I was first introduced to "The Proper" on June 20, at their grand opening of the shop. The shop itself was cool, relaxed, and calm, with a hint of chaotic rush waiting to burst. The men of The Proper were very kind and outgoing, striking conversation with anyone and everyone that crossed their paths. Laughter and smiles was all I could see on their faces, making me want to find out more on who they are and what they are all about. They seemed to be different, in the way that they were NOT your average hair salon, but in fact, they were a barber shop. I had to know more about them and what they were all about. I had never seen or encountered a "real" barber shop, the thought intrigued me and I decided to hang out at the shop a little bit. It was more than I had expected. Jokes, pranks, laughs, and nothing but good times were had at The Proper. Everyone was making jokes and laughing, it was relaxing, no one had a schedule to follow and everyone was more like a group of brothers rather than coworkers. I decided to ask Vinnie some questions.
Vinnie agreed to answer all of my questions about barber shops and, The Proper.
1. Why did you decide to open the shop?
We were really tired of not seeing any real barber shops in Los Angeles both of us worked for this new jack style shop that catered to mostly women and had the barbershop name!!!
2. What's the story behind the shop?
The story behind the shop is that we worked for hacks and knew that we could do this whole barbershop thing way better, from how the shop looked aesthetically to how the service was, we just knew that we had such a fire and a passion for the art of barbering that we could put together a really special men's shop!!!
3. Why did you open a barber shop instead of a salon?
The story behind the shop is that we worked for hacks and knew that we could do this whole barbershop thing way better, from how the shop looked aesthetically to how the service was, we just knew that we had such a fire and a passion for the art of barbering that we could put together a really special men's shop!!!
3. Why did you open a barber shop instead of a salon?
The reason we opened an old school men's shop and not a salon is because we are 1 of 1. There are 5 million salons in this city and we noticed that the men of our generation were being groomed to go to salons and be around women and that is not the shop we wanted to build. We wanted a safe haven for men to come and be men: talk shit, laugh, kick back with a beer and not worry about a woman yapping in their ear.... and they would get a great tailored men's barbered haircut!!!
4. How did you pick your barbers?
4. How did you pick your barbers?
we picked our barbers after they came and were in the shop for a day we watched them cut and there level of service and how they just interacted in our environment which is very different from a salon environment.
5. Why did you decide to become a barber?
5. Why did you decide to become a barber?
Both Trent and I are very creative people and love to work in some form of art. For me, I found that I was super unhappy doing anything else, hair allowed me to express my creativity and see it walking the streets. I just got a rush from doing it and I still do to this day, so that is why I continually push myself to get better and to always refine my skills.
6. What kind of services do you guys offer?
6. What kind of services do you guys offer?
the services that we provide here at the proper barber shop are a haircut: $25 a buzz: $15 a face shave: $25 the executive shave: $35, and a full range of wedding services and private events that we offer to men!!!
7. How did you choose the name, "The Proper"?
We choose the name "The Proper" late one night after having all our friends make fun of our other names!!!
8. What's a normal day at The Proper?
A normal day at the shop is everything but normal, I mean really anything can happen here you never know who is going to come in and what you are going to see!!!
A normal day at the shop is everything but normal, I mean really anything can happen here you never know who is going to come in and what you are going to see!!!
9. Explain your barber tattoos.
Barber tattoos are a big part of our shop. We all have them and we all love them. We are so so proud of what we do and we really love our profession!!!
10. How do you change when you do hair?
We all change when we do hair. I mean, we change to whatever client is in our chair, we cater ourselves to our clients so that they have the best experience possible!!!
11. I hear some buzz about a t.v. show?
We have a reality t.v. show in the works right now, we are really excited! It's like taxi cab confessions meets jackass meets barbershop!!!
12. What's the shop specialty?
Our shop specialty is that we do classic hair high and tights, pomps, comb overs, and really classic men styles!!!
Meet the crew!!
Vinnie
Daniel
TrentFor more information on The Proper, check out these links!
The Proper Official Website
The Proper Twitter
The Proper Facebook
Hugs&kisses, until next time kiddies, Hanna.
