Fringes and partings
Bangs, curtain fringes, side partings and the widow's peak. 7 hairstyles on EveryHairstyle so far.
A fringe, called bangs in American English, is hair cut to fall over the forehead. Partings decide which way the rest of the hair falls. Together they shape the face more than any other part of a haircut. The blunt fringe of the hime cut, the parted curtain fringe of the 1990s, the straight-across Edgar cut and the side-swept fringe are all built from these two choices.
Kinds of fringe
A blunt fringe is cut straight across, often at the brows. A wispy fringe is thinned so skin shows through. A side fringe sweeps across the forehead. A curtain fringe parts in the middle and falls to each side, blending into face-framing layers. A micro fringe sits high on the forehead. Cowlicks at the hairline can make a fringe stand up, so stylists check how the hair grows before cutting.
Partings
A centre parting divides the hair evenly; a side parting puts more hair on one side and adds height there. In the 2020s the debate between centre and side partings became a running joke between generations online. The zigzag parting, the hard part shaved into short hair and the neat grid partings of box braids are other kinds. Partings can carry meaning too: married Hindu women may mark theirs with red sindoor.
Famous fringe hairstyles
BangsHair cut to fall over the forehead
Curtained hairA centre-parted fringe falling both ways
Hime cutA blunt fringe with straight side locks
Edgar cutA straight fringe over a short fade
Bowl cutAn all-round fringe like an upturned bowl
Seiko-chan cutA feathered fringe of 1980s Japan
Dido flipA side-parted cut that flips at the endsFurther reading
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Hime cut: kxz Chen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Seiko-chan cut: HouseGecko, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Curtained hair: Jacques-Émile Blanche, Public domain, source
- Edgar cut: ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bangs: Circle of Girolamo Mocetto (Active 1490-1530), Public domain, source
- Dido flip: The original uploader was Djr xi at English Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bowl cut: Audun Gjerdi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source