Hairstyles for men with fine hair?

I am a male student who still has the freedom to wear my hair any way I want, but unfortunately I have had a hard time finding a hairstyle that works for me. I don't know whether I have thin or fine hair, but I can only describe it this way: after I shower, if I dont use gel my hair puffs up like a fuzzy dandelion. It is very VERY soft, which is nice, but the wind throws my hair all over and after awhile it will pretty much be lying flat on my head. I have been using gels and sprays since grade school to compensate for this.

Lately I've just been getting a very short cut, under an inch, and spiking it up with liberal amounts of gel. It's a simple solution and I don't mind the way it looks, but I just don't think it's "me".

I would prefer to have the more natural bedhead look that seems to be popular now. I have let my hair grow out to a couple inches and one thing I've found is that if I wash my hair at night and go the next morning without washing my hair, it will be feel thicker and have more body, simply from having the remnants of the gel in it from the day before. It also doesnt look as shiny. This way I can just re-wet it and run my fingers through it to mess it up, and it sort of looks like the bedhead effect. However, then I go all day with hair that hasnt been washed since the night before.

I am not sure what to do to attempt the bedhead look. Can it be done with hair under an inch long? Should I try something other than gel, like pomade? And is there a special cut I would have to get to make it look better?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks for the advice; I guess it is hard to make any conclusions about my hair without a picture or seeing it in person. I will probably need to see a professional hairdresser in person who can tell me what's up with my hair before I make any major changes. Thanks again!