I don’t know what great magic caused the recent 90s fever up in Lovelyish land, but it’s the best decade to look back on and shake our heads in humble embarrassment. The trends were atrocious, yet we were crazy about them. For instance, JNCO’s and butterfly clips. Oversized scrunchies and heavy lipliner? Tinted sunglasses and… “The Rachel”. In the 90s, I was into bike shorts and those huge, clunky Doc Marten sandals. I ruled the playground.

But what trend among the men folk really stole our budding hearts? The bowl cut, or more crassly put, the butt-cut. (As some commenters have mentioned, it is also called “curtains” or “the mushroom”. Never heard of these nicknames, but thanks for letting me know!) Not sure if there’s a tasteful moniker for the hairstyle fad. Parted down the middle, this trend spread across the teen heartthrob board like wildfire and landed on our locker doors, adjacent to the mirror, natch.

When I first saw Lord of the Rings, I thought Orlando Bloom as Legolas was hot as hell. After seeing him in other movies, I realized it must have been the elf ears… Uhh. That said, I think I was obsessed with Devon Sawa in the 90s because of the bowl cut. The very blonde, shiny and innocent parted ‘do. How did Hollywood hypnotize me so well? And keep it up with the likes of Jonathan Jackson, Brad Renfro, Leonardo Dicaprio and JTT? You know me too well, you billion-dollar industry headed by old, crochety fogies!

Spanning different lengths and different hair-colors among the young lady-killers, the heart of the cut was in the glorious middle part. Leave it neat as can be, you are ready to meet the parents. Muss it up with some gel, and BAM! You now have yourself a bad boy. This haircut was the jack of all trades. I recall there being a new kid in my 6th grade class who wasn’t necessarily “so fine” (I was not mean, I was twelve,) but he was Devon Sawa’s hair twin, thus every girl gravitated towards him. He knew his hair held powers.

These heartthrob kings, elegantly crowned with the majestic butt-cut, ruled the preteen kingdom with their charm, flirty grins and perfectly placed tresses framing their eyes. When it died out, so did an era of boy-crazy innocence that is surely well-documented in some back issues of Tiger Beat.

Did you fall victim to the bowl cut craze? Which teen heartthrob was your favorite?

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