Historically, the undercut has been associated with poverty and inability to afford a barber competent enough to blend in the sides, as on a
short back and sides haircut. From the turn of the 20th century until the 1920s,
the undercut was popular among young working-class men, especially members of street gangs. In interwar
Glasgow, the
Neds (precursors to the
Teddy Boys) favored a haircut that was long on top and cropped at the back and sides. Despite the fire risk, much
paraffin wax was used to keep the hair in place.
[2] Other gangs who favored this haircut were the
Scuttlers of
Manchester and the
Peaky Blinders of
Birmingham, because longer hair put the wearer at a disadvantage in a street fight.
[3]
During the jazz age of the 1920s and 1930s, hairstyles of this type were considered mainstream fashion.
[4] Military barbers of the
World War I era gave short back and sides haircuts as fast as possible because of the numbers, under orders to facilitate personal hygiene in trench warfare, and as nearly uniform as possible, with an eye to appearance on parade. This made the short back and sides style the norm in the UK after 1918, and its variant the
brush cut became common in North America and France.
[5] In Nazi Germany, a version of this haircut which was long on top but shaved at the back and sides was popular among Wehrmacht soldiers.
[6][7] The undercut remained common in the UK and America until the 1960s, when longer hair such as the
wings haircut was popularised by the
mod subculture and
British Invasion bands such as
The Beatles and
The Rolling Stones.