French Crops: Receding Hairlines And Thinning Hair [Guide]

Certain styles work well for balding men, but often for different reasons. You’re about to learn everything you need to know about French Crops for men with thinning hair and receding hairlines. 

Let’s get to it. 

What Exactly Is A French Crop?

A French Crop is a short hairstyle where the sides and back are clipped short, while the top is scissor-cut and kept longer. The hair on top falls forward to form a fringe with sharply defined edges. 

The style isn’t quite as common as other short men’s hairstyles such as the undercut or the faux hawk. 

That’s why it’s often a good one to choose if you’re looking to set yourself apart. 

In addition, it has the benefit of a pretty eye-catching fringe, much like it’s shorter cousin the Caesar Cut. 

There aren’t many modern styles that do – if you’re a fan of the fringe, the French Crop may be the one. 

Is A French Crop Good For A Receding Hairline? 

French crops work well for men with receding hairlines, simply because the long fringe can be used to cover up the thinning temples. The clipped, short sides can also help to mask a receding hairline, especially when they’re brought up high. 

It’s no secret that some styles look better on men with receding hairlines than others do. 

In general, the shorter and more even, the better. Buzz cuts are great for receding hairlines because it’s very short and very even. 

But not everyone is willing to go that short. 

The French Crop is an unusual style because it’s relatively long and still looks great on men with receding hairlines. But this is because the edges of the fringe are long enough to provide some coverage of the temples. 

Yes, technically it’s a way of “hiding” balding and this should usually be discouraged. But it’s done in a much more stylish way than the combover, for example. 

The fringe of the French Crop is usually pretty blunt and quite straight – this is pretty eye-catching and also often distracts from a receding hairline as well. 

The eyes are drawn toward the immaculately snipped fringe and not the receding hairline. 

When talking about French Crops and receding hairlines it’s important to mention the sides as well. 

The sides are clipped short, unlike the scissor-cut hair on top. 

There’s an interesting phenomenon when it comes to receding hairlines. When the sides are clipped short and brought up high, it can often make receding temples look less obvious. 

This is especially true when the sides are very short, such as skin fades or zero fades. 

The reason for this is that when the sides are very short and brought up very high, it almost just looks as though the receding temples are part of the high fade. 

So, even if your French Crop fringe doesn’t completely cover up the receding hairline, if you’ve got a high fade (or even a relatively “high” mid fade) there’s a good chance it won’t be very noticeable in any case. 

I’ll finish this section off with an important side note. 

If the receding hairline is very advanced, the French Crop probably won’t look great. It’s just too far gone and you’ll be better off going for a buzz cut and fully embracing the look. 

A receding hairline will eventually become so “receded” that you won’t effectively be able to form a useful fringe in any case. 

But until that point, French Crops are a great option. 

Is A French Crop Good For Thinning Hair? 

French Crops are usually great for thinning hair because they’re simple and flat. Given that thin hair often likes to lay flat in any case, it’s a style that requires minimal styling effort. 

Building texture to the hair on top is a good way to make thinning hair appear less obvious. The more layering and texture you’re able to get with your French Crop, the thicker it’ll appear. 

When you’ve got thin hair, it can be tough to know what looks good and what doesn’t. You can get into a habit of trying your best to hide thinning hair. 

While trimming everything down short like with a buzz cut or a crew cut can be a good option, not everyone is willing to go down that route. They want some length on top. 

If this is the case, a pretty effective way of making thinning hair less noticeable is to spike it up and texture it, as you would with a faux hawk, for example. 

But some hair types are simply too thin to actually spike up like this – it isn’t strong enough to support itself and actually stay upright. 

A simpler solution would be to simply allow the hair to lay the way it wants to. When hair is thin, this is often flat. 

Thin hair doesn’t like having to stay upright for the reasons I mentioned above. Choosing a style that actually takes into account how the hair wants to lay in the first place makes maintaining it a lot easier. 

A French Crop is a stylish way to do this. You allow the hair to fall forward into a fringe but it’s done in a very intentional way. 

Building texture into the hair on top with layering – something your barber (or ideally stylist) can do for you – will make thin hair even less noticeable. 

When you’ve got thinning hair and a receding hairline, the benefits of the French Crop are multiplied for the reasons I explained earlier. 

But much like with the receding hairline, the hair can eventually get so thin that a French Crop won’t really make sense. When you start to see a lot of scalp through the hair on top, it’s probably best not to go for a French Crop. 

At this point, buzzing it all down is a much better option. 

But there’s plenty of time before that as the hair is slowly thinning or receding where a French Crop would be a great option. 

The French Crop With A Fade For A Receding Hairline

The French Crop with a fade is great for receding hairlines because it makes receding temples less obvious. This is especially true when the fade is very short and also brought up high. 

As I mentioned earlier, high skin or zero fades are golden when it comes to receding hairlines, especially when combined with a solid, textured French Crop on top. 

But you need to know what to say to a barber or stylist when you’re asking for one. You don’t want to end up with a look you don’t want. 

Here’s what you say to the barber/stylist: 

You let them know you want a French Crop on top – let them know whether you want it textured or layered. Also, let them know how straight you want the fringe. 

This can be tough to express, so any photographs you’ve got to help you would be useful to any professional. 

You also need to let them know what type of fade you want. More specifically, how high you want the fade and how short you want it. 

With receding hairlines, the shorter and higher the fade the better. 

The shortness of the fade should be expressed as a number. For example, a zero fade, skin fade, 1 fade, or 2 fade. 

This is just letting them know how short you want the shortest length of the fade to be before it starts to gradually transition into longer lengths. 

After that, let them know whether you want the fade to be “low” (half an inch above the ears), “mid” (halfway up the sides), or “high” (around the level of the temples). 

French Crop Or Caesar Cut For A Receding Hairline? 

A French Crop is generally more suitable for men with a receding hairline than a Caesar Cut would be, simply because the fringe is longer and capable of covering the temples. 

A Caesar Cut is very similar to a French Crop in that you’ve got short sides that gradually blend into longer, scissor-cut hair on top that falls forward into a fringe. 

The only real difference between the two is the length of the fringe. 

With Caesar Cuts, the fringe is generally shorter and a little more “blunt” and straight. 

While this can still work well for men with receding hairlines, particularly those with mild recession, the French Crop is usually better. 

If you aren’t a fan of long fringes, however, a Caesar Cut would still be a reasonable option as you do get some coverage of the temples. Plus, if you’ve got a high skin fade to boot, that receding hairline will look less noticeable in any case. 

Conclusion 

Ultimately, a man with thinning hair and/or a receding hairline would be served very well by the French Crop. 

This is especially the case when they aren’t willing to go very short like with a buzz cut or buzz cut variation, which can also be great for balding men. 

Some men just like keeping some length on top and that’s perfectly fine. It’s just important to choose a style that compliments receding hairlines. 

Hopefully, you’ve now learned a lot more about a style that does just that. 

Enjoy.