a gentleman's barber vs a ladies hairdresser

[vectra]

Hello,

Could you explain if a gentleman's barber and a ladies hairdresser common expressions in the UK now? I thought a gentleman's barber is used mainly in the USA. But I came across these expressions in an e-mail from the UK I received the other day:

Within ten minutes walk from my house there are some very nice local businesses. There is an excellent butcher, a fantastic baker, a gentleman's barber, a pre-school nursery, a replacement windows company, a Harley-Davidson showroom, a website designer, a bicycle store, a florist, a tools merchant, a ladies

hairdresser and nail salon, a spray tan business, a tile store and bathroom showroom. There are probably a dozen more that I can't recall off the top of my head.


Thank you for your help.

 

[apex2000]

Yes, they are still in use. However it has been more usual to just say barber for many years - ladies only go to a hairdresser or stylist.

 

[BobK]

Speakers of Romance languages will have no difficulty in remembering that a barber deals with people who have beards. The growing use of 'hairdresser' or 'stylist' to refer to people who cater for men, or for both sexes, is relatively new (1960s, I'd guess). As a young catholic I was educated to regard as morally dubious any man who frequented any hair-dressing establishment other than a barber! ;-)


b