Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/460267
illustration by Daniel o'leary My first job was at a hair salon. So while my buddies were caddying on the weekends, I was sitting on a radiator in my dad's shop in Harvard Square, waiting to sweep up a pile of somebody's hair. It was there, with broom and bin in hand, that I learned the adage that there are three people in life you don't want to screw with: your cardiologist, your tattoo artist, and your hairdresser. Because how we do our dos says a lot about who we are and where we come from. Growing up, the jocks in my hometown of Arlington sported either bowl cuts or buzz cuts, better known as "whiff les" come sum- mertime. Without even meeting them, you could assume that most of their dads paid little more for a haircut than for a regular at Dunkin's. Indeed, the hockey-dad haircut was (and still is) prevalent in many middle- class neighborhoods like mine, a look that m ight be best descr ibed a s a few Na sca r races short of a full-blown mullet. Mean- while, one only needed to spot my scraggly rat tail waving in the wind to assume that my parents were as crunchy as kale. As an adult, I now see some hair trends holding true, like the weaves many women are spending staggering sums to get sewn onto their scalps. Which reminds me: Can someone please enlighten me on the differ- ence between hair extensions and a hair- piece? Why is one glamorous while the other taboo? The last time I heard someone talk favorably about a toupee, it was being sub- mitted as a piece of evidence in a court case. From frosted tips to fauxhawks, bobs to bangs, the history of hair trends is long and tangled. Recently there's been a surge in blow-dry bars in Boston, where women can get their tresses washed, dried, and styled w it hout a set of scissors in sight. It 's t he equivalent of a Scrubby Bubbles car wash: all detailing, no bodywork. A s for men, it 's a m ist a ke to t hink we care less about our hair than women do. Look no further than our sports teams for proof. I mean, what would the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox be without those gross beards? Or consider Adonis himself, Tom Brady: He's had more ha irst yles in the last decade than his supermodel wife, Gisele. These days ma ny men a re liv ing back i n t he 192 0 s, rock i ng t hat Rya n Gosling high-and-tight slick-back you can set your watch to. T he only rea l m ist a ke you ca n ma ke when it comes to a haircut is thinking it will mag ica lly t ra nsfor m who you a re. I w it - nessed ma ny people wa lk into my dad's shop clutching a picture of a celebrity torn out of a magazine like it was a ticket to fame and fortune. Just because you buy a pair of Jorda n snea kers doesn't mea n you'll be able to dunk. As with all fashion, a haircut should represent who you are on the inside, beneath the follicles. Like bushwhacking t h rough t he A ma zon, we're a l l cut t i ng, curling, and blowing on a mission to figure t hat out. I n ha ir -related mat ters at lea st , hairdressers can serve as our guides. BC HAIR PIECE How do you do your do, Boston? by robert cocuzzo 120 bostoncommon-magazine.com PARTING SHOT