The "Obama Cut"

It's medium-short, tapered at the end of the neckline; the hairline is natural, finished with shears.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Obama cut, now appearing on heads from Washington, D.C., to Sacramento.

"It's a custom cut, customized for him. I did create the cut. We simplified it and we called it the 'Obama,' " said Zariff, President-elect Barack Obama's barber and owner of Hyde Park Hair Salon and Barber Shop in Chicago.

Zariff, who goes by one name, didn't have much time to talk. Even at 10 below zero in Chicago, the salon stays busy. At $21, "We're getting a lot of people asking for that, people internationally, tourists."

Presidential hair has always been subject to gossip and controversy, from Ronald Reagan's "Does he dye it?" locks to Bill Clinton's $200 haircut aboard Air Force One.

"A guy walked in, he'd had dreads for eight, nine years, and he cut them off. He said it was time for a change," said Gerald Rodia, a barber at Fly Cuts & Styles, a button with Obama's image pinned to his apron. "We're changing presidents, so they want to change their lives."