I was listening to an interview this morning on BBC Breakfast with the iconic Vidal Sassoon, who still looks absolutely brilliant at 80 plus which just goes to show there is no excuse for anyone to stop taking pride in their appearance. But that isn’t what struck me. He was asked if he was checking out the female presenter’s hairstyle. His reply – ” No, I was checking out her ankles”. Both presenters thought he was referring to a masculine desire to mentally overview the female form but he was not. He explained - to create a hairstyle that flatters the wearer you need to be aware of the rest of the body, its proportions and bone structure. He likened it to creating a new building in the middle of an existing older city. The building needs to fit in with the rest of the architecture but it also neds to be visually unique and striking.
Yippee!!!! I’ve rarely found any hairdresser or top class stylist that asks you to stand so they can appraise your overall look. Not only should they be doing this, but they should also be asking pertinent questions about your lifestyle so that the hair style they provide will not only look fantastic but it will appropriate for your work, fit in timewise with your routines and be as easy or difficult as you can cope with. If only there were more stylists like Vidal, our hair salons would be less scary places to visit. After all, your life really is in their hands.
The Sassoon team has the following credo:
We believe that perfect beauty is different for every woman and that achieving it need not be a daily struggle.
That’s why we never mass produce but always tailor the look: Considering the individual’s unique features and needs when conceiving their cut and colour.
We never concoct styles that just wash out, but cut a shape that stays in the hair, making it quick and simple to recreate every day.
Realising perfect beauty – individual and practical – is our goal.
This is Sassoon. This is Hair Design.
http://www.sassoon.com/about/index.php
Sounds good to me.

September 4th, 2010 at 5:46 am
Wow, that is impressive! I have never heard any hairdresser (or any other celebrity/well known hairdresser) say that either.
September 5th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
I have had two very expensive but bad haircuts in the last month, one was supposedly to put the other right, but just as bad as the first! I have quite thick, wavy hair and hairdressers don’t know how it behaves, how to cut it or to dry it. The last one said she would have to cut it and dry it as if it were straight” as it was such a “problem” and then I could do my own thing with it when I got home! Unfortunately it then doesn’t work as a curvy outline at all, so just messed up again. Three of my freinds living in different parts of the country report the same problems and ruinous haircuts fairly often.