I know that many here are profound pundits of the traditional English barbershops including Trumper, Truefitt and Hill, etc but truth be told it was the Italians (and more specifically the Romans) who perfected men's grooming (including the traditional wetshave) and the English were merely imitators of this art form.
During the third century, BC, the Macedonians under Alexander the Great began their conquest of Asia and lost several battles to the Persians who grabbed the Macedonians by their beards, pulled them to the ground and speared them. This resulted in a order by Alexander that all soldiers be clean-shaven. The civilians followed the example of the soldiers and beards lost their vogue. Barbers were unknown in Rome until 296 BC, when Ticinius Mena came to Rome from Sicily and introduced shaving.
Shaving soon became the fashion and the barber shop became the gathering place for Roman dandies. Romans often devoted several hours each day to shaving, hair cutting, hairdressing, massaging, manicuring and the application of rare ointments and cosmetics of unknown formulas. The great ladies of Rome always had a hairdresser among their slaves and the rich nobles had private 'tonsors', as they were then called. Barbers were so highly prized that a statue was erected to the memory of the first barber of Rome.
Today there are many traditional "barbiere" in Italy but the best of the best is located in Milano and has been in continuous operation for more than a century. The shop is known as Antica Barbiera Colla and it is owned by a man named Franco Bompieri.
I have had shaves and haircuts on multiple occasions in this establishment (as well as the traditional English barbers) and I can tell you it is unlike any other traditional barber in the world. They make Trumpers feel like a Supercuts comparatively speaking.
As many of us know once upon a time the likes of Trumper and others actually compounded their own shaving creams, after shaves, etc where now these "brands" simply "OEM" from larger volume commercial labs.
The tradition of formulating and compounding on premises is still performed at Colla. And many of the formulae have remain unchanged for more than a century. They make nearly every product they use in their services including their pre shave cream, bitter almond shave soap, and after shave. They also make various shampoos and a post shampoo product laced with menthol and capsicum that makes for a great "friction" treatment after the hair is washed and prior to a haircut.
This establishment has just launched a website to offer a glimpse of the establishment, it's staff, history, products, etc. I thought all of you would enjoy so click below for a glimpse in to what I consider to be the Mecca of traditional mens grooming:
http://www.anticabarbieriacolla.it
Chris
