Broccoli haircut
{{Short description|Hairstyle}}
File:David Corenswet as Clark Kent (53817593908) (cropped 2).jpg on the set of the 2025 film Superman went viral due to him sporting the haircut.]]
A broccoli haircut (also known as a Zoomer perm and in the UK as the meet me at McDonald's haircut) is a type of haircut with tapered sides and layered curls on top, usually achieved with a perm. It became popular among teenage and tween boys in the 2020s, particularly due to its spread on TikTok, and became an Internet meme around the same time.
Definition
File:Broccoli and cross section edit.jpg]]
The broccoli haircut is a hairstyle with tapered sides and short, uneven layered curls on top, which are often permed. It is referred to as such due to its resemblance to a floret of broccoli. It has also been referred to as the "Zoomer perm" for its popularity among members of Generation Z, as well as "bird's nest hair",{{cite web |last1=Patrick |first1=Lydia |title=What exactly is the broccoli haircut that teen boys love? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/broccoli-cut-gen-z-teen-boy-hair-style-1936306 |website=Newsweek |access-date=August 10, 2024 |date=August 9, 2024}} "bussin haircut" or "alpaca hair".{{Cite web |date=23 September 2024 |title=The 'alpaca' haircut teenage boys and young men are obsessed with — explained |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/09/23/nx-s1-5111388/teenage-boys-have-a-new-hair-style-obsession-alpaca-hair |website=NPR}} It has been described as a variation on a bowl cut.{{cite web |last1=Holender |first1=Samantha |title=So We’re Taking Haircut Inspiration From Broccoli Now |url=https://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/broccoli-haircut/ |website=Marie Claire |access-date=August 10, 2024 |date=June 20, 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Ariel |title=The 'Broccoli Haircut' Is Taking Over Social Media |url=https://www.popsugar.com/beauty/broccoli-haircut-49351501 |website=PopSugar |access-date=August 10, 2024 |date=April 5, 2024}}
History
=1980s=
The precursor to the modern broccoli haircut first appeared around 1982 among fans of new wave music groups such as Soft Cell, Talking Heads, A Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran, and Wham! It was a grown-out, unstyled version of the quiff{{Cite web |last=Colville |first=Charlie |date=2024-09-09 |title=Is The Broccoli Cut The Most Divisive Men's Hair Trend Of 2024? |url=https://www.countryandtownhouse.com/style/health-and-beauty/broccoli-haircut/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Country and Town House |language=en-GB}} popular in the early 80s that was frequently permed or made to look big with hair spray. A similar haircut known as the punch perm was popular among bikers in Japan and pop singers in Korea{{Cite web |last=Saltzman |first=Steph |date=2022-04-07 |title=The 'Broccoli Cut' and 8 Other Gen Z Hair Trends, Explained |url=https://fashionista.com/2022/04/gen-z-hair-cuts-styles-trends |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Fashionista |language=en}} throughout the 80s and 90s.{{Cite web |last=Fejtek |first=Melissa |date=2023-08-17 |title=Hair Perm Comeback: How TikTok and K-Pop Are Influencing the Trend - FASHION Magazine |url=https://fashionmagazine.com/beauty-grooming/hair-perm-comeback/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817002000/https://fashionmagazine.com/beauty-grooming/hair-perm-comeback/ |archive-date=2023-08-17 |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=fashionmagazine.com}}
=2010s=
During the early and mid 2010s, the permed undercuts of the 80s and 90s underwent a revival.[https://www.gq.com/story/gen-z-bussin-haircut-broccoli-perm Gen Z haircut] The trend was inspired by hairstyles popular during the New Romantic movement of the 1980s, such as mullets and shags. By 2018, the hairstyle had gained recognition in the UK as the "Meet me at McDonald's haircut".{{Cite news|title=A haircut doesn't stop you doing school work - what you are saying about the 'Meet me at McDonald's' style|last=Gill|first=Emma|date=26 February 2018|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/meet-me-at-mcdonalds-haircut-14339915|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129022058/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/meet-me-at-mcdonalds-haircut-14339915|archive-date=29 January 2022|work=Manchester Evening News}} The hairstyle achieved media exposure after a school in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk banned pupils from possessing the style.{{cite news|last=Petter|first=Olivia|date=22 February 2018|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/meet-me-at-mcdonalds-haircut-banned-school-boys-great-yarmouth-charter-academy-a8223101.html|title='Meet me at McDonald's' haircut banned in Norfolk school|work=The Independent|access-date=24 September 2024}}{{cite news|last=Senkul|first=Ceren|date=22 February 2018|url=https://news.sky.com/story/not-lovin-it-schools-beef-with-meet-me-at-mcdonalds-hair-cut-11261503|title=Not lovin' it: School's beef with 'meet me at McDonald's' haircut|work=Sky News|access-date=24 September 2024}}
=2020s=
During the COVID-19 lockdowns of the early 2020s, many younger Gen Z men in the UK and United States experimented with new hairstyles at home before the barbers reopened. In 2020, Dillon Latham, a then-15-year-old TikToker, posted a clip of himself getting a perm in the style of the broccoli haircut, which prompted its early spread among teenage and tween boys. It soon became more a trend in 2021 after being worn by TikTokers such as Noah Beck, Bryce Hall, Harry Jowsey, and Jack Doherty.{{cite web |last1=Nino Gheciu |first1=Alex |title=How the Broccoli Perm Became the Definitive Zoomer Hairstyle |url=https://www.gq.com/story/gen-z-bussin-haircut-broccoli-perm |website=GQ |access-date=August 10, 2024 |date=July 11, 2024}} That same year, it became an Internet meme and a subject of scorn online, beginning with a 4chan thread that coined the phrase "Zoomer perm" to describe it.{{cite web |last1=Encinas |first1=Amaris |title=Broccoli hair is here to stay: Why teenage boys are serving floret looks. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/style/2024/08/09/broccoli-hair-teenage-boys-explained/74729898007/ |website=USA Today |access-date=August 10, 2024 |date=August 9, 2024}}
The broccoli haircut was especially popular by 2022 and gained further attention online in 2024 when a photo of American actor David Corenswet on the set of James Gunn's 2025 film Superman showed him with what many online described as a broccoli haircut, which was mocked by social media users. GQ{{'}}s Alex Nino Gheciu argued that the broccoli haircut had reached its peak by 2024. Also in 2024, Marie Claire{{'}}s Samantha Holender called the haircut "the TikTok tween boy hallmark".