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The Peaky Blinder haircut is inspired by the BBC crime drama series of the same name. The hairdo has become a style statement that sports a shaved head with textured hair above. Three lead characters of the show, Thomas Shelby, Arthur Shelby and John Shelby, exhibited different iterations of the haircut.
The Peaky Blinders series premiered in 2013, portraying the post-First World War era. To sync with the scenario, the show's hairdresser Loz Schiavo focused on the shaved haircut — a variation of the French crop. To provide more realistic details, Loz took inspiration from military crew haircut.
The Peaky Blinder haircut explained in detail
In professional terms, the haircut is defined as a harsh undercut complemented with a shaved head. What makes it distinct is its sharp gradations. The undercut of 0.5 inches brings forth the edgy look which is not purely faded, while the top of the head is cut in a square shape to provide volume to the haircut.
The hairdresser, Los Schiavo told FashionBeans:
"In the post-war era when ‘Peaky World’ is set, they used to shave their heads because of lice. But the look I was after when I designed the cut for the series, was so you only saw skin when the boys were wearing hats. This is so you only really see the individual character when he removes his hat."
Read more: 11 best haircuts for men to sport this holiday season
What are the different types of the Peaky Blinder haircuts?
The protagonist of the crime series, Thomas Shelby (played by Cillian Murphy), sports the a Peaky Blinder haircut that features a short side and bottom and a slightly longer top.
An iteration of French Crop was styled to Cillian Murphy's hair with an asymmetric front to bring volume. The long layer was at the front, followed by the shorter layers at the sides. Later, it was combed from right to left, underscoring the fringes on his forehead.
During an interview with The Chap in 2018, Loz Schiavo said:
"When Cillian Murphy first sat in my chair for his first haircut on Season 1, he said, ‘we need to do this in stages’. So I gave him a typical 1920s haircut and it just looked boring. And this show isn’t boring, so we need something to push it. So I graded his hair from a number 4, to a number 3, then 2 and then one, and gave him that line. So it really individualized that haircut."
Another show character named Arthur Shelby was given a relatively different Peaky Blinder haircut to highlight his volatile look. He had long layers of mane at the top, styled with a slick back pattern. The lower part and sides were shorter than Thomas'. The idea was to create unblended layers to bring out the edgy masculine look.
Sharing his thoughts on Arthur's haircut, Schiavo told The Chap:
"Arthur’s hair, when he’s got his cap on, is a Zero Guard. When he came to me, he already had longer hair, so I wanted to work with that hair. There’s a book which is my bible on this series, called Crooks Like Us."
Lastly, John Shelby's look was a blend of Thomas and Arthur's hairdos. His bottom hair was shaved with very little length, which continued to the top. Both layers were cropped to a short length to give him a clean look.
While the main leads of Peaky Blinders got special attention with their faded and cropped hairdos, other characters like Alfie Solomons also caught eyeballs. His haircut was more messy and had long layers, while the beard was an extra addition.
