ShareThisBy LESLEY KENNEDY
Scripps Howard News Service
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
A $400 haircut? Preposterous! declared a barber in the Quad-City Times. Crazy! claimed a stylist in the Arizona Republic.
Actually, not all that surprising, say three Denver salon owners when asked if the price paid by presidential candidate John Edwards for a couple of recent haircuts seemed exorbitant.
The cuts came from Beverly Hills, Calif., stylist Joseph Torrenueva, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission. Torrenueva reportedly took his styling skills out of the salon and to Edwards. Torrenueva's regular in-salon fee is $150.
That sounds about right, says Sara DeLuca, co-owner of Berenices, in Denver. A man's cut at the Congress Park salon averages around $40.
"It's industry standard that whatever the stylist or artist charges on site is typically double the salon charge, and sometimes there's a travel fee added, as well," she says. "Factoring in a 20 percent tip, that doesn't seem insane."
Charlie Price, co-owner of Click, also in Denver, was recently named the 2007 International Stylist of the Year by The Canadian Mirror Awards. His styling resume includes bold-faced names from Naomi Campbell to Joan Rivers.
His charge for a haircut (which includes a straight shampoo, cut and style): $105 in the salon and $210 to travel to you. That price is the same for men and women.
"It's every bit as big of a deal to cut a man's hair as it is to cut a woman's," Price says. "Men are extremely vain, but they don't want to talk about it. I don't believe in charging different prices for men and women. It's equal rights."
Matthew Morris, owner of Matthew Morris Salon in Denver, says a $400 haircut is totally feasible.
"If it's a life-changing thing, it's worth $400," he says. "If done the right way, a haircut can make a man look like he's worth more."
Morris charges $95 for haircuts for both men and women.
"Men sometimes take a lot longer because the hair's shorter and it shows every little cut," he says. "With longer hair, a blow dry can hide a lot of things."
Whatever the charge, it's time to move on, Price says.
"We need to stop getting offended by everything all the time," he says. "We have much bigger things to worry about than whether someone paid $400 for a haircut or why Britney Spears shaved her head."
(Contact Lesley Kennedy of the Rocky Mountain News at www.rockymountainnews.com.)
