You can tell a lot about a man by his shoes, but these days, you can tell even more by his haircut. And it’s been an interesting time for our hair – with less of us than ever confined to an office, there’s a sort of loosening up going on above the neck as well as below it, and exploring your personal style through the vector of your haircut has never been more appropriate.

“I think after the pandemic, we’ve embraced these dodgy haircuts that your nan or your mum’s done in the kitchen, but then elevating it, so it feels clean and fresh but not overdone,” says London-based hairstylist Mr Eliot McQueen. He cites the mullet as a huge hair trend in 2021 – “mostly because people didn’t know how to do a fade, but wanted a cool haircut” – and says men are more adventurous than ever with what we ask for in the barber’s chair.

“I think we’re embracing more alternative haircuts and more alternative ways of looking at hair,” says McQueen. “It’s not just about grooming anymore, it’s more about personal style and embracing your own individuality and expressing ourselves in new ways.”

And so with Mcqueen’s help and expertise, we showcase five hairstyles to see us into the new year and beyond, plus, a few suggestions of what to wear them with.

“Tying up dreads and having them half up and half down creates these really great layers with the hair,” says McQueen. “I didn’t have to use much product here, just a blend of castor oil and organic beeswax on his roots to twist and tighten up the dreadlocks very lightly.” He also used a little dry shampoo “to freshen up the natural hair and give it a relaxed feel – this one is all about letting the hair do its own thing”.

If you’re blessed with cherubic curls, now’s the time to embrace them. “With curls, the more hydration you can get into them, the better, so I went section by section, sprayed it with water and used a generous amount of leave-in conditioner and left it to air-dry to achieve a beachy feel.” After dragging the curls down a little bit from underneath to get rid of any excess weight, McQueen “twisted the hair with my fingers to keep everything looking natural and relaxed”.

“You see the crop season after season, but it’s a variation each time,” says McQueen. While a few seasons ago would be “a little bit more Julius Caesar”, this time around, the crop is slightly softer and more lived-in. “To get this cut, I trimmed the sides and removed some bulkiness, then chopped into the fringe so it’s not too full or pronounced, before adding a really small amount of cream wax, using my fingertips to work it into the hair.”

“This one is reviving a kind of 1990s feel, it feels a little undone,” says McQueen. To get achieve a look that’s as heartthrob worthy as this, McQueen advises a heat-activated spray that is then rough-dried the product into the hair. “I brushed it out a little afterwards, so it wasn’t crunchy, and then used tongs very lightly on the ends in alternative directions to give a more lived-in feel,” he says. “That works add some texture into the hair without it feeling too styled.”

“What I like about coils is that they bring a bit of an edge to a natural afro,” says McQueen. To achieve this look, McQueen added some water and leave-in conditioner to prep the hair, then applied a hardwearing gel and used a fine-toothed comb: “I went section by section, twisting and defining each coil,” he says. “It feels fresh without being too out-there.”