The Wings haircut or "flippies" is a popular hairstyle

Hairstyle

A hairstyle, hairdo, or haircut refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although practical, cultural, and popular considerations also influence some hairstyles.-History of...

 used in the 2000s, usually from the skateboarding community. Typically long, the style can range from long and drooping below the eyes, to a shorter length. The haircut is typically wavy and, if straight, the length comes to halfway down the ears. Instead of lying on the wearer's ears, the hair flips up and comes straight out like an airplane wing, hence the name.

Origins

This hairstyle was first worn by Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 gentlemen from the 1830s until the 1890s, usually with a beard

Beard

A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks and neck of human beings. Usually, only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. However, women with hirsutism may develop a beard...

 or muttonchop sideburns

Sideburns

Sideburns or sideboards are patches of facial hair grown on the sides of the face, extending from the hairline to below the ears and worn with an unbearded chin...

. From the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 until the pompadour

Pompadour

Pompadour can refer to:* Arnac-Pompadour, a commune of the Corrèze département of France, former marquisate, famous for its Château and its National Stud...

 became popular in the 1950s younger men cut their hair very short for an athletic look although the longer hair continued to be worn by some older men born before 1890, such as Western actor George "Gabby" Hayes.

During the 1920s the wings haircut was worn as an alternative to the bob cut

Bob cut

A "bob cut" is a short haircut for women in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at about jaw-level, often with a fringe at the front.-The beginning:...

 and pageboy

Pageboy

The pageboy is a hairstyle named after what was believed to be the haircut of an English page boy. It has straight hair hanging to below the ear, where it usually turns under. Often there is a fringe in the front. This style was popular in the 1950s and 1960s.-Design and style:The pageboy...

 hairstyle by flappers and young children of both sexes. It remained popular during the war years for its practicality when women worked in the factories. After the war, women's hair grew increasingly longer until the 1960s when it made a comeback among younger women like Twiggy

Twiggy

Lesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....

 and continued to be worn into the 1970s.

Popularity among youth subcultures

In the early 1960s the wings haircut made a comeback among the Beatnik

Beatnik

Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...

 and surfer subcultures who allowed their hair to grow out bushy and unstyled. Rock bands like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles copied this look, which spread to America during the British invasion

British Invasion

The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...

 and was worn by bands like The Monkees

The Monkees

The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...

 and The Byrds

The Byrds

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...

. By the mid-1960s the wings haircut was worn by the mod subculture to set them apart from the older generation and the Rockers

Rockers

Rockers, leather boys or ton-up boys are a biker subculture that originated in the United Kingdom during the 1950s. It was mainly centered around British cafe racer motorcycles and rock and roll music....

 who favored brylcreem

Brylcreem

Brylcreem is a brand of hair styling products for men. The first Brylcreem product was a pomade created in 1928 by County Chemicals at the Chemico Works in Bradford Street, Birmingham, England. The pomade is an emulsion of water and mineral oil stabilised with beeswax.Beecham was the longtime...

ed hair like the pompadour

Pompadour

Pompadour can refer to:* Arnac-Pompadour, a commune of the Corrèze département of France, former marquisate, famous for its Château and its National Stud...

. In the late 1960s hippies grew their hair shoulder-length in protest against the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

.

From the early 1970s until it was supplanted by the quiff

Quiff

The quiff is a hairstyle that combines the 1950s pompadour hairstyle, the 50s flattop, and sometimes a mohawk. The etymology of the word is uncertain but may derive from the French word "coiffe" which can mean either a hairstyle or, going further back, the mail knights wore over their heads and...

 in the mid 1980s the wings hairstyle was common among teenagers and young men, while those with curly hair wore afro

Afro

Afro, sometimes shortened to fro and also known as a "natural", is a hairstyle worn naturally by people with lengthy kinky hair texture or specifically styled in such a fashion by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair...

s. By the 1990s, however, hair was buzzed short, remaining so for teenagers until the mid-2000s when the wings haircut, together with 1960s inspired vintage clothing

Vintage clothing

Vintage clothing is a generic term for new or second hand garments originating from a previous era. The phrase is also used in connection with a retail outlet, e.g...

, made a comeback among fans of indie pop

Indie pop

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

. Scene kids imitated the look, dyeing their hair with bright-colored streaks and growing the back longer. Emos incorporated a fringe or bangs and dyed their hair black while preppies copied the neater, more styled version worn by pop singer Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber

Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...

.

Styling

This hairstyle can also be done by wearing a hat, causing the hair to flip out and up, or styled with a hair curler

Hair iron

A hair iron or hair tong is a tool used to change the structure of the hair using heat. There are three general kinds: curling irons, used to make the hair curly, straightening irons, commonly called straighteners or flat irons, used to straighten the hair, and crimping irons, used to create crimps...

  The easiest way to achieve this look is to first have the hair cut to a shorter length, most often just above the ears. Before having it cut, ask for a razor layered cut, and for the hair to be feathered at the end. This will make the hair able to flip up with ease. Once the hair is cut, wet the hair by taking a shower. Then take a towel and dry the hair by rubbing the towel vigorously until the hair is mostly dry (it should stil be somewhat wet) and stands up. Put a hat on forwards (backwards does not usually work as well) and blow dry the hair until the hair is flipped up as desired. To maintain it, hairspray may be used, although if the hair is short enough, it should be able to stay flipped up by itself. Today's best known and most notable wearer of the Wings is Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber

Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...

, from Canada.