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"The Egg Tart: Evolution of a Classic Hairstyle

"THE EGG TART": EVOLUTION OF A CLASSIC HAIRSTYLE

Kenji Chan

TYR's Kenji Chan walks us around a historical barber shop and a celebrity-serving modern salon which offers the same time-honoured hairstyle "Eat Tart", which crazed the city in the 1950s."

The pompadour haircut has al-ways been a classical and good men 's haircut," said Adam Chan Moon-tong, a young yet experienced hairstylist.

Style such as comparing the look with vintage stone washed jeans and Wonton noodles, Chan said thatHong Kong people had forgotten the grooming culture Shanghai barbers brought to the city when they immigrated.

Tiger Leung Sing has been running a barber shop for 37 years after taking over the ownership in 1980,when, according to him, there was no salon in Hong Kong.

"All the men and their sons went to barber shops like mine. We offered shaving and cutting only. This is simple and clean," said Leung.

"To cut an "Egg Tart", a barber needs to put some hair cream on the hair and use an ultra-hot dryer plus a comb to style it," Leung described.

"The Egg Tart" used to be seen in movies, for example, "In the Mood for Love", in which Tony Leung Chiu-wai sported the haircut with light-reflecting pomade and a clear parting line.

The "Egg Tart" is making a comeback in Hong Kong. The hairstyle commonly seen in classic movies is now popular on the streets of MongKok.

A 67-year-old barber,ber shop in Yau Ma Tei, Shanghai street, since 1980. i. A 67-year-old barber, Tiger Leung, who has been running his barber shop onShanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei, since 1980.

Mr. Poon has been coming to this barber shop for more than a year. "Modern salons offers too many different services and usually don't last. Maybe next time you go there, they have closed down. When I was young, I used to go to this kind of traditional barber shop. It is hard to find one now," he said.

"The mirror and hair dryer were bought more than 50 years. It is much hotter and much more difficult to control than modern hair dryers. A good-look-ing "Egg Tart" should be styled with a hair dryer that is hot enough, and the hair should be squeezed by a towel so that is perfectly flat," Leung said.

The barber shop is now run by Tiger and his wife, Betty Ngan Man-ping. "Thereused to be five barbers here, working from the morning till night. Every barberserved at least 20 - 30 customers every day," she said.

Clippers, scissors, comb and spray bottle in Leung's barbershop.

Adam Chan established his barber shop in Central in 2013. "My father tookme to the Shanghai barber shop when I was a kid," he said.

"I prefer a man's haircut to show a more straight and square-like shape. Aman's silhouette should be strong in the upper half of the body and relativelysoft in his lower half like a reversed triangle symbol label on men's washroom. Itmakes a man look strong and muscular," said Chan.

Clipper guard, razor, scissors, comb, sea salt spray bottle, neck duster brushand pomade in Chan's barbershop.

There are seven barbers in Adam's barber shop and the seats are always occupied.

《The Young Reporter》

The Young Reporter (TYR) started as a newspaper in 1969. Today, it is published across multiple media platforms and updated constantly to bring the latest news and analyses to its readers.

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