Hair Designer: Maurice Tidy

Introduction

Maurice Tidy had the great fortune to be introduced into the history making world of hair by Internationally famous hairdresser Vidal Sassoon back in the mid 1960s when the Beatles were also landing in the United States.

(Image of Maurice Tidy shown to the side - in 1960 - all rights reserved - 2005).

Ironically, Maurice, who was born and raised in England, was closely acquainted with all the British mop tops long before Ed Sullivan introduced them to the world.

Lucky for me, I had the great opportunity to interview Maurice from his current position as a creative consultation to The Yellow Strawberry Salon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.I was delighted to discover an incredibly charming man who blew me away with all the things that he had accomplished in his personal history in the world of hair.

I asked Maurice, whom I called "Mr. Maurice" how he got involved in the world of hair. He told me that he "was born with a natural love of cutting hair. He told me that he "came out of the womb with a comb and a pair of scissors in his hands".

Maurice explained that "the Vidal Sassoon theory of hair cutting which created a major hair movement sprung from the work of men's barbering."

Maurice promotes the theory that there are really only five basic hairstyles in the entire world. According to Maurice the five cuts are :

1. Bobs
2. Shags
3. Layered Haircuts
4. Pointed Cuts
5. Punk Rock haircuts

Maurice is working to create unique looks to merge the hot new S Wave Thermal Set with his five basic hair looks.

Jesse and Maurice recently completely a photo shoot with world class photographer, Tom Carson which showcased the new S Wave looks.

Vidal Sasson Memories

Maurice is "still friends" with Vidal. Recently Maurice and Vidal had dinner and talked about "old times together" in the hair world. Maurice laughed and explained that "there were a lot of fun times that he experienced with Vidal" over the years that he worked for him. Maurice is in the process of capturing his memories of those days in a book that he hopes to complete in the next few months.

Geometric Hair Shapes

Maurice explained that "regardless of the length of the hair, from short to long, you can use the same cutting principles to create gorgeous geometric shapes". How? "To create the hot geometric looks that were first introduced by Vidal Sassoon, you perform right handed cutting". What does that mean? Maurice explained that "it means the left hand provides the control so that you can weave the scissors in and out with the right hand".

The goal with geometric cuts is to follow the natural pattern of the hair's growth. In essence Geometric cuts "are pure natural form". Maurice is very excited about the new Thermal S Wave movement because traditionally, S Waves also follow natural form and movement of the hair's genetic pattern and shape".

European Method Of Hair Cutting

Maurice explained that from the beginning he was schooled in "the European Method of hair curling". Even more importantly, he learned the method on Japanese hair which is extremely straight. He created S Waves and Curves on Japanese hair which created lush loose movements and softness.

Maurice explained that "if you hit the hair with S Wave chemicals, it allows you to have a lot more control of the hair and make it soft and not kinky".

Another advantage, as Maurice pointed out, "you can change out the S Wave pattern at 4 or 5 weeks and you can reshape the look easily. With the S Wave design hair has natural shape and movement.

Tokyo Street Girl Hair

Working with revolutionary fashion designers and then creating hot new hairstyles to compliment the edgy fashions is nothing new for Maurice.

Gwen Stefani has made a huge name for herself with her current music dedicated to the famous Tokyo Street Girl hair and fashion scene. Ironically, back in 1973, Maurice actually "kicked off the entire fashion and hairstyle scene that is popular today in Japan and with Gwen". He is ultimately responsible for its development over the past 30+ years. Maurice developed what became known as "New Wave Punk Rock". In developing the hair fashions, Maurice "worked with the Tokyo Street designers Betsey Johnson and John Galliano". These famous designers "took the fashion genre to the extreme" and Maurice "kept in step by developing the hairstyles that worked in harmony with the evolving fashions".

Maurice explained that before 1973 the Japanese fashion and hair scene was extremely conservative. Through his pioneering efforts, the entire hair and fashion scene exploded and "completely opened up". Now Japan leads the rest of the world with its edgy fashions and hairstyles, originally the creation of Maurice back in the early 1970s. His vision ultimately created a major hair and fashion revolution.

Maurice spent a large portion of his life in Japan. He told me that he has "been to Japan over 400 times." Over the course of many years and many Japanese stays he confessed that his visions about hair "changed direction completely, more than one time".

In the current phase of his life Maurice still pays very close attention to designer creations and gathers major inspiration from their work. His current wife is close friends with a major Italian designer who works in gorgeous Indian silks. He actually sees how the beauty and flow of the silks helps to define his creative designs for the new S Wave styles that he is creating in conjunction with Jesse Briggs for Yellow Strawberry and the S Wave movement.

S Wave - Complete System

Maurice subscribes to the belief that ultimately the S Wave Thermal Set will spawn an entire system of fashion and beauty. While the basis will evolve from the S Wave Thermal Set and the resulting hairstyle, it will flow into fashion, makeup and even specialized products for maintaining the beauty of the S Wave set.

Maurice ties the roots of S Wave back to the 30s and 40s, which he personally "loves". However, while the current 2005 S Wave does have the similar looseness that the styles of the 30s and 40s had, the 2005 version has a brand new spin.

As Maurice put it "the current S Wave craze" marries the Retro Waves of the 30s & 40s with Modern Movement and Sass".

Summary

Maurice Tidy is a hairdressing legend. He has recently joined forces to add his signature to the new hair movement for 2005, The S Wave Thermal Set created by Jesse and Flo Briggs.

If you want to talk more about this or other hair care articles on HairBoutique.com or anywhere else, please post a message on HairBoutique.com's Hair Talk Forums.