Just when you thought we couldn’t blame the recession for anything else, here’s one more negative impact: bad hair. The Wall Street Journal just published an article about how sales of clippers (such as the infamous Flowbee!) went up as the economy sputtered and made the reasonable case that families and even individuals are resorting to DIY cuts in droves. Salon business is hurting, and if you’re jobless or even just strapped for cash, it makes sense that paying for a haircut would be one of the first things to get cut (ha) from your budget.

Then again, this is your hair we’re talking about, people. When it comes to amateur haircuts, plenty can go wrong. As Gordon Miller, executive director for the National Cosmetology Association, put it: “It may look easy, but it’s not.” [WSJ]

We started thinking about times in our pasts when we were brave and/or foolish enough to chop our own hair, or a loved one’s, like the time I trimmed my friend’s bangs and they ended up crazy short. (Sorry Eliza.) After the jump, our haircut horror stories!

Is $24,000 too much to pay for a haircut? The obvious answer is yes! But not when you are the Sultan of Brunei. The 61-year-old, who is said to be worth an estimated $24 billion, paid exactly that to have his hairstylist Ken Modestou cut his hair. The British barber has been cutting the Sultan’s hair for the past 16 years, and while he charges his regular clients about $60 per cut, it looks like the Sultan kicks him a little more change. (The $24,000 fee includes a luxury flight on a Singapore airline to the Sultan’s home in the Middle East, sumptuous hotel accommodations for a few nights and several thousand dollars as the actual fee of the haircut.) Not a bad gig if you can get it, right? [Allure]

But all this makes us consider how much we shell out for our own cuts. As anyone who’s suffered major post-snip trauma knows, sometimes it pays to spend a little extra. Then again, sometimes expensive isn’t always best. What’s the most you’ve spent on a hairdo?

Have you heard? Man bangs are OVER. Chace Crawford, Zac Efron, and Jared Leto have ditched their fringe in recent days and all three look way more handsome as a result. After the jump, six other dudes who should seriously consider a visit with the scissors. [Gatecrasher]

The alt band Pavement once sang, “Darlin’ don’t you go and cut your hair, do you think it’s gonna make him change?” True, when a woman lops off her long locks, it’s often assumed that her action was a result of man troubles. Fair enough. I’ve seen this happen to several friends after breakups as a way to cleanse their lives. But of course, as multi-faceted human beings, there are a number of explanations as to why ladies may suddenly cut off their hair. Here, some reasons you may not have considered…

Seriously, how often does this chick get a haircut? Everyday? That said, this new crop is cute. Approve! [New York City, 8/5/08]

I blame Gwyneth Paltrow circa 1997 for why I do not have the balls to cut my hair. Back during my senior year of high school, when I was zitty and spectacled and decidedly not cute, I decided it would do much for my self-esteem to chop my hair off like the then-girlfriend of Brad Pitt. You remember the cut right? I think it was bigger than The Rachel.