Capillotomy

[poliphilo]

We cut Fabi's hair yesterday. I say "we", but I chickened out because he was screaming and wriggling so much it seemed like child abuse. Odi and Ailz persevered. They were remorseless. Women are.

I loathed having my hair cut when I was a kid (still do, actually). I remember being taken to the barbers when I was a cocky eight year old and giving my little sister- who was watching- a running commentary about how much it hurt. (Of course it didn't). The barber must have hated me.

Ailz says she once had her hair cut by Vidal Sassoon, who- implausibly- began his great career in Stockport. He- or his assistant- gave her a Bowie cut.

In the future Dystopia of H.G. Wells's The Sleeper Awakes, hairdressers- known as capillotomists- are regarded as artists. Like many of the book's predictions this one's not too far off the mark, I think. 

Comments

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

I remember my first haircut rather well. The barber's name was Gene Trainer. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Going to a full-service barber shop every week or so, when I was in the NROTC, is something I remember quite fondly. The ritualized courtesy, the idle banter, a shave with hot lather and straight razor, the smell of Bay Rum on old men with old money: it was a richly sensuous experience, one that I doubt finds much place in the hectic world of today.