Here's the problem: I know exactly how I want my hair. (Yes, bad movie, with this one exception.) Last time I got a haircut, the hairdresser I went to told me I would be furious if she cut my hair that short; I was disappointed, but not furious, that she left it too long. As is the usual situation, with time, the chicness situation has deteriorated. Given my tendency to wait many months between haircuts, I now have the standard high-school-girl hair. It's just-below-shoulder-length and a backpack away from someone asking me if I'm considering applying to NYU for college next time I enter a campus building. It's that conservative length, not politically conservative, but 'if I wear my hair like this no one at school will make fun of me.' Bullying is not a major concern of mine at this point of my education (nor was it ever; the conserva-haircut might be to thank), so bobs away!
So, the question: is $60 (give or take) a reasonable amount to pay for this? The alleged 'free' haircuts are always at odd times, or sound like something other than the cut I want. I'd be fine with the DIY approach if it were not the pesky problem of not being able to deal with the back of my head. What is the whole thing supposed to cost, and where am I supposed to go? A lifetime in NYC has not made this any clearer. What I'm looking for, let me just come out and say it: that article about supersecret Parisian salons got me wondering. Is there an underground network of hair awesomeness that I've yet to be let in on? That, and not the nonsense about $60, is my real question. So, snarky comments will be tolerated as usual, but the comments I actually want will direct me to hairdressers I could only dream of. (The underground networks of pedicurists, acupuncturists, and so forth I can live without.)
When you see someone with a haircut you like, ask her where she got it!
ReplyDeleteas a New Yorker of relatively recent vintage, I must say it reassures me so greatly to see this as such a source of consternation for you, as it certainly is for me.
ReplyDeleteI pay $40 for my haircut which is not at all that difficult or stylish. Seeing as gender disparities in haircut costs are rampant, $60 does not seem exorbitant.
Perhaps I'm just a stupid male, but if you know exactly what you want your hair to look like, can't you have just anyone do it? Like, supercuts or something, after bringing in a photograph? I thought part of what one pays for when one gets an expensive haircut is the judgment of the person doing the cutting as to what looks good on one... ?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Maybe. But what I usually notice is nice hair, rather than nice haircuts, so I'm not sure what asking would accomplish. Or I notice looks (say, dyed-red dreadlocks, the Agnyss whatever her name is model's bleached bob) that look amazing on others but would not on me.
ReplyDeleteNick: Agreed--my problem could well be that I first figured out where to get my hair cut on my own when living in Chicago, where prices were significantly lower.
Paul Gowder: It would seem that all I'm looking for is someone who a) has scissors, and b) can see the back of my head better than I. But I did once go the supercheap route, and ended up with a cut that was terrible in ways I couldn't explain. It takes a certain amount of skill, apparently, to get hair from Point A to Point B. But I'm not sure a) if skill correlates with price, or b) if it does, at what price point skill begins.
Maybe go back to the first hairdresser and bring the pictures? Those are two different cuts, though, and Hathaway's is the more unusual--no "softening" layers on the sides of the face. Most hairdressers automatically put those in so you'll have to be explicit if you don't want them.
ReplyDeleteLook, Halloween is just around the corner. Simply purchase a Reese Witherspoon mask, and problem solved.
ReplyDeleteAlso, bullies won't stop picking on you just because you have a stylish haircut. The real solution is to pick out the most popular girl in the grad school cafeteria during lunch period, and beat the crap out of her. After seeing that, the bullies will leave you alone.
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Less useful suggestions:
- bring photos
- experiment around until you find someone who can execute the photos at a reasonable price point
- explore soho east of bway, as it's fertile territory
- do ask well-groomed folk, as it's an even better solution than the random approach
- once you've found someone competent, hold on to them for dear life. if they ever suggest changing their city or profession, threaten them with violence to deter them. no nyc jury will ever convict you
I like the Beehive, in Williamsburg, a lot. They do men's and women's haircuts, are reasonable, and basically everyone loves them.
ReplyDeleteThis wouldn't be the Jeffrey who's a stylist at this salon (says Yelp), would it?
ReplyDelete"I like the Beehive, in Williamsburg, a lot. They do men's and women's haircuts, are reasonable, and basically everyone loves them."
ReplyDeleteI thought about suggesting The WB in general as a good place to find a stylist at a reasonable price point, but I was under the impression that Phoebe was allergic to The WB. I thought proximity to hipsters makes her break out in hives.
Haha, no, I don't have nearly enough tattoos/piercings to work there. Also, no one would ever put their hair in my hands. I like Eileen a lot, and you still have a few weeks before she becomes a senior stylist and her rates go up.
ReplyDeleteI thought you meant Colonial Williamsburg.
ReplyDeleteI think a good hair cut should be around $60. For a good cut and some styling tips on how to duplicate what the stylist did (always a problem for me!), and in NYC where somehow it seems like you ought to get these things, I'd certainly pay $60.
ReplyDeleteI'm late to this since you have now gotten your hair cut, and I think $60 sounds fine or better than fine for NYC. I pay $45 for shampoo, cut, and blow dry in Orlando and I tip about 20% on top of that. My haircut is similar to the two photos though a little longer. -- JM
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