new thread
A couple of days ago I read some messages by Ken from San Francisco and some other posters about Unisex salons in the early 1970s and was in a hurry to get out the door so I did not have a chance to respond.
I was born during the 1970s so my recollection of that decade is almost next to nothing, but I have heard many things from my parents generation claiming that the 1970s were a great era to be in your 20's and 30's.
I was really surprised that "shoulder length" would have been acceptable for businessmen when it seems we have reverted back to the 1950s ideal of a "businessman's haircut" which is the atypical short above the ears and closely cropped style.
also, it seems that even the atypical salons have gravitated towards doing barbershop haircuts and forgotten how to do some of those styles that Ken and the others mentioned which were quite popular 40 years ago.
it would be nice if the average salon would learn to do those styles again especially for guys who prefer longer styles and not closely cropped haircuts that they could pay a lot less for at the run of the mill barbershop.
it would be nice to know if there are such salons in existence today that cater to the needs of Men who want longer manes.
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Hmmmmmmm, seems to me if a guy wants a longer mane the last place
he needs to go to is a salon to have it chopped off! Kinda seems counter productive to me.Cheers
Mark
Hi Paul,
I might not have made it all that clear by what I meant in my previous thread that I posted re. my first "Unisex" haircut; so let me do my best at correcting any misconceptions about that:
First of all, the actual unisex haircut I referred to that I had back in the early 1970s was CONSIDERABLY SHORTER than "shoulder-length" -- it covered my ears only about half-way down (didn't even reach over the earlobes), left about an inch at the back of the neck (barely touching the top of my shirt collar), and even the bangs (AKA "fringe") only came down to approximately just below eyebrow-length in front... But this was considered a "modern" look at that time (longer-looking than the long-time traditional businessman's short haircut styles of the 1950s and early '60s).
At that time in my life I had not yet grown my hair out to the extreme length that it is today (although I very much WANTED to grow it out that long "someday" - LOL).... I was happy with that haircut back then, because I viewed it as a "compromise", or mid-way point, between what I USED TO HAVE as a kid under my father's roof (he only allowed military-looking super-short or buzzed hairstyles in his household), and what I secretly wished and yearned for some day (the extremely looooong hair lengths of shoulder-length or longer, which is what I definitely have now!!
Re. the term, "businessman's length" (or whatever similar terminology might be used in the actual business world), that has never, to the best of my memory, EVER been = to shoulder-length... That would be really cool if it did become so someday; but best not to hold your breath over that (LOL)!!
I hope that clarifies things a bit; but it will be interesting to hear from some of the other guys here at MLHH if they feel differently, especially those who are the same age as myself or even older.
Take care -- and thanks for posting this thread, it's fun to talk about this topic!
- Ken in San Francisco (who was born in the summer of '53, in the Chicago, Illinois area)
I was in my 20s during the 70's, having been born in 1954.
I had started growing my hair long in 1964, by the 70s it was
a good length. But I still met with alot of resistance
from parents, my school, and employers. Depending on where you
worked "Business Length" usually met a above the colar, above the
ears. For some employers they wanted it even shorter.
The best era for growing hair long was in the 60s, but it wasn't
easy. Lot of complaints from parents, my school, and employers.
By the time I reached waist length there were still lots of
complaints from TPTB at school, and that never really ended until
i got to college. And yes I had complaints too from employers,
and parents. It wasn't until I passed the age of 55 that the
complaints really stopped. It also helped that by the time
I reached 55 I had my own house, I had a good job that allowed
me to have long hair and let me wear what I wanted to wear for
clothes.
There were great things about the era, like the music, lots
of long haired rock bands, lots of great clothes (the 60s and
70s) but there always was a lot of resistance to men with long
hair.