On this very topic; it's interesting, my friend came over yesterday to help me work on my car. He is thinner than me on top and does nothing to conceal or hide his hairloss. He is not quite horseshoe bald but is very wispy on top and has nothing in front. The kicker, he has fully normal temple points. Thicker than mine and mine aren't so bad. He is Hispanic so I'm not sure if this makes a difference.
But the point being is that no two heads of hair are exactly alike and neither are the patterns of MPB all the same. I still sand by my statement that only a hair obsessed wig wearer would ever take note of such things and even then, due to hair pattern randomness, they would rarely if ever truly be able to guess correctly based on temple points alone.
This gives you an idea of the difference temples can make whether other people notice them or not.
He doesn't look 'wrong' without them, but I think he looks better with them.
No, I agree.
From a practical point of view, some temple flaps help with the transition from worn hair to natural hair.
If you look at the black & white picture, its quite hard to know the best positioning for a piece without the flaps.
An alternative to flaps is to grow the hair longer at the sides and brush it forward.
I think its more common to see guys with less hair on top, yet good temples than it is to see thinning temples and thick hair on top.
It can look unflattering on anyone, wig or no wig.
Saying that, I'll resist temple flaps for as long as I can.
To me its just more work & glue!
For now I'll stick to dying the faint hairs that are still there.
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UPDATE: I just wanted to add that all my comments about temple flaps were general ones and in no way about Yah27 specifically.
Thanks, OP for posting your pics ... I hope you will take all this commentary in the spirit of its intent ... honest feedback to help get the best results.
That said, I'm in the camp w/ Baldrich, Hersute and Porcupine.
I think your color and density match is looking good ... only area of improvement would be the contrast between the position of your front hairline, and the recession at your temples.
Hersute said,
"I think its more common to see guys with less hair on top, yet good temples than it is to see thinning temples and thick hair on top."
I agree w/ this. Does the average person obsess about this stuff? No, as opined by others ... but I agree that hair this far forward, with that much recession at the temples, is not as common or natural a pattern of hair loss. A wearer will know ... a non-wearer might just have a feeling that something is not quite right. I'm always hoping for a look that no one would look twice at w/ too much scrutiny. So I offer my opinion based on what I would want.
As wearers who think about this stuff ... well, once we see it, we can't ever "unsee" it. I admit that it is impossible for me to divorce myself from this perspective. If I were to speculate about what the average person sees, I would think the few who would bother to notice would assume transplants. They still believe, "If you can see scalp, it can't be a hairpiece." They are not aware of the bases and attachments available these days. I'm glad of that ;)
So Yah27 ... if I was looking to get an even more natural appearance from the improved look you are sporting (as compared to bald ;), I would consider moving the front back a bit, adding temple flaps, or styling in the ways suggested (brush forward on sides, or "curtains" style).
I totally agree with furball here. Yah27 for your sides and temple hair I would think you are at the limit of density and front positioning of your piece for your current length and style..
Although no non wearer has any idea what temples are they do know/will know that something is off when one has that wide forehead syndrome and the "top doesn't seem to match the sides".
Overall Yah27 looks good and probably better in person as most pieces look iffy in photos.
I have thought about adding temples to my piece just haven't done it and I am actually going to go ahead and order another piece and I will look into adding temples.
The density is set at 45%. I dont' want it thick, as someone said above if people see scalp the don't think it's fake. PlusI'm not 20 anymore. I shouldn't have that much hair!
I cut my hair shorter now. I have a different style. I will post another picture tomorrow.