For the first time staff at Clarissima's in King Street decided to cut men's hair in their women's salon.

The decision proved a success and paved the way for unisex salons.

"The ladies who used to come in were always asking: 'Could you just trim my husband's hair?'" said Chris Meredith, who was then manageress.

"So we decided to make the most of it and open the shop to men as well one night a week."

The night was a Thursday night. The year was 1971. The evening proved a huge success.

Joan Lyle, who then owned the salon, had decided that 'unisex' should not just apply to clothes.

Thirty years ago stylists at Clarissima's - now Rumours - were trained in advanced hair-colouring techniques by a top stylist from L'Oreal in Paris.

"We had apprenticeships in those days and paid people to come into the salon to train our staff," said Chris.

She bought the salon a few years later and continued to run the 'unisex night'.

"We only did men's hair at night because they tended to pop in for a trim after work," she said.

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