My hair has been thinning for a while and although my hairline has receded with age (27 currently) - the main loss has been in the temples. It has always been my plan to go for a piece before people around me started to really notice the hair loss and I think I am close to that point now.

I have been to a few consultations in the UK and most have advised me to shave a part of my existing hair and blend a partial piece with what is left. However because I still have a fair bit of hair, shaving what I have would be a very drastic step for me! One salon however has offered me a partial that would be placed in front my current hair line - filling the temples and linked with a small strip that lowers my hairline slightly!

I have never heard of a system like this and was really hoping to get some advice on how practicable this would be before I take the plunge..

Hi Caspian, yup--plenty guys wear partials as you described... you can have anything you want / like in essence ..... many guys simply get a stock unit [faster than custom-made] and trim / cut out a partial to fill in the areas needing coverage, and others like to order custom-made [especially if their hair-colour is ` tricky`] ..... stocks come in a medium density as standard. A guy your age should be fine with such a density. Can you post a pic of just the front [forehead] and temple area so we can see what you need and see what density your own hair is ?

This shows hair down

---

And this hair up...

Pics are a bit too large too get a good view--you can eaasily re-size them using this simple tool: http://www.shrinkpictures.com/
Just scroll down the page a bit and you`ll see in the ` box` there on the right how to do it--you just click ` choose file` and then ` resize`
You can remove the large ones here by clicking ` Edit` over on the right-hand side, click ` Full edit`--then scroll down
and you`ll be able to see there, the option to remove your pics.....you can then upload the re-sized ones.
I think I can see how the front has receded, but can`t see your sides/temples.... you might be able to get a near-match
in terms of colour in a stock -- John would be able to tell you with more accuracy than I can as he deals with them all the time
but would be a lot faster than waiting for a small partial to be custom-made [cheaper too]

What is the black line meant to indicate?
I'm hoping you're not saying the end point of it is where you'd like your hairline to start?

Hi,

I am in exact same situation like yours. I have tried partial unit where shaving wasn't necessary, but trust me it looked horrible.
It was a dead giveaway.

I know shaving is a big step, but I guess we can experiment. I am getting my piece fitted on 1st Dec and will be shaving most of my existing hair.

i wouldn't wear if I were both of you ...

surely if he brushes it down like that it would be eay just to put a thin partial infront lowering his harline and thickening his hair.

I can see better now... I doubt very much that the black line is where he wants the hairline to be, but
initially , on the large pic., I thought that too. I know many guys on here wear small front-partials,
and in fact, ` ease` into wearing by doing so...maybe some have better results than others....again, it`s a
case of try it and see if you`re happy or not.

Caspian, me and you have almost the exact same hairline, though mine is a tad higher.

I am on the verge of placing an order for a TL700 with custom color and curl to match my hair (once I figure out my density/curl specs) so I can cut it to partials exactly like you are thinking of.

Here is one person who did this and it looks like they have been very happy with what seems to be a solid result:

http://forum.toplace.com/showthread.php?tid=4466