Eternal Tweens • 12 Iconic Butt Haircuts of the 1990s

12 Iconic Butt Haircuts of the 1990s

In the 1990s, you weren’t a dreamy dude unless you sported the classic middle-parted and shaggy hairstyle known as the butt-cut (or the mushroom cut or the bowl cut or simply ‘curtains’ as it’s known in the UK). It was a hairstyle worn by all of the top 90s teen idols and most likely, the hottest boys in your grade in middle school. Let’s take a look at the 12 Most Iconic Butt Haircuts of the 1990s.

JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS (Home Improvement)

Meghan: As far as I’m concerned, JTT set the gold standard for the iconic butt haircut in the 1990s. He was really the most important teen idol of our generation, after all, and his hair was kind of his signature.

Beth: I don’t know if he’s the reason this particular style became popular at that time, but he’s who I always think of when people mention it. I still remember how big a deal it was to tweens everywhere when he got a haircut. It was the end of an era.

NICK CARTER (Backstreet Boys)

Meghan: In the BSB, Nick was the “cute one” so of course he was the band member who had the butt haircut. But I will say, by the time the BSB came along I feel like the days of this hair style were numbered and he had in fact, the last great butt haircut of our generation.

Beth: I like to imagine the butt haircut was a requirement for any young actor or singer trying to get big back then. Like, “well, you’re a good actor, but you’re gonna have to do something about the hair. We really need a butt haircut in this role."

BRAD RENFRO (Various films)

Meghan: This is what I like to call the "bad boy butt cut.” It’s slightly unkempt and in disarray, which goes with Brad Renfro’s image as the sort of “dark and mysterious teen idol”

Beth: I was a little scared of Brad Renfro as a tween. Clearly it was the slightly untidy butt haircut.

DEVON SAWA (Now and Then, Casper, etc)

Meghan: Legit like every cool guy in my middle school had this haircut.

Beth: Seriously. My brother had that haircut in middle school. P.S. I can’t think over the waves of 1995 nostalgia I’m having. Devon was a god to my 6th grade class.

MATTHEW LAWRENCE (Boy Meets World, Mrs. Doubtfire, etc)

Meghan: Were all of the supporting actors on Boy Meets World required to have a butt haircut or nah? Seems like it.

Beth: I bet Ben Savage is thankful he’s a curly when he looks back on old BMW photos of all his co-stars. He really dodged a bullet.

JONATHAN BRANDIS (Seaquest DSV)

Meghan: From what I remember Seaquest was kind of a nerdy show and Jonathan Brandis was kind of branded as the “nerdy/smart” teen idol rather than a jock or a pretty boy, but even he could not escape the butt haircut trend.

Beth: I feel like he used more product than the other in his version of the butt haircut. You gotta be careful: if you over-product the butt haircut it starts to look really grody.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO (Perpetual Oscar Nominee)

Meghan: Maybe if he had kept this haircut he would have an Oscar. *shrugs*

Beth: You think there’s a strong butt haircut prejudice in the Academy? I think we’re on to something here. I mean, why else?

RIDER STRONG (Boy Meets World)

Meghan: From what I remember, his haircut was so prominent and important on this show, it overshadowed all of the other male actors’ butt haircuts and at some points, even overshadowed major plot points on the show.

Beth: I’m pretty sure they did entire episodes (that’s episodes, plural) where the plot revolved around Shawn’s hair. There was a show within the show about Shawn’s hair. I mean, it really should have been called Boy Meets World, Meanwhile His BFF Has A Slammin’ Center-Parted Bowl Cut.

JARED LETO (My So Called Life and a lot of other stuff)

Meghan: Jordan Catalano had a variation of the traditional butt haircut that I like to call “the rebellious butt haircut” which basically meant, it was not as neatly maintained and was long and flowing, because let’s face it, rebels didn’t give a shit about being properly groomed. They were edgy! They wore chokers! The butt haircut was so prevalent in the 90s that yes, even the bad boys and the rebels on TV series were forced to sport them.

Beth: Jared Leto was the one person to make this hairstyle acceptable for me. It’s ugly as hell but he made it look good. Of course he did.

ANDREW KEEGAN (10 Things I Hate About You, Camp Nowhere)

Meghan: A rare example of someone who had curly hair and a butt haircut and still managed to pull it off and look pretty dope.

Beth: Yeah, he made it work. I kind of like it better on a curly, I think.

WILL FRIEDLE (Boy Meets World)

Meghan: ANOTHER ACTOR ON BOY MEETS WORLD WITH A BUTT HAIRCUT WOW I AM SHOCKED. His was not as iconic as Rider Strong’s though, LET’S BE REAL. It sort of blended in, whereas Rider’s was like, a character on the show.

Beth: I associate him with this cut only in that his BMW character, Eric, improved about 1000x after he got rid of this haircut. Which to me is proof that this haircut sucks ass.

JENSEN ACKLES (Sweet Valley High)