Hey guys! I'm looking to change up my hairstyle. Advice appreciated! (PICS)

Hi! First off I'm probably a little younger than most of you guys here, and I'm not really that into "business" hairstyles. I'm a jeans-and-Tshirt kind of guy mostly, so I'm looking for a more casual kind of approach, probably messy. I've had my hair a little more grown out, as well as shorter. Right now it's sitting at the in-between stage, so I could get it cut either way. Here are some pics of me with different hair lengths: Longer... Shorter... Older Pic when I used to wear it kind of up, like a weird mix between a pompadour & Robert Pattinson. Sorry it's not a good shot, it's all I could find... I kind of want to get a "versatile" cut, if that makes sense. Kinda sporty, a little sexy at the same time. I want to be able to either wear my bangs or tousle it up at any time. I was gonna ask my barber to trim the back and sides a lot closer, but leave it longer at the top and layer it. See, lately I've really started to dislike my sides because they tend to sorta "poof" out like the Beatles. And since I've gotten more into regular exercise, my jawline's improved a LOT, and I think that shorter sides would draw more attention to it, if that's right. If I got it cut short on the sides and back, it would probably look fine, right? All those models in magazines do it, it seems. As for products I regularly use: Got 2b inPlay Sculpting Paste American Crew Fiber So I just use paste/wax most of the time. What do you guys think? Any input is extremely welcome!

lol

Seriously though

God. That's probably the most offensive thing I've ever heard, lol

Yeah, I'm probably gonna keep it longer and layered on top, with the sides and back sort of tapered.

Thanks! Those are a bit too short for me, personally. Here're the pictures I'm taking to the barber I'm leaving the top quite a bit longer than it is in these pictures, but the sides are basically how I want them. They're shorter in the second pic though, and I'm probably going to opt for the slightly longer ones, or somewhere in between the two.

lol, I'm just using the sides as examples of what I need done. Top's gonna probably be slightly longer than in the faux hawk pics.

UPDATE: oh lord. The stylist cut everything way too short. > my sides are literally BUZZED DOWN How do I fix this? I'm freaking depressed right now because my hair looks ridiculous. Any secrets to growing the sides back out faster? I only need like 1/8th of an inch, but as it stands, it's awful.

Here, check this out for example. Suppose the sides look like this now... then how long would it take for them to grow to look like this? Hopefully not long, right?