A visit to a wicked barber shop near Tottenham Court Road. By Andre McleodI've had the same barber since the age of six. Through Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-themed birthday parties, trips to the countryside, first day at secondary school, date with a girl in the year above, internships, freshers balls, 21st celebrations, funerals, graduation, press trips abroad, weddings and afterparties.
In all that time I've only had it cut elsewhere once and that was while I was in LA a few months ago. I was staying at the Standard Hotel on Sunset Boulevard and they had a barbershop. The people in there were different, exotic and exciting. They even laughed at my jokes. I was young, naïve and unshaven. The experience didn't last that long but I regretted it straight away. As soon as I got back to London I told my barber what had happened. We decided that 18 years together meant something and that we could work through it.
So it was with some trepidation that I made the journey to Sharps on Charlotte Street near Tottenham Court Road. Their first shop has been open here for about a year and a half now but the brand has been going for several years in New York. “We wanted to bring back old school barbering,” said head barber Paul dos Reis. “The type of shop your old man would be happy to get a trim in.”
It all happens while you're seated in a Belmont barber’s chair, which is a vintage but modern classic. They’ve got a few of them in the shop, and the chair seems timeless, like an Aston Martin or Marilyn Monroe's cleavage. The Belmont goes for about £5-6,000 new, or less if reupholstered.
A dry cut is about £21 but the real draw is a wet shave. Have you ever had one? Sharps believe this is a service that every man deserves, no matter how you look or dress. "We're not like some hairdressers where you walk out with highlights you never wanted. What we do is 21st century barbering for the modern everyday man," Paul said as we stood in the hair washing room with Oliver Reed looking down on us from the wall, seemingly in approval.
If I were ever going to stray again this would be the place, but I'm not that guy… anymore. In fact, I'm taken. Andre McLeod
SHARPS Barber and Shop, 13A Charlotte Street, London. W1T 1RH 020 7636 8688. www.sharpsbarbers.com
