AP PHOTOS: Italians say 'ciao' to unkempt lockdown locks

ROME (AP) — Two months of lockdown have left style-conscious Italians looking less well-groomed than usual. But as of last week, hair salons and barber shops are back in business, welcoming young and old in need of a trim or a complete makeover.

Associated Press photographers visited hairdressers in various parts of Rome as Italians had their lockdown locks sheared away. Customers ranged from children with untidy mops of hair and millennials craving a new style to young women eager to cover up regrowth, white-haired seniors looking for an elegant shine and regulars who were excited finally to be back in the barber chair.

“I used to have my hair done once a week. It was strange yet fantastic to go back to my trusted hairdresser,” said Simone Abbattista, 24.

Retiree Mariella Brazzati said she attempted to give herself a haircut during the lockdown, but decided it was too risky.

“Thank God they reopened,” Brazzati said of the hair salon where she and other members of her family are long-time customers.

Like elsewhere where hair salons are reopening, they are doing so in Italy under new social distancing rules to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Hairdressers wear gloves, face masks and protective visors, appointments must be booked in advance and salons must limit the number of customers inside, meaning some places have a waiting list of up to a month. There are partitions between seats, and after each use the seats and sinks are sanitized.

Marco Toro, a 57-year-old architect getting his hair cut in southeast Rome, joked it was getting so long he was becoming unrecognizable.

“I had two options: have my ID card reissued or eventually have my hair cut,” he said.

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