Receding hairlines now have sex appeal (if you style yours correctly)

Telegraph

04-04-2025

Great news for the 85 percent of the male population who have succumbed to a receding hairline: balding is officially sexy right now. Leading the charge is 53-year-old actor Walton Goggins, whose unabashed embracing of his rapidly rising forehead has been getting women (and men) hot under the collar during the recent season of The White Lotus. You can cancel that trip to Turkey after all.
Goggins plays Rick, an ageing playboy with a much younger girlfriend (Chelsea, played by the brilliant Aimee Lou Wood, whose non-veneered teeth have also been a major talking point this season), who, and this is not a spoiler, is kind of a jerk.
Styled sartorially on Christian Slater's character from True Romance, he oozes quiet confidence and a complete lack of concern about his looks – which as we all know, is incredibly sexy. What's more, the cinematography has done nothing to hide his fantastic forehead: it shines in candlelit scenes and the camera lingers on it. There's no smoke and mirrors wizardry attempting to disguise it here.
In a world in which the hair transplant has become commonplace, whether or not it's owned up to (see: Justin Bieber, John Travolta and Jude Law) it's refreshing to see someone saying, 'No, I like my hair. I'm keeping it long – thank you very much.'
Goggins is such an outlier that there are whole Reddit forums dedicated to the subject. One is titled, 'How is Walton Goggins doing it?' with questions about his hair type, cut and attitude – crucially, from a man who wants to emulate his look. The only other Hollywood star with a receding hairline that we could think of was Ralph Fiennes – an actor with a capital A, which might be part of the reason.
'It's not just the hair on its own,' agrees hairstylist Luke Hersherson. 'It's a combination of his confidence, his nonchalance and his attitude, as well as his style. Everything works together. The fact that he is embracing it, rather than hiding it, also adds to the attractiveness, as well as the long hair – it gives him this, 'I don't give a shit' attitude. I'm not sure we'd be talking about it if all those things weren't true.'
And to answer that Redditor's million dollar question, how can real men who are starting to recede in their 50s and beyond achieve the same sexy, laid back vibe as Goggins' Rick?
' The key to his look is the length,' explains Hersherson. 'If you are keeping your hair long, then you need to make sure the sides are long enough to tuck behind the ears, otherwise they will stick out and give you too much width. If you've got really thick hair, then you might need to thin it so that it sits back more easily.'
Don't reach for the blow-drier either: the key here is to look as au natural as possible. 'In terms of styling, I'd advise letting it dry naturally, and just using some good products that don't look too waxy or gel-like,' he explains. 'Our Almost Everything Creme is brilliant for giving a little bit of hold, separation and texture, without it being too set – you still want movement in it. Use it when the hair is wet, which will take away that fluffiness and softness of first-day post-wash hair, and then you can use some more when it's dry as a separator. It just gives an ease to the hair.'
Sounds like it might finally be time to forget the first rule of 'hairline club': we never talk about hairlines.