The temple fade, also known as a Brooklyn fade, taper fade, low taper fade, and blowout, is a

haircut A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut, or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head but sometimes on the face or body. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although ...

that first gained popularity in the late 90s and early 2000s in

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

, and

Hispanic American Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to the ...

barbershops as a variation of the bald fade, originating primarily in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

, particularly in

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and especially

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Overview

The hair is tapered from the scalp to in length from the edge of the hairline up . The rest of the hair is left the same length, usually , depending on the preference of the client. The hairstyle's origins emerged alongside New York barber's Shape-Up, edge up, or line up hair style worn by inner city youth and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

artists in the early 1980s. Though modern in its form, tapering and grooming techniques date back centuries, with historical and religious figures, often depicted with distinct hairstyles reflecting cultural trends of their time. It was trendy mainly in the larger metropolitan areas of the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

, such as

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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and

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. Today it is seen as a staple hairstyle amongst

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

, and is a popular hairstyle amongst Italian Americans, South Asian Americans, Arab Americans and Mexican Americans and in the American

Hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, Pop music and

House Music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

subcultures; as well as internationally in countries such as the UK, France, Germany and Spain. In 2024, the haircut became part of a meme after musician

Ericdoa Eric George Lopez, known professionally as ericdoa (stylized in all lowercase), is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known as one of the main artists in the hyperpop/ digicore genres of music. Career Lopez was born ...

had a

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livestream singing impromptu songs, including one where he sang "Imagine if

Ninja A , or was a spy and infiltrator in pre-modern Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding.Kawakami, pp. 21–22 Antecedents may have existed as ear ...

got a low taper fade"; the segment was recognized for the absurdity of its lyrics, especially contrasting the preceding song about how the death of Ericdoa's own grandfather affected him. The low taper fade clip subsequently went viral, culminating in Ninja revealing in a

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

video that he got the haircut. He has since made references to the meme during videos and streams.

Different types of taper fades

* Low taper fade – Shaved sideburns and faded around * Mid taper fade – Starting the taper at the temple area, offering a gradual transition from longer hair at the top to shorter at the sides * High taper fade – Larger fade area, beginning tapering near the crown or higher * Ice pick taper fade – Starting the taper just below the ear and quickly fading back up to the ice pick sideburns lower down. It is sometimes called the "low taper with ice picks" because the tapering starts at the same place as to where a low taper would start. * Shadow taper fade – The fade is very subtle and leaves a slight shadow of hair on the sides and back. * Blowout taper fade – Starting the tapering just below the vertical bars and fading back up rapidly when above the ear.

References

{{Human hair 2000s fashion Hairstyles Internet memes introduced in 2024

Overview

Different types of taper fades

See also

References