Who, really, is the girl next door? What we've been trying to say all these years is that great-looking women are everywhere, going about their business, and this new pictorial series, Working Girl, is further proof. Meet Bravina Trovato. Bravina is a barber, like herbrother and grandfather. When the family got together on Sundays, Grandpa would give haircuts, and to Bravina, it looked like fun. So she went to barber college and for the past nine years has been working at making men look good. "A man goes to a woman barber because he wants to be talked to and pampered," she says. "I have customers who have been coming to me for ages." Trovato, 29, can be reached for an appointment in Cleveland's historic landmark building Terminal Tower. Yes, folks, we did say Cleveland. Furthermore, she loves it there. "Cleveland is going to be the comeback city of the Nineties and I want to be here to share in it, one day in my own barbershop," she says. When asked if men are especially vain, she smiles and says, "The ones who are losing their hair are very vain. I have lots of suggestions for them, from special products to different hair styles. Guys with a full head aren't nearly as concerned, but they all ask for advice. I'm doing a lot more perms now." Bravina admits that being a woman in a barbershop is a great way to meet men, but she tries to keep things businesslike, even when the guy in the chair is confiding in her. What do barbers do to keep the adrenaline pumping? Occasionally, they race. Bravina told us a story about herself and her brother, a good barber and a fast one. One day they both were working on customers and she tried to cut faster. That time, Bravina won one with the clipper.
"The average guy is very concerned about how he looks," says Bravina, at work at right, "so I try to take into consideration his build, the shape of his face, his profession and his hair texture whenever I recommend a particular hair style."
"Sure, I'm an amateur psychologist. I want my customer to be relaxed in the chair. He'll talk to me about his family, business, sports and the news. But I also want him to leave the shop happy with his haircut and come back to me regularly."
