Stay Timeless with these 30 Classic Taper Haircuts

This light tapered haircut is everything a man’s haircut should be: young, bold, and masculine. It works perfectly with the facial hair, and the swirly part at the top is a much-welcomed addition.

This slicked-back quiff uses a classic taper to finish off the sides. The high top and close sides provide a unique, contrasting look that plays on your face shape for a totally new appearance.

Here’s a classic taper with surprisingly long sides. Sure, this cut is a little more high-maintenance than the others on the list, but it’s equally cool and gives you plenty of lengths to play with.

This short haircut feels nice and regimented. Although the hair is a little longer than you’d see in a military hairstyle, the tidiness gives that same high-value impression.

As you can see, the classic taper works well with facial hair. Here, the hair wraps around the entire face, broken only with a narrow part at the top. Combine that with the slick quiff and it’s a very cool look.

If you’re looking for a haircut with a little more texture, this might be the one for you. This simple cut follows the golden rule of “long on top, short on the sides”, but with added texture to contrast the tapered sides.

Call it a faux hawk or a brush-up, this masculine cut uses some light brushing to achieve a little ridge along the middle. Paired with a short taper on the sides, this is an easy look that’d be hard to complain about.

Looking to stand out a little more? If you grow out your top hair quite a bit, you can slick it back for this 80s-revived look. With slightly shorter side hair than they’d have sported in the 80s, you can see the dichotomy of new vs old in this style.

For those with a little more time in the morning, you can achieve some really cool effects with your top hair using the tiniest bit of product. This clean, floating sweep works perfectly with the short sides.

Here’s a somewhat messy pompadour with a youthful taper on the sides. This cut speaks volumes when paired with a strong jawline and light stubble.

If you like textured haircuts, this style is for you. The tousled nature of the cut makes the hair look longer than it really is, so this style will come to the rescue if you want a low maintenance look with a lot of depth.

This twist on the tapered cut is bold and stylish. It features a swooping fringe with a single lock of hair that hangs out of place, adding a unique flair.

Here’s a simple taper that gives off a fun, youthful style. The hair in front is gently spiked, creating a tuft of hair that’s somewhere in between a classic spiked look and a brush-up.

Sometimes you want a casual, low maintenance style for school or work, and this scissor cut with a taper fits the bill nicely.

Tapers work very well with undercuts, and you can get imaginative with the kind of style you want. You might go for a textured top, as shown here, or something like a pompadour.

For a full, even head of hair, try out a scissor cut like this. The hair is tapered not only from top to bottom but also front to back, creating a super tidy appearance.

This high contrast look is trending right now, and it’s easy to see why. The even taper frames a high volume quiff that’s finger combed for maximum texture.

This fashionable look is surprisingly simple to achieve. It’s mostly created by a straightforward crop, and the hair in front is grown out just a bit so it can be brushed up.

If you want a runway-ready style, consider going for a cut like this one. The angular texture created by this style is eye-catching and fashion-forward.

This tall, voluminous pompadour is an attention-grabbing look that nicely suits a casual personal style. The bold line up adds definition and cleanliness.

The Ivy League is easily one of the most classic taper haircuts. A barbershop classic for decades, this timeless style is short, simple, and stylish.

This unique style takes inspiration from fringe cuts and bowl cuts to create a hybrid with short sides and a long, defined fringe.

This neat, formal haircut is a great low maintenance style that’s great for all hair types. Versatile and clean, this cut is proper yet youthful.

What happens when you take a timeless staple and update it? In this case, you get a longer take on the regulation cut that allows the hair to flow while still having the definition.

For a tidy, well-kept appearance, you can’t go wrong with this medium length taper haircut. The hair is grown out a little longer than in many taper haircuts, so there’s more room to style it if you wish.

After a more elegant hairstyle? This one’s sure to please any discerning gentleman who wants a dapper haircut.

If you find your hair weighs itself down easily, try a shorter but voluminous look like this side-swept taper. The hair still has a height to it, but it’s not so long that it will collapse under its own weight.

Another high volume style, this contemporary pompadour features clean and defined sides that contrast with the tall matte pompadour on top.

This is such a clean taper job! The front is kept a little longer to achieve that perfect finger comb he’s got going on in the front.

The top looks like it’s got quite a fine texture with a pretty classy side-comb. This is why you can never go wrong with a taper, it all just comes together in a rich way.

What a clean and precise cut! You can basically run this style down generations, timeless. As crisp as ever.

32. The King himself would be proud of this pompadour right here! Seamless transition with the sideburns.

Scissor crops and tapers always, always go well hand in hand. It is a classic combination to sport.

Another scissor crop that’s just perfection and it’s got the beard to match. A long taper like this works great for when the weather gets a little chilly, extra warmth on your head while your style stays put together and manageable.

A hairstyle like the side-comb goes well with classic tapers like the one here.

Remember to apply some product to keep your look together; even though this hairstyle is pretty short the top could still use the support.

Keeping it simple sometimes is the best way to go. This haircut looks cohesive and exceptionally groomed.

Another pompadour for the books! Might help to style it if you use a blow dryer to add some of the volume you need to pull it off like this.

Pretty standard to pair a good business scissor crop with the elegance of a tapered neckline and sideburns. 

This medium scissor crop does a superb job at framing good features. The top is left longer as it needs to be elegantly swept to the side and combed backward. 

A Scissor cut this length you should be able to get pretty much anywhere. As a standard cut, the taper on this style is pretty much basic skills for any barber.

Having wavy hair pretty much gives you a VIP class to texture and boy does this crop do an awesome job at taking advantage of it! As always consider what kind of hair pattern you have when choosing a haircut.

A medium scissor crop like these verges on the short side and it is the reason it pairs extremely with a full beard.

A timeless taper with medium hair brushed back can land you the job and the person of your dreams! Don’t overlook the classics, adding a modern twist like a fade or hardline design can make the style favor you even more.

A brush up this length definitely needs some product to hold up, so whilst you’re at it experiment with different textures. Here we can see they’ve gone with the finger comb but you could use a brush or a comb to achieve the volume all the same.