Slovenian Haircut

I calculated my risk. We are staying near the Ljubljana university, most young people speak English, and the salon nearby seems upscale. I’m going in. During the 20 minute wait, I noticed an ad for the very salon I’m in- “Stevo”- in one of the Milan fashion magazines. I’m feeling hip. It’s easy to go through every magazine in the place when you can’t read the language. I’m all caught up on Slovenian fashion, décor, health and architecture. Finally, I’m escorted to the chair by my man- Breid(?).
Breid has short hair on one side of his head and straight bleach blond on the other. He’s anorexic, by my own standards and his pants are bolted to his waist with several layers of alligator-like neon yellow leather and chains. He waves his hands over me and says “What do you wish?”
Well, let’s see. I decide to play straight and clearly say a trim and remove the bulk of the past six weeks, as my hair tends to grow out rather than down. Okay? Okay.
We head for the shampoo bowl. I’ve had a question since we were in Rome and I ask it here. Why isn’t it possible to buy conditioner in the grocery store?
“It is going a bad way in Italy. I don’t understand they do only 10 minute haircut and 20 minute blow dry. Here we give a 40 minute hair cut and 10 minute style. Precision is most important.”
Wasn’t my question, but interesting never the less.
We sit down and he asks “How much cut?”I thought we had discussed this point but now I’m curious about Slovenian precision. In the spirit of adventure, I shrug my shoulders and say “you choose.”
Whoo Hoo! Breid is let loose. We chat a little about the price of Apple computers, Ipods and his other job- a club DJ. The night life is Ljubljana is mentioned in every guide to Slovenia. Obviously, it wasn’t high on our list of priorities for Slovenia, but I’m interested. He produces his own music and videos on his computer and broadcasts them on big screen televisions in the clubs. The clubs really heat up around 1:00a.m. and are open until morning, when many go out for horse burgers. (Okay, if you’re grossed out old friends recall the nights of drinking with a White Castle chaser.)
It takes me almost the whole 40 minutes to decipher the subtle difference in this haircut. What is it that is different than a day at Antons? Hmmm….is he dividing into more sections? Yes, but that’s not it. Is he taking more off? Yes, but I’ve been through that before. There is something different that I’ve never experienced before when having my haircut. Is it because he is male? I’ve had other male stylists before…what is different?
Maybe this is a cultural difference. Maybe it would also happen at a salon in Madison. But it seems Breid is putting on a little show for me in the mirror. He pauses before and after each slice just enough for me to take a mental photo. He is posing- hands up scissors out for a brief second between snips. When I figure it out I start to giggle. I’m being entertained by the magician- what do you wish?
When he sees me laugh he stops to see if all is fine- oh yes, sorry. It’s good. I hold it together for the duration.
Then lean forward. Yes, blow dry upside down. He leaves me like this for 5 minutes, enough time to study his mismatched shoes and neon yellow laces. Nice touch considering the belt.
“Up again! What do you think? A lion, yes?”
I have to say it, “I think you give a crazy haircut to an American and tell her it is the new European style.”
“Oh yes, we’ll fix it. But look- perfect shape all around- all even, nice ball. That is good precision haircut!”
Actually, some “foam” and more mirror antics and I feel pretty good. Total loss of about 3 inches but well worth the tale to tell. Hvala, Breid. Good luck in the clubs.