Haircuts are a bit like bespoke fits (stick with me on this one). Similar to a bespoke go well with, a great haircut may be very private and particular person. Similar to a bespoke go well with, it is determined by communication and growing a relationship. And identical to a bespoke go well with, it makes the wearer look good with out anybody essentially having the ability to say why, or not less than how.
I used to be having a dialog with Lucas lately about his hairdresser Tom Bushnell (above, prime) and these parallels stored developing. I believed it was an fascinating matter, as a result of males I do know battle with it simply as a lot as they do with commissioning a go well with.
After all I do know nothing about hair. I began going bald at 19, and it was reduce brief quickly after. However Lucas is blessed with flowing locks, a veritable mane. And it didn’t at all times look this manner; he didn’t at all times like his hair or know what to do about it.
“For some time I went to basic locations like Trumper’s, as a result of they’ve the historical past and custom. However they weren’t actually fascinated with any of my views or what I wished. It wasn’t nice, but it surely took me a very long time to understand it,” he informed me.
“Then for some time I went to native Turkish barbers. They do a job, however frankly I used to be at all times a little bit scared what I used to be going to return out with. My angle again then (this was my late twenties) was principally to get a brief again and sides and let it develop out for so long as attainable – get worth for cash.”
Finally, about 5 years in the past, Lucas began going to Tom primarily based off the advice of some menswear mates. “Initially I used to be doing the identical factor, simply having it brief, however Tom step by step drew out of me what I wished to seem like, sort of what my references had been.”
The reference Lucas brings up most is Robert Redford, along with his lengthy blond locks, wispy over the ears. However whereas that’s correct to an extent – you may see from the images that Lucas’s hair is now longer than it was – the haircut can be completely different. Lucas doesn’t have a fringe for instance, and there’s extra weight on the again.
That is the place comparisons with a tailor are additionally related. As a result of bespoke clients typically usher in photos of fits they like, with a purpose to show a method. They’re not going to seem like the particular person within the image – however the tailor’s ability is knowing from these photos what the client desires, after which making a model of it that works for them.
And, one which fits not simply their physique however their model too. Go into any Savile Row tailor and so they’ll reduce you a navy go well with that flatters you – they’ll alter lapels, size, buttoning level, drape and pitch to perfection. However is a pointy, structured go well with actually what you need? Is it what you’ll get most use out of?
“That is an space I actually take pleasure in – understanding somebody’s persona and what expresses it,” Tom informed me once we met. “I’m a giant fan of artwork, structure, trend, so I like speaking to purchasers about what they like as a means into that dialogue.”
As with tailors, Tom finds a variety of first-time clients are available in with photos: “They received’t have the vocabulary to speak about what they need, so that they’ll deliver pictures. However they’re at all times apologetic about it, barely embarrassed, saying one thing alongside the traces of ‘I do know you may’t truly make me seem like him, however…’ They shouldn’t be embarrassed, it’s an excellent place to start out.”
Lucas is a reasonably laidback particular person, and one situation he had along with his hair was that he wasn’t coming again after the really useful six weeks; it was extra like 10. “When it acquired lengthy sufficient on prime it will kind of collapse and lie actually flat,” he says. “Tom and I talked about it and we began slicing it a little bit shorter on prime, so it by no means fairly acquired to that time.”
I do know I’m in search of these connections now, however that is simply the sort of dialog a great tailor has about way of life. He would possibly advocate stronger cloths, for instance, since you put on your garments exhausting and infrequently get round to urgent them. “It’s all related,” Tom says. “A man within the Metropolis will often err in direction of a cleaner and neater coiffure; a man with younger children received’t have the ability to spend a lot time with merchandise, and so forth.”
Tom’s salon is a pleasant area, on the fourth ground of an Artwork Deco constructing in Bloomsbury. There’s a really relaxed vibe – someplace you truly wouldn’t thoughts sitting for quarter of an hour and having a cup of tea.
He works on trend shoots for manufacturers in addition to personal purchasers, so there’s extra of an artwork and design angle than most hairdressers. There’s additionally extra of a selected menswear angle than I realised – purchasers embody Thom Sweeney, Anglo-Italian, LEJ and P Johnson.
Nonetheless, it appears like a variety of these factors apply to working with any hairdresser, and there are many parallels with tailoring. I will be to listen to what readers have discovered through the years, and what parallels they see.
