I have short, thick hair. What kind of hairstyle looks good without having to use much hair gel?

Pretty self-explanatory. I recently posted pics of myself on here and everyone said to lose the hair gel, but I can't think of anything to do without using any hair gel. Otherwise it's just going to lay there. Long hair doesn't work for me, it grows a little in length and then just goes out and thick.I have short, thick hair. What kind of hairstyle looks good without having to use much hair gel?
My sons both have thick hair. They stopped putting gel on their hair.


Too much work!





They just cut it themselves. They each live in different states, so they have their own clippers.





Been doing that since they're in HS. They're always trendy.





When my Younger one was in pre-school, he gelled and styled his hair like Elvis. So cute!