Coast winter 2018

Barbershops

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Damien Noonan Razor Sharp, Leongatha

words katie cincotta photos warren reed

The last bastion of masculinity – the beard – is back and with it, a new wave of New York style barbers ready to clip, cut, shave and shine that virile display of manhood into the crowning glory of the face.

Hipster fashion and its focus on op shop clothes and rampant facial hair – sparked the renaissance.

“For the first time ever, clothing fashion governed hair choice. But there was something missing in the hipster movement and it wasn’t the watch and it wasn’t the bling, it was the hair,” says master barber of more than 35 years, Mario Fallace.

Suddenly beards were taking their styling cues from Vikings. And bold, unruly manes need managing. Flamboyant whiskers need taming. And where else to get the loving attention your badge of male sexual attractiveness needs than at the one place that celebrates everything it means to be a man – the barber shop.

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MASTER BARBER

Mario Fallace

New York Barbers, Berwick

Master barber Mario Fallace looks like he’s just stepped off the sidewalks of New York during the steampunk era. One of Melbourne’s last formally trained barbers, he seems a world away from his delinquent roots in Clayton – where he was booted from technical school. He now sports a swanky bow tie and vest, and a sharply defined goatee.

“At 15, I fell into the local barber shop. I’m not proud to say it but it was that or jail. My original teacher now works with me and continues to mentor young people.”

In the laneway of his barber shop, a sign tells the story of the barber ‘surgeons’ who once served the community for beard trimming, medicine and surgery – the bloodletting on a white cloth, rinsed and left to hang in the door way, created the symbolic red, white and blue barber pole. “Historically, men never shaved at home. It was once a fortnight at the barber because most men couldn’t afford the utensils you needed to shave – the blade and the strop.”

Over the last six years, Mario noted the rise in men coming through his women’s salon, and the growing attention to beards among retro-loving hipsters. “Old is the new, new. Service used to be about looking after people. We do over

400 haircuts here in a week and I think that’s because people suddenly feel like somebody is looking after them.”

Like a lemon tree in the back yard, he says the barber shop has returned as a staple in the community. “This is neutral ground. No rich, no poor. Sometimes when young men didn’t have father figures, the barber shop was where they could come for advice and guidance, to hear a male’s perspective. It’s where the father brings the son, where the boy learns to talk among men. Our young people need a bit of that.”

“It’s where the father brings the son, where the boy learns to talk among men.”

He points to one of his barbers who casts a striking figure with his giant curled moustache. “He came to me two years ago as a broken man. He’s now our team leader. One of the things I love is about giving young people an opportunity to have a life, a career and choices. That’s my buzz.” >

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LUMBERSEXUAL STORYTELLER

Damien Noonan

Razor Sharp, Leongatha

Damien Noonan could best be described as a lumbersexual. His hulking frame suggests a man of the land – perhaps a miner hauling coal, or a lumberjack hacking away at towering Gums. But it’s the bushranger beard and his deft use of a razor blade that confirms his status as Leongatha’s resident barber.

He was convinced he’d be the first to leave for the city, but has become one of the town’s stalwarts, cutting hair and trimming beards for more than 25 years from the Compass Arcade on McMartin St. There’s something of the pub in Damien’s barber room. Not just the offer of a whisky or a beer, but a giant red deer head on the wall – the first deer he ever shot in Allambee Reserve, the rugged country of the Strzelecki Ranges.

What’s instantly evident is his warm rapport with the locals, his genuine interest in people and his ability to listen to and tell stories over the buzz of the clippers. The conversation moves effortlessly from the district’s new blacksmithing school, to his client’s car drama after he mistakenly filled his BT50 with petrol, not diesel,130km from home.

While he loves the craft, it’s those every day conversations that inspire this big-hearted barber. “I love that I get to engage with people of all walks of life – teachers, builders, doctors, lawyers,

soldiers, bikers, artists, criminals, funeral directors – you name it – I’ve had them all in the chair at some point.”

Damien is regarded for his hair art including tattoo-style cut outs like spider webs and footy numbers, but it’s the short blade cuts from war times that are most in demand. “Some of the traditional styles are coming back but they have different names, like skin fades. When I started and there were still a lot of our World War 1 guys around, that was what they had – a short back and sides and bald around the base. That became the army standard because of lice in the trenches.”

“…the last bastion of maleness”

Damien says there’s something sacred about a man’s beard and treating it with reverence is all part of the service. “It can take years to grow and you don’t want people to mess it up. It’s definitely the last bastion of maleness. I’ve had mine for years, before it got trendy. It is good to see guys take a bit more pride in their appearance.” >

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CAREER CHAMELEON

Jack Dent

Barber Rant, Wonthaggi

He’s been a plumber, a body builder, a driving instructor, a pool salesman in Toorak for celebrity clients, and now Jack Dent is embarking on an exciting new venture to open an unashamedly male hair domain.

At 46, the chatty Harley rider is completing his Certificate III in Barbering at Chisholm, and happy to be part of the barber shop revival that gives men their own space. “Some people blame The Beatles for the disappearance of the barber shop. With the long hair, men stopped getting haircuts. Then the unisex salons and spas arrived and while we love women, we also need a place to hide. Men might act all tough in a women’s salon but they’re intimidated in there. The barber is where you can learn to talk amongst men, a bit of banter, like in that movie Gran Torino.”

At Barber Rant, you walk in and write your name on the board, and take in the cool collection of skulls, BMX bikes and upcycled furniture while you wait. “Yes, the hipster culture has brought back the beard but you’re not going to find any gluten-free tacos walking around here,” jokes Jack. He points out a shop across the road which used to be an 8-seat barber shop a few decades ago. “It’s several years since we had a barber shop in town. Now the man sanctuary is back. It’s a

place where Dads can bring their sons, the haircut’s not just left up to mum. They can talk a bit more freely in here. Nobody has to talk over the sound of hair dryers.”

The return of the barber shop has brought back fond memories for men who knew the ritual as kids. “The smell of Proraso shaving cream, one guy said it reminded him of going to a barber in Coburg with his Grandfather when he was a little boy.”

“Men might act all tough in a women’s salon but they’re intimidated in there.”

This is an experience to savour – a warm towel to soften the skin, a trusted hand for the first pass.

“I’ve had people go to sleep on me,” says Jack. And beyond the pampering, a chance to get things off your chest. “Taxes, how cold it’s been, people doing stupid things on the road, it’s unofficial therapy. They can come in and have a whinge in the chair. Men need to talk too.”

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