SOME STUDENTS SHOP AROUND FOR THE CHEAPEST PLACE TO KEEP THEIR HAIR IN TOP FORM. OTHERS LOOK FOR THE BEST ATMOSPHERE. BUT ALL ARE IN SEARCH OF A...

When it comes to finding the perfect hair cut, Provost Jerry R. Green says he has exhausted his barber options. Instead, Green has taken a balder, er, bolder, approach.

"I cut my own hair," Green says. "I have not been to a barber in 10 years because I can't stand waiting in lines."

Some students also refuse to take the plunge and place their hair in the hands of complete strangers. But few students say they trust themselves with the scissors.

While some say they wait for vacations when they can return to their hometown hair cutter, most say the trips are too far apart to prevent bad hair days--and a baseball cap may not be the answer to all their follicle problems. Instead, they must make arrangements with someone near Harvard to comb away their problems--and their options abound.

Of course, ear lowering can be a less painful, and less expensive, process if a skilled friend offers to perform the deed.

Adams House resident Frederick J. Leidner '95 says he doesn't charge to cut any sort of hair style although he says he prefers cutting straight hair instead of curly hair.

"Anything, anybody wants. Never had an unsatisfied [customer]," says Leidner. But he says he once cut hair for "a guy who had a Jheri-Curl. It was a living nightmare. All he wanted was a trim, but I have a fear of cutting curly hair."

Leidner says he started cutting hair before he came to school when he lived in New York. Although he had never attended a barber school he just started cutting hair for friends.

"We just started it," Leidner says. "We all gave each other cuts."

Customers embarking on the quest for a compatible commercial cutter need not worry, for the multitude of local shops are out to establish long-term relationships.

The key to keeping customers, according to barbers in the area, is to deliver a quality haircut.

"Loyalty in hairdressing has changed," says Joseph Gino Ruotolo, the owner of Gino who has been working in Cambridge for 20 years. "It was taken for granted in the 60s. But today, unless you deliver a quality product, loyalty, you can chuck it out the window."

According to John G. Weston, a stylist at About Hair, most people return to the salon, although they don't always go to the same hair designer.

"Students take whoever is available," he says. "It is not necessarily the same stylist."

But many barbers claim they have earned the loyalty of many a student.

A customer at Jerry's Underground, who asked to be identified as Tom, says he has been getting his hair cut at Jerry's since he was an undergraduate. Now a graduate student, Tom says he still comes to Jerry's Underground because of the bargain.

"It's basically a $25 hair-cut for nine bucks," he says. "I think it is the most popular shop in Harvard Square."

The greatest signs of allegiance are the graduate students who return to the haunts of their college days to get a hair-cut and catch up on old times.

"For a lot of our Harvard students, we've had their families come for years," says Thomas V. Derensis, the manager at Alfred Hair Salon on JFK. "The Ginsburgs have been coming for years, Susan ('88), Matt ('86) and Amy all got their hair cut here."

Weston from About Hair says, "We had ads in Spare Change, the Unofficial Guide, Lighthouse, "he says. "Mostly, we count on [clients] telling about us to their friends."

Trends

Derensis, says he sees a visible trend in today's student haircuts. He says both men and women are asking for conservative hair styles.

"Our customers are asking for regular guy cuts and, the women are mostly shoulder length," Derensis says, "Nothing exotic."

"Right now the guys ask for short hair tapered in the back," says Linda K. Robinson, receptionist at About Hair. "Most of the girls just want a trim."

Fred Iannacone of the Central Barber Shop prefers the Taoist interpretation of hair styles.

"It goes in cycles," he says. "In the early 60s hair was really short," Iannacone says. "In the late 60s it was long. [The style] is going to be short for a while."

Yvonne Bonaccorso, an owner of Salon Gaia, says the most exciting hair style that Harvard Students will go in for is a bit of color.

"We do a lot of color and highlites," she says.

However, Bonaccorso says she believes that if any change in the present trend occurs it will come in the spring.

"In the spring time, people want to cut their hair off and forget the winter," she says.

If one is willing to pay for a cut from a professional, the experts say there are two general options: the cut and the style.

A simple haircut is available from any barber shop near the Square, including Central Barber Shop, Great Cuts, Jerry's Underground and La Flamme. All offer inexpensive hair cuts, but each uses distinctly different approaches to the Zen of hair.

Central Barber Shop, which provides a low-cost cut for the bargain price of $8, is marked as a standard barber shop by the spinning red, white and blue striped candy cane outside its door.

Inside is a barber shop that has changed little from when it was established 50 years ago. Iannocone says his barbers still give the no frills cut that attracts customers by its simplicity.

"We're a barber shop," Iannocone says. "With a styling salon, it is more or less style. A barber can really taper the hair."

Another establishment that can be classified as a barber shop is Great Cuts on Mt. Auburn Street. Great Cuts, a member of a chain of unisex hair salons, gives out-of-town students the opportunity to get an inexpensive cut from the same sort of salon at home.

Jerry's Underground, located under Holyoke, a third barber shop is owned and operated by Jerry E. Lauretano. Lauretano, who has been in the Square for 13 years, offers a shampoo, cut and advice for just $9.

The shop, buried under Holyoke Street, boasts a two-chair barber shop filled with Jerry's "stream of consciousness style" of cutting hair. In fact, this style of hair cutting has provided Lauretano with the opportunity to appear on cable television.

Adam H. Wolman '88, who hosts a weekly cable access program in Cambridge, says he has invited Lauretano to appear on his show because of this style.

"I came down here for a hair cut and I experience his stream of consciousness style," Wolman said. "He seems to talk about whatever is on his mind. It is experience as much as it is a hair cut."

Inside La Flamme, a traditional barber shop located on Dunster Street, George Papalinberis has been cutting hair for the past 16 years. Papalinberis offers any sort of cut for nine dollars.

John Emerson '91, says that he has been to other places which offer similar cuts for higher prices.

"Before I came to La Flamme, I went to a more expensive other place," Emerson said. "The haircuts here are very comparable."

A Little Style

If a customer is in the mood for a perm, style or coloring job, a salon is probably more suitable. Hair salons highlight the Square, including About Hair, Gino, Diego at the Loft and Salon Gaia.

For a little extra money, a salon will offer a complete scalping experience which can involve a consultation, a massage, a shampoo, the cut and a finishing rinse.

The key difference, the stylists say, is the consultation. At About Hair, hidden on Arrow Street, Weston says the consultation involves a thorough examination of the clients life.

"We ask 'How do you like to wear your hair? What do you do? How much time do you spend on your hair?'" Weston says.

This probing into the personal habits of a customer has become increasingly common at salons. In fact, Salon Gaia, located on Mt. Auburn Street, even has a stylist who doubles as a card reader to foretell the futures of interested customers.

Yvonne Bonaccorso and her sister, Dolores, established Salon Gaia more than three years ago. The salon is staffed by four stylists, including Elena Mukhaelyan who reads the future from regular playing cards in what is described as a Russian Gypsy style. Yvonne Bonaccorso says that the readings are remarkably accurate.

"She is always right," she says. "But, you have to be open minded and not expect miracles."

Customers wishing for a more Euro style frequent the hair salon Gino on Holyoke Street. Each customer is handed a gray smock and then treated to the hair essentials by the Gino's stylists.

Prices at Gino fluctuate between $20 to $40, but Ruotolo, the owner, will design a customer's hair for $60--commonly recognized as the highest price in the Square.

Diego at the Loft is one of the largest salons in the area, with 17 stylists on the second floor of the Galleria.

Although stylists working in Diego at the Loft design the hair of Cambridge resident Susan R. Weld, wife of Governor William F. Weld '66, and allegedly Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstein, members of the staff claim that they are accessible to students.

"Students are about 25 percent of our clientele," says David Orlando, a stylist at Diego. "They are very good customers. Always classic business cuts, nothing too wild."