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Showing up in a variety of cultures through early human history, dreadlocks have continued to hold their own against more contemporary hairstyles of the day, transcending time, culture, and social status. Thinking of going for a set of dreadlocks yourself? Let’s take a look at some of the most popular approaches.
Popular Men’s Dreadlock Styles
#1: High Top Dreads
Arguably one of the most ‘clean-cut’ of all dreadlock styles, high top dreads, or undercut dreads, take a more manageable approach to the style by opting for a shorter length and tapering the back and sides. The taper with dreads makes things far easier to maintain as the short back/sides require far less attention than dreadlocks themselves.
As you can see from the below examples, high top dreads can come in a variety of different versions. Typically, however, dreads with a fade incorporated is the most common of short dread hairstyles as it gives a clean, stylish finish that is less invasive than certain longer iterations.
#2: Mohawk Dreads
A marginally more daring variant than the high top fade dreads, a dreaded mohawk fade is achieved by shaving the sides to create a mohawk silhouette while maintaining varying lengths of dreaded hair on the top. Once again, depending on the length of your dreads on the top, mohawk dreads can actually be one of many easy dread styles to maintain.
As with all dread cuts, one mohawk dreaded hairstyle can really differ from the next depending on the length so you can completely tailor the overall appearance depending on your own preference – it doesn’t necessarily have to be kept shorter.
#3: Dreadlock Ponytail
One of the more popular dreadlock hairstyles in recent years, a dreadlock ponytail is both stylish and contemporary – not to mention far more practical than leaving it all loose. While flowing long dreadlocks may be one of the coolest dos a dreaded guy can sport, it’s pretty obvious that it’s not the most pragmatic approach to dreadlock styling.
Throwing your dreads into a pony doesn’t have to mean grabbing an elastic hair tie and keeping things tied in one unified style either. As you can see below, there are various unique and interesting approaches to tying back your dreads – with some utilizing the dreads themselves to create a hold.
#4: Braided Dreads
Another popular way of changing things up, dreads are commonly woven into a variety of different dread braid styles which add unique texture and further depth to any look. You’ve obviously got more control over matters if you’ve got thin dreads, as opposed to larger ones, which makes them better suited to more intricate or detailed styles.
That being said, there is a variety of dread designs that lend themselves better to thicker dreadlocks – so it’s simple enough to find a style you can work up with your own hair.
#5: Dyed Dreads
Another popular way of mixing up dread styles for guys is by incorporating bleaching and dying to change up your color. While the most popular, understandably, is adding bleach to the lengths – giving you blonde or ashy highlights; as you can see below, other colors can work just as well.
Although it all sounds relatively straightforward, it’s important to bear in mind that once you’ve colored your dreads, it can prove a little difficult to change things back. Unlike other hairstyles where the combination of a cut and color can give you a completely new do’, in the case of dreads, lobbing bits off isn’t always a viable option.
So, while this stands for any hairstyle, it’s even more important to be sure of your choice when it comes to coloring your dreadlocks.
Popular Dreadlock Styles for Men
Although dreadlocks can come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with some suiting certain styles better than others. Hopefully, with the selection of the most popular ways to style dreadlocks above, you’ll have a little more of an idea when it comes to choosing what direction you can take your own in.
