Line Up Haircut: Define Your Style With Our 20 Unique Examples
The most inspiring geometric cuts and most popular linear patterns
If you’re after a super clean-looking hairstyle, consider the line up haircut for your next ‘do. Also called a shape up or edge up, the style has gained popularity with black men, as it particularly suits African American hair types.
The line up haircut is easily identifiable by the sharp, razored edges of the hair. Either clippers with an extremely short guard size or a straight razor produce the ultra-defined look. The result is a tidy, almost geometric look that focuses on the lines. This is especially noticeable at the temples, where the hair extends out from the hairline, forming a 90-degree angle.
The line up haircut is a great choice if you’re looking for a slightly edgy style that accentuates the natural angles of your face. It works best with square or diamond face shapes.
High Top with Line Up
A line up can totally turn your hairstyle into a work of art. Here, the curls at the top are messy, then comes the abrupt hairline plus the designs on the side. All together, they make one super trendy ‘do!
French Cropped Curls with Mid Fade Line Up
The mixture of French Crop with low-key Drake’s beard blend makes this quite a neat look one should look out for. The mid-faded sides add an extra layer of neatness by reducing the volume on both ends while pushing the panache to the top.
Line up with Dyed Hair
Have your own unique crown with this dyed hair that makes a statement while giving you a bolder look. Sharpen things up with some nice line up for a clean contrast.
Drop Fade Temple Linework
If you’re looking for an easy way to quickly add style to any cut, look to the razor. Any stylist worth their salt will be able to add some genuinely dazzling linework to your next fade. Complemented by the drop fade and the layered, wavy top, the sharp angles above the corner of your eye will bring all the attention from your eyes to your hair. Add the disconnected and sharply trimmed beard to accentuate the whole style.
Lined Up Edgar
Drawing inspiration from the Edgar, the lines in this style are sharp enough to draw blood. Using his natural curls, he gives some serious contrast by having his temple lined up at a sharp angle. Add the low fade that goes to skin, and this cut can play ball anywhere, any time. The neatly trimmed fringe is drawn into focus by the well-kept, curly beard.
Spikey Quiff with Linework
One drastic way to make a statement with your style is with linework. The benefit of the scissor taper is that it allows you to control the length as it moves down the sides, giving you the freedom to get some amazing designs anywhere you want. Here, the top is kept longer and formed into a quiff, while the temple is lined up to add a clean look. Keeping the beard connected and trimmed neatly brings a little more hardiness, while the single line in the nape is the perfect cap to it all.
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Medium Arc Fade
Want to really get people talking? This is a surefire way to do just that. The contrast echoes throughout the style as the fringe and top are kept longer and wavy. Moving down to the sides, the fade brings a sleek feel while the precision linework draws attention all the way through. The subtle handlebar mustache adds some play to the style, ensuring you’ll get noticed everywhere you go.
The Arcing Edgar
With the Edgar rising to the height of its glory again, what better way to show your keen eye for fashion trends than making a truly unique Edgar? This style uses the contrast between the arcs lined in the medium fade to stop every passerby, forcing them to notice your trendsetting look. The ink running up the neck and near the ear adds even more artistry to your style.
Sharp Line Up with that Neat Dropped Temple Fade
Top being curly, the sides here are neatly tapered with that sharp lineup that only makes things better. The faded drop temple makes it perfectly neat plus that almost clean shaved look makes one good style for people to looks at.
Drop Fade with Afro Disconnection
This soft edge up blends well with the messy styling of this afro. And the disconnected design takes the entire look to a whole new level.
Low Fade with Short Curls and Line up
Here’s another example of an afro with a line up. The clean edges form a nice border around those curls.
High Top Afro With Fade
Even with the height on this afro, we don’t think it would look as impressive without the line up. Sharp edges definitely add a perfect polish to any hairstyle.
Long Lined Hard Part
If you really want to separate yourself from the crowd, ask your barber for some sweeping, sharp linework. Here, we see how this gentleman made the style even more distinctive by having the linework done in a low fade. To make this cut even more artistic, by having your part cut in. The length on top gives you the freedom to add a rolling combover to really complete the clean style.
Neat and Sleek Top with Mid Fade
A perfectly shaped afro needs more that just a good trim at the top and back. Don’t neglect your hairline — see how much more impressive it looks with those sharp edges?
Accumulated Top with Short Line Up
Now here’s an edge up that’s more statement-making than most. The solid fringe and corners on this style certainly make a unique frame for the face.
Gingered Wavy Top with Faded Line Up
We like how the wild wavy top is contrasted with a straight fringe then the subtle lines at the temple. This is a perfect transition from the dense top down to the cleaner neckline.
Dense Volume with Bright Low Fade
It’s a good idea to balance out dense volume with clean lines. The two make a great combination especially when teamed with an equally eye-catching beard.
Disconnected Skin Fade
Obviously, you only need one little element as striking as this disconnection to have the coolest hairstyle on the planet. Bookmark this for your next trip to your stylist.
Sharp Line Up
As you can see here, the sharper the edge up, the more eye-grabbing the hairstyle. And the perfectly trimmed beard adds an extra dose of pizzazz.
Thin Side Part with Mid Fade
If you’re not into the I-woke-up-like-this trend, this is the haircut for you. So impeccable it looks like it comes with a blueprint, this style features carefully carved lines and a flawless look from the voluminous top to the fade.
Pomp it Drop Fade
This style is definitely all sorts of cool with its high brush up and neat edges. The hard part adds another standout element.
Line up with Pompadour
Cleaning up your lines are a great way to enhance not only your hairstyle but also your face shape. It gives your widow’s peak a trim appearance and emphasizes your heart-shaped face.
Semi Curl Brush Up Top
One of the purposes of temple fade is to make the style look much cleaner. The thin hair-dense brush-up makes everything so much fun. The sides are taper faded and that makes the temple fade more prominent.
Skin Fade + Slicked Back Hairstyle
If you have a pompadour as perfect as this, it’s only right that you finish it off with an equally flawless line up. This is definitely a fresh-from-the-barber look.
High Fade Crew Cut + Line up
As you can see here, line ups do an excellent job of enhancing the sleekness of a crew cut. Those edges definitely make a stylish look even sharper.
Messy Hairstyle with Line up
Love the combination of textures on this ‘do: the messy top then the thinner hairline and clean edge up.
Long Curly French with Side Line Design
Here, the line up is further enhanced with a horizontal line design, making what would otherwise have been a simple curly French crop a super trendy look.
Rapper Style Drop Fade Buzzed Top
This hairstyle is a pot of different styling elements like buzz cut with french crop on the front. The sides are faded for sure but it is not your common fade. The drop fade adds to the flair of the fun.
Clean and Sharp Mid Fade with Short Top
If you have a short haircut with a mid fade, you can enhance the clean and sleek look further with a line up. This is a simple yet dapper look, especially when the lines are echoed in the beard.
Textured Short Top with a Line Up
When you have a messy, wavy texture at the top, a sharp border provides a nice contrast and makes for a more striking look.
Prerequisites
The line up haircut typically works best for black men with shorter hair. If you already have a shorter cut like a crew cut, Caesar cut, or another type of buzzcut, you’re well prepared to get the line up haircut. If you don’t have a shorter cut, you’ll want to get one. All types of shorter buzzcuts will work.
However, you can still have some volume on top, depending on the style. If your hair is naturally curly, you can keep the curls on top and get a line up on the front, sides, and back. The line up “haircut” is less of a cut and more of a versatile technique that you can use with almost any haircut for a sharp look.
Getting the cut
First, you’ll need to settle on a hairstyle. If you’re unsure of what to get, let your barber or stylist know that, and you can work together to find a style that will suit your hair type, face shape, and personal style.
Next, it’s a huge help to your barber or stylist if you can find a picture of the line up haircut style you want. Since there are many different kinds of line ups, a picture will help your stylist understand the type you’re after.
Your stylist should use short clippers to get the line up effect and a straight razor to clean everything up and give a uniform look. For the front of the head, ask for the hair at the temples to extend out a bit, forming a 90-degree angle. The hairline itself is somewhat higher.
The area above and around the ears should also be clipped close and tight. This clipping continues around the back of the head, so the neckline, usually blocked or rounded in this case, is also clipped close and tight. The line up haircut also works well with a skin fade. The sky’s the limit when it comes to incorporating it into your existing style.
