Short Beck and Sides
IT
WAS the assignment from hell - have your hair cut like David Beckham
I
went under the scissors for a controversial snip just like the England
captain. And I feel about a stone lighter.
Gone is my mop top barnet which has been the butt of many jokes over the
years. And in is a razor-sharp mohican, which I'm sure will be the butt of
many more. My hair hasn't been this short since I was a baby.
It was an odd but strangely exhilarating feeling as I watched my mousey
locks tumble and thought of the roasting I'd get when I got home.
The £15 haircut took just ten minutes and I reckon it'll be at least six
months before my old look is back. But it feels good, and it has pumped me
with confidence and aggression - so now I understand why 26-year-old Becks
had it done.
Celebrity stylist Samuel Bradshaw, 22 - senior hairdresser at Lynx Barbers
in London's West End - clippered my hair down to a grade five, leaving a
two-inch section running from my crown to where the top of my fringe used to
be.
Sam said: "This is very unusual look - I've only done one before. But
Beckham having it done will obviously inspire a lot of young people. Those
in school will have to be careful though, because it might not go down too
well."
Yesterday Manchester United star Becks vowed to keep the style when he leads
England out on Friday at Derby's Pride Park for a friendly against Mexico.
And he could still have it for the vital World Cup qualifier in Greece on
June 6.
Sun readers voted four to one for him to shave off the mohican.
But he insisted: "While it is important how I conduct myself on and off
the pitch as captain of England, I do not think it matters how I look.
"I have not done it to create attention or anything. It's just me.
Someone asked me what the inspiration was. I have not even seen the film
Taxi Driver but I have seen pictures from it of Robert De Niro and that's
where I probably got the idea."
Becks said Posh Spice wife Victoria, 27, "loves it" - while his
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson "had a chuckle".
England boss Sven Goran Eriksson had also laughed off the severe cut. Becks
explained: "He said, 'If it had been your right foot then it would have
been a problem'."
Becks even won support from legend Sir Tom Finney, 79, capped by England 76
times. He said: "There is nothing wrong with the England captain
looking like that. It's up to him."
And he quipped: "It could be better than longer styles you see - it
probably makes him more aerodynamic."
HAIR we mo, hair we mo, hair we mo! It was a close shave but, after a tense
match-up, stylist Sam cut through Dominic's defenses.
We've
seen Mohican Dom LOSE a lot of hair and DRAW a few laughs - but he's hardly
going to WIN over any of Beckham's fans. In fact, Dom looks shocked by the
end result.
Past
of the Mohicans
DAVID Beckham may be the latest of the mohicans but he is certainly not the
first. The style has been sported by the Mohican tribe of North American
Indians for well over 400 years.
In the early 19th century, American novelist James Fenimore Cooper made them
famous with his novel The Last Of The Mohicans.
A film version in 1936, starring Randolph Scott as Hawkeye and with Bruce
Cabot as the villainous Magua, kept the style in the public eye. A decade
later, a group of US paratroopers cut their hair mohican-style "for
luck" - on March 23, 1945 - the day before landing across the Rhine.
The crop was back in view in 1971 when the BBC turned Fenimore Cooper's
novel into a TV series starring Philip Madoc.
In
the mid Seventies it was adopted by the first punk rockers when they
appeared on the streets of New York. The look was copied by Robert De Niro
in the cult 1976 movie Taxi Driver. It was De Niro's character, would-be
assassin Travis Bickle, who inspired Beckham to get his cut.
When punk spread to Britain, followers latched on to the rebel style and
some, like mega-crested Matt Belgrano, became a tourist attraction, even
featuring on postcards. The cut was also sported by Joe Strummer of cult
band The Clash.
Telly's A-Team star Mr. T adopted the fearsome style in the 1980s for his
character B.A. Baracus. And it was back in 1992 in a movie remake of The
Last Of The Mohicans, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
Last year even Sir Winston Churchill got the look when May Day rioters
desecrated his statue in Central London by plonking a mohican made of turf
on his head.
Today descendants of the original tribe call themselves Mohegans. They run a
huge casino, two hours' drive from New York.
THE
END
DAVID
BECKHAM"S NEW HAIRCUT:
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