Worth Every Penny: Dente's Barber Shop

And speaking of manly hipster beard stuff.....

I like a good haircut, simple and old fashioned. I don't have any especially difficult instructions when I get a haircut, but I do like it to be neat and clean. These days, what you might call "barber shop culture" has become quite hip, and that's fine if it gets young guys into it. You know the stuff: straight razor shaves, clean haircuts with sharp side parts, bay rum aftershave. etc. It's all good stuff, but it can come with a pretty big "street cred" premium. Lucky for me, Dente's Barber Shop in Davis Square, Somerville, Mass. offers all these things too. The difference is that it's honest, and I don't have to pay double for a barber with a handle bar mustache and tattoos wearing $400 Japanese selvedge denim jeans. 

Dente's Barber Shop offers these services not because they're cashing in on a hipster trend, but simply because it's what they do. Operating in one form or another for nearly 100 years in practically the same location, Dente's has been a family business the whole time. Currently run by brothers Ernest and Anthony Saccoccio and their mother Elizabeth, Dente's may not be the most hiply decorated place, but it's without a doubt the most honest and real barber shop I've seen. That's why it's been my regular place for the past twenty years.

Red Sox and Bruins photos line the walls, sports on the t.v., and generally classic rock on the FM radio. No frills, no bullsh*t, just barber shop. I've been getting my hair cut there since high school. My grandfather used to get his hair cut there, every two weeks. Back then, English was rarely heard in the place, only the Italian of the old men who gathered there as much for the social interaction as the haircuts. Hell, half those guys were bald anyway. These day's, it's a younger crowd, but the comfortable atmosphere and affordable prices remain.

Cheap and quality, my favorite combination in any number of things. They even offer the "shape up", a quick clean up trim between full haircuts, for half price.

Old style tools, on vintage 1940s chrome cabinets. You can't fake that.

Plenty of hot towels on hand for your straight razor shave. Ernest is definitely the guy to see for shaves, but you might want to book an appointment. He works slow and carefully, taking a half an hour or more. It's relaxing, so be careful not to doze off in the chair. And don't plan on doing anything important afterwards. You won't want to go to work after that.

These guys get busy, but they move the lines pretty quick. If you do have to wait, and you don't feel like staring into your phone playing candy crush, there are plenty of dude magazine to look at, only slightly out of date. 

If you're in the neighborhood, stop in for a haircut. Located right around the corner from my own shop, you could spend a nice afternoon visiting both places.If you do drag you girlfriend/wife with you, both places have comfortable "girlfriend" chairs, but Davis Square has plenty for her to do too.

A shave and a  haircut at Dente's may cost a little more than two bits, but it's worth every penny. 

Dente's Barber Shop

471 Highland Avenue

Somerville, MA, 02144

www.dentesbarbershop.com

Worth Every Penny: Proper Aftershave

As fussy as I can be about so many inconsequential things, I've never been fussy about bathroom products. Ivory soap and Old Spice had suited me just fine for most of my life. Until recently, that is. Lately I find that I have developed an appreciation for better personal grooming products. This isn't to say that I now spend outrageous sums of money on numerous "artisinal" pseudo-luxuries, but a small collection of well chosen, time tested products can be worth every penny.

For the longest time, I was not the least an aftershave kind of guy. Despite the fact that I've been shaving with a safety razor since my teen-age years, and more recently sometimes with a straight blade, I always found a splash of ice cold water to be enough. Then I reverted back to Old Spice, because it was nostalgic and cheap. After mentioning it in a blog post a while back, a disgruntled reader informed me via email in no uncertain terms that Old Spice was a "stink bomb", low brow dime store junk worse than wearing no aftershave at all. And while I found his criticism to be more than a little overly harsh, it did get me thinking of the old fashioned scents I used to steal out of the sample bottles when I worked at Simon's in high school.

Bay rum is the fragrance I remember most. The bottle on the left is Ogallala Bay Rum out of Nebraska, $32 for an 8 oz. bottle at Leavitt & Pierce tobacco shop in Harvard Square. It's spicy and herbaceous, even a little sweet. It's bracing on the face right after a wet shave, providing an old school cool burn that is invigorating, stopping just shy of being painful. I prefer the Special Reserve Double Strength. It tightens the skin nicely, leaving it very smooth. The scent comes on strong at first, but quickly fades in to a mere pleasant suggestion. Very masculine, very old time barber shop. Plus, the 19th century apothecary look of the bottle is just something nice to see on the shelf.

On the right is Royall Lyme, the original scent from in the Royall line. Made from a Bermuda recipe using lots of Caribbean limes, its brighter, fresher and lighter than the bay rum, making it an ideal choice for warmer weather. Like the bay rum, its bracing and astringent, leaving my skin feeling tight and fresh. At nearly $47.50 for a 4 oz. bottle at the Andover Shop in Harvard Square, it sure ain't cheap, but this bottle will last me from now until September for two years running, so that really isn't so bad. You can get it directly from the Royall web site for $40 if you like, but to me the extra $7.50 is worth going to a men's shop and buying it properly, by which I mean wearing a coat and tie in place full of coats and ties and handing over the cash, not gawking at the lap top in your pyjamas. There is still, after all, something to be said for that. Besides, all this thrifty living I discuss here is meaningless without an indulgence now and then.

This stuff makes my skin feel better and puts me in a good mood in the morning, and my little 3 year old girl always says I smell nice. Its worth every penny.

p.s. stay tuned for an upcoming dissertation on the pleasures of (gasp!) hippie soap.

Progressing in Reverse : Straight Razor Shaving

An Affordable Wardrobe would like to thank the good folks at Heritage Shaving for their support, and I am happy to announce our first product giveaway contest. Read on for a chance to win a free straight razor starter kit:

Back at the beginning of November, Heritage Shaving, a tiny company run by a nice kid looking to drum up some cash to defray the cost of grad school, signed on as our first advertiser. I received a straight razor starter kit and started using it, admittedly with a little trepidation at first. It takes no small amount of courage for a modern man to take a surgically sharp knife to his throat in the morning, but that's a hurdle worth conquering.

At first, it took me over a half an hour, moving at a snail's pace, to give myself a shave that was only so-so. The nostalgic fetishism was kind of cool, but the ritual had me enthralled. In case you haven't read this blog before, I am a dead sucker for time consuming antiquated rituals. And that's what this was then, an antiquated ritual. But it quickly became more.

It's funny how we sometimes find the good stuff by moving steadily backward. In high school, I shaved with triple bladed, lubricated, silly expensive something or others, and aerosol shaving foam. A splash of Old Spice to follow. Later, I switched from the aerosol to a brush and mug, but kept the high tech gizmo razor. A splash of Old Spice to follow. Later still, I began using my Grandfather's safety razor. Some bits of toilet paper and a splash of Old Spice to follow. After years of this, the straight razor, the method of choice for men until 60 years ago, comes into the picture. At first, it was a once or twice a week treat. As I gained confidence, I came to look forward to it. Now, I use it every day, unless I'm in a screaming hurry, in which case I opt for the old safety razor. As always, a splash of Old Spice to follow.

Shaving this way is often the only time in a given day when I slow down and take a few moments to concentrate on myself. It's therapeutic. Its contemplative. It reminds me that in our mad rush forward at breakneck speed, we humans as a race may not always be progressing. It reminds me that new isn't always better, and that sometimes we realize that we hit the pinnacle long ago and that every thing since may be a downhill ride...kinda like how stereo technology hit it's peak in the mid 1970s. Besides, its extremely masculine, and its kinda tough. That may be silly, its true. But for a guy who spends all day caring for two small kids, and all night geeking out about either wine or clothes, a small dose of masculinity is the least you can afford me.

So...you tell me in the comments why you think scraping your neck and cheeks with a knife is a better idea that dragging expensive plastic cartridges across your face that will at worst cut you and at best give you a mediocre shave. Keep it relatively brief....most thoughtful answer wins a shaving kit, pictured above, which includes a Dovo razor from Germany, leather strop, stainless steel mug, badger brush,  shaving cream, oil, and knick stick. Contest open all weekend, winner chosen Sunday evening.

Update: Sunday, 11 December, 10:00a.m. EST. I'm truly overwhelmed by your excellent responses to this post. Thank you everyone who commented. I'm especially impressed with how many of you saw this topic as a springboard into things of vastly greater importance than merely cleaning up in the morning. You clearly understand how fraught with meaning these things can/should be. Commenting is now closed. We'll sift through all this and a winner will be chosen tonight, so stay posted.

And the Winner Is.....Bostonhud. Oddly enough, this was our very first entry. Many of you delved deep into the more esoteric meaning behind the modern day adoption of an archaic grooming method, which is exactly what we were aiming for. Topics such as connection with the past, contemplation, and a more thoughtful assessment of our modern day culture of speed and convenience above all else were frequently raised. But it was Bostonhud's haiku which managed to convey all of this in only three short lines:

Men seek old stories
Grandpa's hat, father's bow tie
give my son my shave

Congratulations, Bostonhud. Contact me through email at anaffordablewardrobe@yahoo.com with a mailing address and we'll get your prize out post haste.

If you're only just reading this,  the contest is closed. But do read the comments. It's enlightening to see how many men there are out there, many of them young, who don't necessarily buy all that the worlds been selling lately.