Always in Style

As they shampoo, trim and style, veteran salon employees have heard it all and have had their fingers not only in our hair, but on the pulse of Park City for over 20 years now. Isa Wright clearly remembers the beginning of her career in the quaint setting of this mountain community. “When I first started working up here, only 1,250 people lived in town,” she says. “We were all kind of broke, but had a ton of fun.”

She claims that in 1976, the cornerstone for hairdressers in Park City was her salon, the Gazebo, and she credits owner Jerry Frkovich for making it successful because he was such a colorful presence on Main Street. “He was known to out-dance the strippers at C’est Bon,” says Wright. “He was a great guy and opened the doors for people getting their hair done in Park City.”

When Nancy Sim of Silver Shears first came to Park City in 1975, the community consisted of Park City locals who were raised in this town and lots of ski bums and hippies who came here to get away from bigger cities. “Over the years, we have become a big town, but those who are moving here from bigger cities still see Park City as a small town,” says Sim. She feels the newer residents are settling here searching for a more tranquil setting and a more wholesome community in which to live.

Although spying a bona fide “hippie” is rare these days, and few people boast of being actual ski bums, the attitude of this resort town is clearly relaxed. “I came to work in Park City after working in Salt Lake City. I was very excited for my first client up here and a bit nervous. After cutting his hair, styling it and combing it neatly, I asked how he liked it,” Sim remembers. “He took his fingers and messed up his hair. Then he smiled and told me it was just fine. People up here are just a lot more relaxed about life.”

The Contemporary Pulse

Patsy Hatch has been cutting hair on the same corner in Kamas, Utah, for over 29 years at the Countryside Barber Shop. When the topic of hair length is at hand, she’s had a personal view of the battles between parent and child. “I remember back in the 1970s and 1980s, the parents would bring their children in with long hair, and they would get into a fight over having it cut because the kids wanted it long, and the dads wanted it short,” Hatch recounts. “Now those same boys are bringing their children in, and they are arguing to have their kids’ hair long, but the boys prefer it short.” Hatch calmly cuts through the issues by reminding them how it felt to have a parent involved in the decision-making. “I try to tell them it is always best if the boys decide how to wear their own hair.”

In 1995 when Marc Raymond first took a pair of scissors to Park City tresses, he had a small sprinkling of customers numbering no more than three a day. Today, a slow day for Raymond means a minimum of 30 clients. “I like the fact that Park City residents appreciate what we try to do for them. It is not simply about looking better but about feeling happier when you walk out than when you walked in,” says Raymond.

As the community grows, so do its expectations. Raymond explains, “The community has raised its standards of what is stylish and what is not.”

Raymond is not the only stylist to notice a change in attitude over time. “Years ago we used to get a great portion of our clientele when guys wandered over from the Alamo for a biannual cut,” says Wright. “Those same guys are now coming in on a regular basis because they want to appear more polished. People are more groomed in Park City now—we were a pretty scruffy bunch back then.”

Hush Hush

Asking a stylist to tell you his or her most outrageous confessions is like begging a priest to share sordid details he has heard during confession. Stylists’ clients entrust them with their most personal secrets—infidelities, fatal diseases, divorces and any variety of indiscretions. Sim was sworn to secrecy time and time again and kept her word. “I want to be known more for telling jokes than repeating gossip, so I try to keep quiet. A majority of my clientele is male—we talk basketball and football,” she laughs.

Carly Bennet has also had an earful as she sculpts and manicures nails. Bennet explains that it is easier for people to remain open with her when she is holding their hands. “A lot of the time in this business we become psychologists without formal training,” she says.

“I usually know before someone’s husband if they are unhappy.”

“I think my job is so rewarding because I feel like these people are my friends and not just clients,” Bennet says. “I enjoy my time with them, and I think they feel the same way.” Over the years, Bennet has worked as a technician and owned her own salon. She is currently penning a memoir about her adventures in the industry entitled, “More Than A Manicure—The Nail Files.”

Although Isa Wright is as tight-lipped as her hairdressing contemporaries, she remembers a drug bust that went down in Park City. “In the 1970s, narcotics officers came to the salon to uncover details about a drug ring in Park City because they thought our girls knew all about it from clients who had confided in them,” says Wright. “One of the girls in the salon became very involved and was a prime witness. Because of her help, there were eventually 61 indictments handed out.”

Final Cut

If an expert on Park City culture and history is needed, or if the day is dreary and a sincere smile would lighten the load, a trip to the salon may be just what the doctor ordered. After all, these salon veterans have been friendly sounding boards and observers of local happenings for years.

C.J. Johnson is a regular contributor to Park City Magazine.