Seongwoo Iyongwon

There’s nothing like running your hands through freshly cut hair. Barbershops have been around for a while, but really took off in Seoul during the ‘50s and ‘60s, when more disposable income meant that people spent more on personal grooming. There aren’t too many old-school barbershops around today, but gents can still get their hair trimmed at the 80-year-old Seongwoo Iyongwon, whose aging owner will give you a cut and a shave with his classic German razors. Back when he started working at his father’s shop some 50-odd years ago, a haircut was 50 won (these days, it’s a little over 10,000 won). Getting a cut here is a blast to the past—some of his hair driers are so old he has to use converters to plug them in. There aren’t many old barbershops left, as they started to decline in the ‘70s and ‘80s: for one, longer hair came into style, thanks to bands like the Beatles. For another, certain barbershops became covers for unsavory underground businesses selling sex, and the government cracked down on all barbershops.