Best Norwood Coverup Styles

I'm getting coldfeet on getting a hair transplant, especially right now when I'm trying to afford Uni. I'm supposed to have a skype consultation with a doctor soon over HT's but I want to explore my options. What are some non-combover hairstyles one can do if they have a NW 3.5 with deep recession, vertex remains intact? I'm starting to realize how much this is ruining my career life. I'm not even taking opportunities at getting out of retail because I feel like I'm going to have a whole 6+ months where I need to go undercover post-HT.

So, any advice other than shave your head(if this looked cosmetically acceptable on me, I'd of done this ages ago) would be wonderful

You don't want to shave your head entirely. Alright. Understood.

But I believe any style that attempts to "cover up" anything is *usually* a bad idea.

About the only time I've ever seen loss/recession covered up, are when guys have some slight front recession in that "air strip" region. Think Jude Law. He was about a N3 (although the remaining hair was very thick; which helped this style work) but he let the front grow out a bit longer, layered it, and kind of swept it over just slightly and it was enough to sort of cover (or at least distract) from the recession. Sometimes the style trumps the loss and does it in spite of the loss (it helped he had a hollywood face too). But again, his hair thickness and texture made that possible, so it would depend on your existing hair.

Jude:


But as you near this point, it starts getting more and more difficult. Essentially, your only options are to swipe hair onto the missing regions. What other option is there. You can't do anything else besides manipulate the "lay" and direction of hair that is there. A little bit can pass, like in Jude's example.

I believe its always best to keep hair short though (see pic above). It maintains more volume this way and doesn't rest as flat on the head, so on the areas where you are playing some smoke and mirrors, the extra body will help disguise it. When it gets too long it gets weighted down, making where the hair is being "pulled from" more visible as both the contour of the scalp, and the roots become more visible.

Have you ever tried a buzz? NOT shaving. But a buzz. My big turning point (which had me start with a buzz and then eventually just go to shaving) was realizing that covering up was really the mistake. A hair style which does not cover up, but embraces your hair line and does it tastefully is the secret. You aren't trying to show off your loss, but you aren't fucking hiding either.

Jason Statham (N5 I'd say):


Statham does it right as far as I'm concerned. There's a certain point where you just aren't covering shit up. It will make you look insecure and pathetic because people will just think, "Does he think we don't notice? He must be really uncomfortable."

When we get down to it though, you're either combing-over or you are going really short and non combing-over. If you are growing hair out and manipulating whatsoever to try to push it over an empty spot, you're combing-over even if your total style wouldn't be called the comb-over. Its a matter of time before you get there. So how long you are able to pull this off, ala Jude Law, is a matter of taste and self-honesty.

Sting was obviously receding for a huge part of his career (and still a sex symbol for all of it), but he wore a short layered look that gave it the appearance of more body than it actually had. Eventually he just buzzed when it got bad enough, but he kept the style (below) up for a long time and this is one other option that at an N3 could work for you.

Sting:


Sting-esque:


Short, side-part with a fade - almost too trendy right now:


Variation on the above w/ a slight pompadour by the man who seems to have re-popularized it; if your frontal recession isn't bad enough this could be a good option as the little bit of longer length up top allows you to swoop over and it actually is *part* of the style. Great one for slightly receding fellas:



But when it gets bad enough, you:

I meant to post earlier but, thank you for the very detailed response. I've dug myself into a pretty deep hole by going the Owen Wilson route. I was hoping to manage a caesar cut but I likely don't have the hairline for it...anyway I'll ponder these choices.