The Consummate Collector

by Michael Warner

Michael WARNER displays his passion for hair gone retro on his Website, hairarchives.com, all over his vintage salon, and in his entire attitude of respect for the history of hairstyling!

HH: How did you become interested in vintage hairstyling?

MW: About 25 years ago, I just happened to run to the mall over my lunch period and they were sponsoring an antique fair. I passed a table that had various vintage magazines on display and one, featuring a model wearing a vintage hairdo, jumped out at me. It was a 1952 edition of American Hairdresser. I had never seen a hairdressing magazine that old before and promptly bought it. That night I read the entire magazine and it occurred to me that I had the blueprints which showed how to create hairstyles of this era. I immediately began thinking that if there were other vintage hairstyling magazines out there I needed to find them before they were lost forever. That became a passion for many years to follow and today I have roughly 5,000 hairdressing magazines/books dating back to the 1920s.

HH: What do you hope that people gain from your website?

MW: I created the website because I wanted to share my passion for these beautiful looks from the past. I hope that the website has inspired some people.

HH: What´s it like in your “retro” hair salon in Michigan?

MW: It´s totally retro. I have vintage equipment, posters, and memorabilia scattered throughout but with a propensity towards 1960s motifs. People LOVE seeing my collection. It doesn´t matter if they are in the hair business or not. Today´s generation has no idea what women of past generations went through to style their hair so it´s fun to share with them. My 1936 perm machine usually draws the most conversation! Some of my older clients actually used many items in my salon so they love talking about it. I get a lot of personal perspectives.

HH: How do you find the items you have in your collections?

MW: Back then I sent post cards out to what I believed were older establishments. You know, names like Betty´s Beauty Shoppe, Clair´s Beauty Boutique. I told the owner that I was a stylist interested in collecting old trade magazines and hair memorabilia. I thought that much of this stuff lingered around in basements of old shops and all I had to do was find the right people. I also advertised in local newspapers. More recently, I have done online purchasing but it´s not nearly as fun as meeting and talking to some of the stylists who have grown up in the hair business.

HH: Do you think that women today feel that hairstyling is easier or harder than in the past?

MW: I think women would feel that hair styling is easier today than in the past. With so many women in the work force now, hair styles have had to adapt so they are easier to maintain and faster to style.

HH: Is there a certain period of hair styling that you like in particular? A period you don´t like?

MW: I like the 1960s because I grew up in this era and remember it well. My mother worked in a salon and she used to come home with different styles a lot. I never cared much for 1980s hair, though.

HH: How would you compare hairstyles of the past to the hairstyles of today?

MW: I believe hairstyles were more glamorous in the past. Hair was styled on a regular basis and styles were designed to last a long time. Today no one has time to spend on their hair so styles are much less complicated.

HH: Whose hair would you most like to have styled in the 1950´s?

MW: Oh — that´s an easy answer: Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Marilyn Monroe, of course!

HH: What do you feel that people fifty years from now will say about the hairstyles today?

MW: It´s hard to say. I don´t think there will be as much of a change in hairstyles from now until then, as there was between now and 50 years ago. Maybe hair stylists of the future will all laugh at the styling products or equipment we use today!

HH: If you could pick one invention that changed the course of hairstyling, what would you pick? Why?

MW: That´s really hard because there are so many depending on the time period. But if I had to pick one, I guess I would pick the permanent wave because it proved that you could change the texture of the hair!

HH: What trends that were seen in the past do you see coming back in style?

MW: I see a return to a more feminine look.

HH: If people wanted to contribute to your collections, how could they do so?

MW: They can contact me directly through the Website at www.hairarchives.com.

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