Line Up

A line up is $20 and takes ten to twenty minutes. The barber redefines the perimeter of the haircut you already have, the front hairline, the temples, and the neckline, using a small detail clipper called a T outliner and sometimes a straight razor for the final crisp pass. No length comes off the top or the sides. The whole point is to make last week's haircut look like this week's haircut for another week or two.

What actually happens in the chair

• 01

  The quick consultation

  Thirty seconds. We ask when the last cut was, what neckline shape you had, and whether you want the razor pass at the end. A line up is a matching service, not a redesign, and the consult keeps it that way.

• 02

  The comb through

  We look at what the cut is doing now, where the hair has grown into the edges, and where the last line was set. The old line is the map. The new line follows it.

• 03

  The front hairline

  Squared off, gently curved, or left natural, whatever matches the last cut. The barber follows your existing hairline, not a new one.

• 04

  The temple corners

  Set clean where the sideburn meets the hairline. This is the corner that tells the eye a haircut is fresh.

• 05

  The neckline

  Finished straight across, tapered, or gently rounded. Straight reads sharpest for the first week. Rounded grows out kinder.

• 06

  The optional razor pass

  A pass with a straight razor along the perimeter takes the line from clean to crisp. Not every guy wants it, and if you have sensitive skin around the neck we will skip it.

How to ask for a line up without guessing

Who a line up is for

Anyone who wants to stretch a haircut another week or two without paying for the full cut again. It is the twenty dollar bridge between one full cut and the next, and it exists because a fresh perimeter reads as a fresh haircut even when the top and sides are two or three weeks old.

It works best on styles with a defined perimeter, fades, tapers, short crops, anything with a clean edge to redraw. It is less useful on longer flowing styles because there is not much of a hard line to sharpen in the first place. If you have a job interview, a wedding, or a photo on Friday and your last cut was three weeks ago, a line up on Thursday afternoon is one of the highest return twenty dollar spends in the whole shop.

How often to come back for a fresh line up

• Between full cutsOne line up in the middle of the cycle
• Before a specific eventA line up on the Thursday for a Friday photo or wedding
• Right after a full cutNot needed
• WeeklyDo not

If you are getting cut every three to four weeks and adding one line up in between, that is one line up every three to four weeks, which the hairline handles without complaint.

FAQ