Carlos Flores is in the process of receiving his barber license. He has been practicing for three years and has specialized in all types of men’s haircuts. But there has been a recent style that young Latinos have been requesting frequently.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t get an ‘Edgar haircut,’” Flores, 19, an award-winning aspiring hairstylist from Kyle, Texas, told NBC News. Flores now averages at least 7 «Edgar haircuts» a day, most of them requested by younger clients ranging from fifth graders to high school seniors.
Partly due to TikTok and other social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram, the hairstyle dubbed the «Edgar cut» has gained huge popularity. Just follow the memes, even sponge Bob and Throwyou’re wearing it
As first reported The Dallas Morning Newsthe hairstyle has struck a chord with Latinos in Generation Z and late millennials.
One of Flores’s clients, 19-year-old Juan Morazán, saw the growing popularity of the hairstyle and opted to swap out his man bun—his shoulder-length hair—for the Edgar cut.
“I like it short. I don’t like it too big where it looks like I have a helmet or like a balloon on my head,” said Morazán, who now refreshes Edgar’s cut every 6 days.
Often described as having a bowl-shaped cut with an alignment and tapered sides, the Edgar is often associated with the ranch/or modern aesthetic known as “takuache” and “trokiando” (from the word truck) scene of trucks. where young people embrace their Mexican roots by wearing cowboy hats and boots, driving pickup trucks, and dancing to traditional Mexican music like corridos and rancheras.
Edgar’s hairstyle has been prevalent in states near the US-Mexico border, including California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. However, his popularity extends to other Latino youth, not just Mexican Americans or those living in the Southwest.
What is the name of the haircut? The popular origin story is that a young fan asked a hairdresser, Anthony Reyes, to cut and shape a design of Major League Baseball player Edgar Martinez, former hitter and third baseman for the Seattle Mariners, at the back of his head.
Reyes then shared a video that resembled Edgar’s now infamous haircut and it went viral.
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While the Edgar is a favorite, videos, images and memes have turned the haircut and its associated culture into something of a running gag, including stereotypes of those who wear it.
Viral videos online often depict and mock youngsters with «Edgar» cuts, seemingly lumping them all together due to their shared characteristics, such as their appearance, clothing style, gait, dialect, and interests.
Alexandro Gradilla, associate professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at California State University, Fullerton, said it’s important to step back and see how the haircut is perceived.
“Although they don’t have the label, they are closer to the indigenous peasant identity that predominates in Latin America. And they are also representative of the kind of blue-collar immigrant culture here in the United States,” Gradilla said. “When you look at these young people, we also have to understand this: their culture is a mixture of what happens to indigenous culture and indigenous peoples through time and space, especially in Latin America.”
The hairstyle has been found to have some resemblance to the hairstyle of Native American Indians, including the Jumano tribe which were dominant between 1500 and 1700 in Texas.
Gradilla said that criticizing Edgar implies a form of classism or rasquachismo, which derives from the word rasquache – often used to describe an attitude that is low-class, tacky, or too cheap.
“You don’t see what you would call Latinos passing for white with an Edgar haircut. It’s always the very dark-skinned Latinos who get the Edgar haircut,” Gradilla said.
Criticism of Edgar includes making fun of the haircut, referring to young people who wear it as lower class or more sheltered or lacking the respect of the Mexican American “cholo” or gangster style.
However, despite all the Edgar memes and criticism, his popularity has only grown.
“First it was just the Edgar, now it’s something called the Fluffy Edgar,” Flores said. He said many fellow barbers struggle to cut their hair and some won’t, but suggests they learn because «it’s here to stay. There are so many people cutting their hair now, I don’t think it’s really going far anytime soon.
«Some people even go further and get a design on the back as a freestyle design to express themselves even more,» Flores said. «When you walk around with Edgar’s haircut, you’ll get more attention than if you just had a simple bald fade. It might not be good attention, but you’re sure to turn heads.»