No.7 Royale

Men in middle age who have retained enough hair to require regular cutting find themselves faced with a dilemma.

The traditional barber has long been replaced by the hairdresser and this transition was welcomed by those of us who rebelled against the old standard “short back and sides” approach.

You can tell the age of some of us throwbacks by the hairstyles we favour. Those who had their heyday in the swinging 60’s often favour the grey bouffant look, as worn by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Bob Geldof and my brother Tom.

However, a new and insidious challenge has emerged which leaves most of us stumped: those blasted numbered blades!

As we sit and wait our turn, we watch the young studs asking for a No. 1 back & sides combined with a No.3 top with quiff and we wonder what the hell has happened and how we are supposed to now describe what we want done to our own heads..

Anyway I’ve cracked the numbered blade problem to my own satisfaction and am happy to share it for what worth. I’ve christened it “the No. 7 Royale“.

Basically it’s a No.7 blade back & sides with the top cut in the traditional manner to leave a bit of length/body up there where it’s getting thinnest. The wife approves and the outcome has more consistency than achieved under the previous regime.