Barbershop Blog

What is a taper haircut?

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“If the length of the hair is shorter at the bottom than on the top, it’s a taper haircut”

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The ‘taper’ is the workhorse of men’s hairstyles and it’s the foundation on which an array of styles are built upon. The term ‘taper’ refers to the gradual tapering in length of the hair. Starting with longer hair up on top and then tapering to shorter lengths down towards the natural hairline and the nape of the neck. 

The taper may end as short as a number two grade on the clippers or be much longer like a scissor cut, the overall length doesn’t matter too much, it is the gradation in length that is the important characteristic of the taper.

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The taper is the backbone of most conservative men’s haircuts, not all, but most men’s hairstyles involve some kind of tapering and therefor fit into this collection. A clean taper remains true and and stylish for a considerable amount of time and it requires much less attention and regular cutting than a fade, which we’ll get onto next.
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What is a fade haircut?

A ‘fade’ does fit into the taper basket of haircuts as there is a clear taper with all fades. The difference with a fade is that the hair length tapers all the way down to the skin, or close to it. A clipper grade below a number two, so that it looks like the hair fades away above the natural hairline. The term fade refers to this shifting and fading of the hairline. 

The fade can be positioned low, mid or high on the head. A low fade drops down behind the ears, a mid fade drops only a little and a high fade starts high up towards the crown. A low or mid fade is often called a ‘drop fade’, as it drops down at the back of the head.

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For a fade to remain true and maintain its faded to skin effect, regular visits to the barbershop are required. A fade is more extreme than a taper and helps to create very trendy and contemporary hairstyles.
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What the hell is a taper fade haircut?

The most confusing part of all of this has got to be the ‘taper fade’ or sometimes called a temple fade. For this one there is a fade to skin only at the temple and the nape of the neck, there is no fade above the ear. There can be a low, mid or high temple fade but this whole area has debatable definitions and many different interpretations, best to find a photo to show your barber if you plan on exploring this particular space.