The Semiotics of Hair

Casually exchanging banter with my barber, Toni, some weeks ago and at the same time strenuously endeavouring to steer the conversation away from matters meteorological or televisual, we happened upon the grand compromise of an exchange of views regarding the relative merits of hairstyles he had been called upon to 'create' throughout his long and distinguished career.

Over the years, in his plain, simple, brutish, tradesmanlike way, what Toni had stumbled upon was somewhat akin to my own in-depth investigations into, and application of, the teachings of those grand masters of semiology Ferdinand de Saussure, Umberto Eco and Roland Barthes. Although there is still a strong trend in English thinking that sees such methodology as so-much continental tommyrot, casual readers should bear with me and witness for themselves the acute social insight that one may gain from the calm, objective appraisal of a man's coiffure. When a fellow walks into a barber's shop and demands a particular follicular configuration, he brings with him the psychic baggage of his hopes, fears, loves, disappointments and current state of mind. The plumage that he chooses to exhibit upon his bonce is as telling and as individual as his genetic makeup, his fingerprints or the contents of his trouser pockets. So, gentle reader, step with me along a road of discovery that will both enchant and act as an invaluable insight for use socially, in business and for pleasure.