I’ve created this film as the first part in a series of documentation addressing the acknowledgment of the Nape in Haircut*

The Nape is the area of the skull that is outlined vertically as a curve from Hairline to Occipital and horizontally from mid Ear Crescent to mid Ear Crescent. The Nape is characterized exclusively by soft curvatures following these vertical and horizontal paths, forming a gentle grid across the region. The primary objective of cutting the hair of the Nape is to produce an accurate overlying representation of these underlying curvatures. The Hairdresser will find it most useful to see the Nape as a series of vertical wedges, the apex of each wedge meeting at the center of the Occipital. Each section’s length will be removed based on the corresponding curvature of the Head shape to which it is connected. The resulting Silhouette, regardless of Baseline length of this region, will reveal a soft Round of the Form, representative of the Round of the inherent Head shape.

Due to the exaggerated presence of unique curvature in this region of the Head shape, the Nape offers an exquisite opportunity for the Hairdresser to highlight the unmatched structural traits of the Subject. If the curvatures of the Nape are acknowledged and treated with the appropriate sculptural attention, this region alone can be responsible for a singular grace and unquestionable success for the end Form.

-R Bosetti

*Reading by Frank O’Hara of his poem Having a Coke with You