Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-01
HAIRDRESSING ART
PROFESSORS CONDUCT A SCHOOL
IN SWALLOW STREET.
Graduates Get $50 for Five Hours
Work Making Women Look
Beautiful.

London Correspondence Of the Chicago Record
Herald.
There is crooked. narrow, little thor
oughfare called Swallow street, running
out of fashionable Regent street in London,
which can boast of an institution of learn
ing not known, perhaps. to the faculties of
Harvard. Yale, Chicago, other of the
great American universities. but which has
welded an influence over the realm of
femininity as great, perhaps, as that of
any center of culture in England or the
United States. 1t has it's distinguished pro-
fessors. its carefully chosen curriculum, its
degrees and all the other paraphernala Of
mighty university, and you may be sure
1t takes itself most seriously, even II 1t
does happen to be hairdressing that lis the
chief item of learning in this establishment.
And why not? But for the artists turned
out by the Swallow street university. and
the elaborate professors who nurture these
artists, the worlds fashions in the arrange-
ment of woman's browning glory might be-
come such a hopeless tumble that every
member of the sex would do up her hair in
| her own way. regardless of precedent. con-
vention. mode or dictate Of nature.
Origin of School.
Such disaster however. can never hap
pen while Swallow street sends forth its
graduates to conserve the STYLES in hair
dressing for the women of the English
| speaking world. and to colaborate with
their fellow-artists in Paris in originating
| new twists and curls for the further beauti-
| fication of their patronesses.
The Swallow street center of tonsor1al cut-
| ture, which is now. l believe. the greatest
! institution of the kind in the world, was
/ the outcome of an association that was
| formed in the hairdressing trade in London
twenty-five years ago, with the sordid OBJ
| ject of increasing hairdressers wages the
organizers soor discovered. however. that it
| was owing to their lack of skill that Eng
| lish hairdressers were unable to compete
with ighly trained French and German ex
perts, and consequently it was resolved to
| form a school where hairdressers could re-
ceive instruction in higher branches of their
art
The idea caught on with the members
OF the associa tion, with the result that
there are now 800 students who pay fee
of 60 cents month and receive in return
a course of tuition in simple, fancy and
historical hairdressing, which extends
over three years. Examinations and COM
petitions are held half yearly and SUI
| cording to their proficiency. AS result
English hairdreSSerS are now admitted
| to be the best in the world. and London
sets the fashion instead of Paris.
They Are Well Paid
| The students range in age from eigh-
| teen to fortyfive, and the seriousness
with which they regard their course of
instruction is surprising until one learns
a hairdresser's assistant even in a fash
| ionable shop gets only Sc or 81 a week If
unprovided with a first-class diploma
| from the Academic de Couture" whereas
a man who has obtained such a testi-
moniaf of scholarship will earn anywhere
from 81. 80 to $50, which IS a lot of money
for London. where wages are far lower
| than in the United States.
The academy is open two nights week
and three naughty professors are usually
| In attendance These nerSnnaRaS
tanned by the school. and at times are
commissioned to visit Paris and Vienna
| to study the modes in hairdressing and
return with the latest fashions, upon
which they improve as inspiration die
| tates.
Prof. Montagu Parsons is. am told the
worlds greatest authority on historical
| hair work Prof 1. Forster excels in
| dressing the hair to suit the contour of
the face He knows every moder nstyle
of hairdressing and lays great stress upon
the Importance of the couture being in har-
mony with the features and figure. Short,
stout women. according to his doctrine, re-
quire different styles of hair arrangement
| from the fashion set for tall ladies. Girls
with chubby cheeks should be treated diff
ferently from their thin sisters, and so on
through the various types of feminine
beauty. Professor Forster is indeed the
champion hairdresser of the world Two
years ago at the competition held in Paris,
open to all nations he won the first prize
and gold medal. He is also the winner of
the silver shield presented annually by the
corporation of Brighton for efficiency in
hairdressing.
Cater to Smart Set
Brighton, it may be mentioned-lest the
prize be thought queer for munich
pality to hold forth-offers silver shield
for hairdressing on account of the anxiety
that exists among the members of the town
council to make 1t the resort for the smart
set in English society. They want to make
every grande dame feel that Brighton is in
all respects the equal of London as far as
Its shops and resources of the toilet are
concerned. Hence Brighton today is the
seaside adjunct Of the west end.
The first six months tuition at the
Academic de Couture is devoted to brush
ing. combing and plating the hair of wax
models. The students are kept at this until
they arrive at delicacy of touch which is
deemed by their professor to be worthy Of
pra ctice on living models. For this pur-
pose twelve girls. who get s1.25 sitting,
with marvellous coiffures thrown in, are
now retained by the academy.
The second class is instructed In ordinary
hafrdressing and when the members be-
come proficient in everyday coiffures they
study in the historical section. They re-
ceive instruction in dressing hair In the
st. les of all ages. and at least twelve
months close study is necessary before
proficiency is acquired Those who reach
this dizzy height of art find occupation in
preparing ladies for fancy dress balls and
in dressing the hair of actresses who prefer
their own hair to wigs. Lest it be supposed
that this postgraduate course Is somewhat
frivolous, l beg you to consider the fact
that couture of the Louis Quatorze period
takes from three to five hours, while two
hours is the average time it takes an
pert hairdresser to copy an historical plate
or picture
DE TIC Tnn M