah (sigh), that's quality content at its best. Bravo! Great post, Vash. Keep 'em coming.

Ah, and now you got me all curious about them kilts. I'll check them out. If I like what I see, and
if they are indeed comfortable, then I might give it a try...

[frostillicus123]

I am a bouncer, and being slick with a goatee I have an intimidating factor. I bet being a pretty big guy helps too.. however no one messes around when I'm near by and all the girls seem to love me. I get more hugs and kisses on the check than all you combined.... some of the girls even call me teddy bear but that's ok cause they are hot.

[PigPen]

I'm definitely lookin into some kilts. I need to find my family tartan again.

[Tyler]

I think a shaved head does help bouncers add some intimidation factor.  Though, now having a shaved head, I seem to get a lot more leeway from bouncers, especially the ones that shave their head.

all the girls seem to love me. I get more hugs and kisses on the check than all you combined....

That's a pretty bold statement.  Though, I could believe it if you bounced in a strip club.

When I dated a couple of dancers they were always nice to the bouncers so they were watched over throughout the night.

[Hawk]

I get more hugs and kisses on the check than all you combined..

I don't know.........my one year old daughter sure kisses and hugs me a lot!   

[BigJeffrey]

It's been a while since anyone has said anything to me about it but I used to get comments that I looked meaner with a shaved head.  These comments always came from people who didn't know me though.  I don't think I can go 10 seconds without smiling, laughing or cracking a joke.  It's hard to pull off mean and intimidating with my kind of personality though. 

Now that I think about it....pretty much all the bald dudes I know are the nicest guys.  The guys on the forum here seem to be the same way too. 

[Tyler]

It's been a while since anyone has said anything to me about it but I used to get comments that I looked meaner with a shaved head. 

Yeah, one of my buddies tells me that people always think I'm mean until I start talking.