FASHION OF SHINGLING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4961, 12 April 1926, Page 3

FASHION OF SHINGLING.

A FLOURISHING BUSINESS.

FIGURES FOR ENGLAND.

It is the. estimate of a fashionable hairdresser that about 50 per cent, of women in England have gone in 'fol short hair. There are approximately 14,000,000 women over the age of sixteen years in England and Wales, so •that possibly 7,000,000 are' shingled. Every one of them ha.s, to go to the hairdresser - once a fortnight for a trim. Ma,ny women go twice weekly to be kept in good order.

Thp average cost of a trim is 2s 6d, although some firms charge £2 2s the, first time a head is, shingled and £1 Is for each subsequent trimming. On the other- hand, a large number of barbeiv have started shingling as a, sideline, for which they charge as little as Is.

In addition fo the money which hairdressers take for shingling, the new fashion has created a, greater der mand for permanent paving and curling. It Is estimated that the extra £21,000,060 women now spend in having their hair attended is divided between 25,000 shop(S', thus, giving the proprietors an average .additional turnover of nearly £lOOO every year. This amount is increasing every year, as every day more women follow the fashion and have their hair cut off. The. demand for 'skilled hairdressers, is far greater thai,n the supply, and there is a dearth of good men and women shinglers on the market. This dearth of assistants is likely to continue, because, according to hairdressers, it takes a man three years, to learn, to cut hair. A clever shingler may earn as much as £2O a week in an exclusive shop in London, but the average wage in the provinces and suburbs its about £5 a week. The figures are staggering, comments the Daily Express. There a,re no hairdressers on the dole. It. is a mystery where all the shinglers come from. Thousands are steadily employed in the'new hairdressing shops which have been opened all; over the country. Probably the art of shingling is. quickly acquired by those who have already learned tq cut- the hair of men. The fa,ct th,at so many women can afford the cost of shingling is a sign df prosperity. Shingling, after all, is a luxury, not a necessity.