You might look like Larry, Moe, or Curly if a stranger cuts your hair

[Quasqueton]

It’s hard to find a good barber. When I find one, I tend to stick with her (females, for me over the past ~20 years) as long as possible. Loosing her, and having to find another is really, really aggravating.

My hair is simple. I don’t style it, I don’t use gel, I don’t even comb or brush it. I just wash it each day, dry it with a towel, run my fingers through it, and go. It’s usually dry by the time I leave home in the morning. So I’m not a complicated cut.

Several years ago I had to get a haircut, and my regular barber was booked up for two weeks. So I went to someone new. She butchered my hair. It was horrible. So bad, in fact, that I begged my regular barber to work me in and fix it. I never “cheated” on my barber again.

About a year ago, I had to take my young son to a barber to get a haircut. I took him to a place in the mall. The barber did a horrible cut. Thank goodness 4-year-olds don’t care about their hair.

My regular barber has moved, so I have to find someone new. I went to a new place. It felt like the woman was using a weedwhacker to cut my hair. She used clippers on parts of my head, and she really dug in, hard. When she combed, it was like she was plowing a field. The end result was the second worst haircut I’ve ever had (only the one above was worse). The experience was painful, and the result was almost embarrassing.

Now, the observation: The first barber above (a woman) had very short hair (shorter than I’ve ever had my hair). The second barber (a man) was completely bald. The third barber (a woman) had very short hair (again, shorter than me).

All my other (good) barbers have had at least shoulder-length hair. Is there something to this? Or is this just a bad coincidence. Even if it’s just superstitious, I’m not going to any barber with hair shorter than mine ever again.

Quasqueton

 

[The_Gneech]

When you get a haircut
be sure to go back home
when you get a haircut
get a barber you have known
since you were a little bitty boy
sittin' in a booster chair
'cos you might look like Larry, Moe, or Curly
if a stranger cuts your hair!

...

Hairstyles and attitudes -- are they connected?
Are the styles we embrace a matter of taste, or of values rejected?
Hairstyles and attitudes -- how do they relate?
How well do we use the freedom to choose the illusions we create?

Razor cut, laser cut, chopped and channelled
Curled up, slicked back, hanging in the eyes
Parted left, parted right, straight down the middle
Scientists say your hair never lies
They've done lots of research
It may be just hype
but the latest findings cause me to tremble
Categorize us into three basic types
According to which of the three stooges you most closely resemble

Coincidence???

-The Gneech

 

[DaveStebbins]

Now, the observation: The first barber above (a woman) had very short hair (shorter than I’ve ever had my hair). The second barber (a man) was completely bald. The third barber (a woman) had very short hair (again, shorter than me).

All my other (good) barbers have had at least shoulder-length hair. Is there something to this? Or is this just a bad coincidence. Even if it’s just superstitious, I’m not going to any barber with hair shorter than mine ever again.

Yes, gross generalizations are always true. There's no way that three bad haircuts from three short-haired stylists could be a coincidence. I can't imagine why no one else has seen this universal truth before now.

-Dave

 

[kenobi65]

Originally Posted by Timbuk3
Hairstyles and attitudes -- are they connected?
Are the styles we embrace a matter of taste, or of values rejected?
Hairstyles and attitudes -- how do they relate?
How well do we use the freedom to choose the illusions we create?

A friend of mine went to high school, in Green Bay, WI, with Pat McDonald, the singer and writer from Timbuk3. Pat got kicked out of high school for refusing to get a haircut (this was probably in the late 60s or early 70s). I wonder if that factored into that song.

 

[sydbar]

I wonder which is harder to find, a good woman, or a good barber. My vote is barber since a good haircut can help get a good woman, but a good woman can't help get you a good barber, usually. The haircut song is one of those songs that could be based on a true story.

 

[JediSoth]

I've been going to the same barber for nearly 30 years. He's bald and I have the utmost confidence in his cuts.

JediSoth

 

[trancejeremy]

I used to have a roommate who deliberately went for the Moe look.

 

[Starman]

Where's the picture of the Teflon Billy "Help Me" signal when you need it?

 

[genshou]

http://web.unbc.ca/~williamp/tb_signal.jpg
To save on bandwidth to that site, I've also made the image an official attachment to this post, so you can link to it in the future if you need it in another thread.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Wow...I've never seen it lit up for a hairdressing thread; but when that signal is lit...I respond.

First I look at this comment...

...My hair is simple. I don’t style it, I don’t use gel, I don’t even comb or brush it. I just wash it each day, dry it with a towel, run my fingers through it, and go. It’s usually dry by the time I leave home in the morning. So I’m not a complicated cut....

Maybe yes, maybe no man. You haven't described anything about a cut there at all...you've described styling.

You might have wierd cowlicks/whorls/Multiple crowns or assorted other growth patterns all over your head which--despite the zero time you spend on it in the morning--might make this a very complicated cut.

Now, if your old barber had your hair to the point where you could just "wash and go", that's cool...but given that you describe nearly every experience that didn't involve him resulting in a bad haircut for you, I am guessing that he was actually pretty talented and that your hair is probably more of a challenge than you might suspect.

To my mind, it sounds like since you started going to other Barbers/Stylists you have had some serious communication issues them, and brother...that'll happen

What most people don't know is that the "Vocabulary" that most Barbers/Stylists use is no a "professional Language" of any sort, it's just plain old slang. We mostly just make it up as time rolls on.

There are literally hundreds of variations on the terms used that are sometimes found generally in a part of the country (in the Maritimes they refer to what most everyone I know calls "the bangs" as "the fringe"), in an age group (Old ladies to this day will call any layer in their hair a "wedge", while a lair at their neck is called a "Shingle") or in very specific instances (my co-worker Anthony from years back referred to "Texturizing" as "Rumbling"...and does so to this day for reasons I can't explain).

So I want you to memorize this list of instructions, it deals mostly with absolute terms that any competent hairstylist will understand (if you aren't dealing with a competent Hairstylist, then there is no help for you anywhere in here...I know it rankles some folks, but seriously: Do not go with the lowest bidder on the project)

So here we go (maybe grab a pen)...

"I want a low #4 blend on the sides, and about half the length taken off the top. Thin the top out a bit as well with your thinning shears"

Ok...first, the #4 is referring to the GuardClip or Setting on a pair of hair clippers. It leaves it long enough that you won't see scalp, but short enough that it won't require combing/brushing.

A "Low Blend" means that the clippers won't be run up the side of your head past about the temple area. It ensures that enough hair is left to blend into the top length.

the "Half length taken off the top" is what most barbers/stylists, in the absence of specific intructions think of as a "Cut" (a half inch is a "trim")

The "thinning" I describe is to make it lay down easier when it's dry.

Hope all of that has helped.