12 of David Beckhams Most Radical Hairstyles

He may not be an active athlete any longer, but that doesn’t mean that former soccer player David Beckham isn’t still one of the most iconic people on the face of the planet. Accomplishing great success during his playing days, marrying a famous pop star, helping evolve the sport in the United States and, of course, having great style have helped Becks reach the top of the celebrity mountain. And over the years, he has proven that men can care about their appearance just as much as women do, as he wasn’t shy in getting done up and, in all honesty, looking like he put more effort into his get-up than his wife, Victoria, did. And because he has such amazing hairstyles, I figured I would take a look at some of his most famous and help inspire you to do the same. Of course, don’t get your hopes too high that you’ll be as wildly accomplished as Beckham even with these hairstyles, but you can at least pretend you will be, right?

I don’t know if there wasn’t a mid-90s kid who didn’t have this haircut, right? Generally regarded as what all the cool kids were doing with their locks during their grungy, middle school years, David Beckham stole some advice from the kids’ and rocked this ‘do during the 1995 season with Manchester United.

I don’t know if this was the start of the bleach blonde trend that hit the world or not, but when Beckham busted out the golden, long locks in 1996, it seemed that every young boy wanted to follow his lead. A more adult version of the aforementioned middle part, he brushed it to the side to give himself a more distinguished look—yet kept it radical by putting the bleach in it.

Sorry, Becks, but there’s no denying that you, indeed, rocked a mullet at one point in your life. Keeping the long, bleached locks from the previous look, Beckham decided to go all party in the front and business in the back, keeping his bangs shorter while the length in the back flowed over his back collar. See, who says that having a mullet isn’t a good look?

I like to call this hairstyle the dip because, well, doesn’t it just look like Beckham stuck the top of his head into a bowl of chocolate, while the rest of his head just didn’t get as much love? I mean, I will say this; it’s quite the statement to be walking around the streets with this ‘do, even for a superstar like David Beckham. It actually just looks like it’s incomplete, doesn’t it? As if his barber’s clippers died mid-buzz.

Is it just me, or does Becks look like a rooster who is about to crow in order to wake up the entire farm while sporting this haircut? It’s not really a great look—especially when adding in the highlights and extra blonde in it—yet Becks thought differently by wearing it back in the early-2000s. It’s OK, David, we all made mistakes back then.

There is just too much going on in this picture for me. First off, Becks looks like a punk, rockstar more than a soccer player, sporting a bandage over his eye and a shirt with a skull on it, all while mean mugging. But then he shows his feminine side by placing a headband on the top of his head to pull in a ton of different looks that, if you ask me, just don’t really work all that well when put together.

Maybe it’s just me, but all I really want to do is rub my hands ferociously over top of Beckham’s short buzz cut that he has going on here, thinking that it would feel about as soft as a plush sofa with fresh suede on it. I know I can’t be the only one who picks up that specific vibe from this picture, right?

I’m not sure that my hair ever looks as good as Beckham’s does here when I roll out of bed, but, still, the former soccer player can pull it off quite nicely with the bed head look he has going on. This is a trend that has, for some reason, seemed to stick around even today, so maybe Becks just had the leg up on what was going to be trendy back when he first rocked this, because guys have still followed his lead with it.

For those who are old enough to remember the former lead singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, then there’s a good chance you actually did a double take on David Beckham in this picture to make sure it was actually him—because he looks nearly identical to the former grungy, Seattle rocker. With a middle part and long, flowing blonde hair around the sides, Beckham seemed to ditch the product and go with the straight air dry here, giving him a more relaxed look than others he has sported.

I bet you never thought you would see David Beckham with a haircut that resembled a landing strip for an airplane more than an actual style, did you? Yet, here is was back in the early 2000s, trying to rock the skinny mohawk during a press conference prior to the World Cup. In all fairness, it actually doesn’t look too bad on him, right? But maybe that’s because, well, he’s David freaking Beckham and can usually get away with pulling off whatever the heck he wants to.

Just when you thought Becks wouldn’t join the cornrow craze, he did just that, showing up during a vacation a few years ago with a full on row of them. Like other celebs over the years who showed off this look, Becks kept things tight and narrow, with the little braids in the back holding it all together to keep it clean.

What guy in their right mind would go with the double pony as a look? Well, David Beckham, of course! He showed up during a training session a few years back with this very bold look, making him appear to have two pigtails more than a double ponytail. Either way, I would suggest not trying this at home, fellow guys, because it’s not really for everyone.

Image via Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images

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