‘It looks awful, David': How to master a buzz cut without ruining your style

Telegraph

22-07-2025

In his many decades in the spotlight, David Beckham – who recently turned 50 – has never shied away from headline-worthy hairstyles. But his latest look has caused a buzz for all the wrong reasons: he posted a video on Instagram on Sunday showing his 80 million-strong audience he had accidentally sheared a large chunk of hair from his head.
Attempting to hide the damage from the camera, his wife Victoria – who appears to be filming the video – teases him about the mishap. 'You tried to cut your hair but what have you done?' she laughs. He revealed the bald patch, saying 'It's not funny. The clipper head fell off,' before she tells him it looks 'terrible'. Blink and it could have been five years ago in peak Covid lockdown, when men up and down the country took to DIY barbering.
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Most electric trimmers come with plastic guards, often referred to as the trimmer's head, which controls the length of the cut. These attachments are adjustable, usually ranging from half a millimetre up to five or more, depending on the desired finish. The most common mistake is in how the trimmer is handled. The guard must be securely attached; if the guard slips or pops off mid-use, as it did with Beckham, the blade reverts to zero and creates an unintentional bald spot.
For Marcos Verissimo, the hairstylist and founder of Mayfair salon The Six, 'short hairstyles, especially shaved or close-cropped looks, are often misunderstood as low maintenance. In reality, they require far more upkeep than people realise.' The alternative to a DIY approach in maintaining a clean, intentional finish on a buzz cut is to go into a salon every seven to ten days, because 'after two or three weeks, even minimal growth can make the style appear unkempt or unfinished,' adds Verissimo. It's no wonder why many men choose to upkeep the style from home.
According to Verissimo, attempting an at-home buzz-cut frequently ends in disaster. 'What happened to David is the guard popped off - it's something I see often with clients who trim their own hair, and mistakes like this are incredibly common,' he says. His top piece of advice to avoid this from happening is to 'rest your index finger on top of the plastic comb while trimming.'
In Beckham's case, the best solution, the stylist advises, is to simply even out the rest of the hair. 'He still looks great, but it is a helpful reminder that short hair often demands more maintenance, not less,' adds Verissimo. 'This is one of the reasons I often recommend slightly longer styles for men. They are more forgiving, more versatile, and much easier to manage.'
The former England footballer was indeed the poster boy for a whole host of hairstyles in the 90s and 00s, sporting every cut from a platinum blond fade to a spiky Mohawk and a highlighted, tousled bob. He even made the 'man bun' a popular style of the time.
However his haircuts haven't always proved popular: in an episode of the 2023 Netflix series Beckham, Beckham shared how back in 2000 his Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson ordered him to shave his Mohawk before walking out onto the pitch – having hidden it under a beanie hat to avoid the manager seeing it ahead of the game. Mohawk or not, perhaps it's time to dust off the beanie, David.