The 7 Best Short Haircuts For Men in 2026

Shorter haircuts are among the best hair trends for men in 2026, and the list of timely trims for the year ahead has options for anyone looking to leave last year in a heap on the barbershop floor.

“I feel like 2025 was a year for many people,” says Jake Murphy, barber and manager at Ruffians Covent Garden. “I’ve already been seeing that there’s a big reset this year. Like, beyond the usual new year’s resolutions and stuff, people want a noticeable change, and to take back a little bit of control.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to do something drastic to get your life together. “Short hair is getting quieter and more tailored,” says celebrity hairstylist Dean Banowetz. “Instead of extreme fades or sharp disconnects, 2026 is about softer tapers, natural necklines, and haircuts that grow out well. The focus is on precision and restraint, which makes the cut feel intentional and leveled up.”

From a timeless crew cut to the carefully coiffed mullet variation that’s been taking recent red carpets by storm, here’s the shortlist of styles that will be making the cut this year.

Soft Mullet

Hamnet might have taken home the Golden Globe for Best Drama, but Paul Mescal’s haircut was objectively the biggest winner of the night. In fact, from Jacob Elordi to Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie to recent GQ cover guy Glen Powell, who wasn’t sporting a soft mullet that night? “The ‘baby mullet’ is a softer, more wearable evolution of the mullet that keeps the back short and controlled while still allowing just enough length to create shape and attitude,” says Banowetz. Whether you call it a soft mullet, baby mullet, or, as Murphy prefers, the white-collar mullet (“if you want to be a bad boy, but you don’t want to get fired”), that night covered this muted mullet in enough stardust to make it an A-list staple for 2026 and beyond.

Burst Fade

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