Editor's Letter: The razor gang

KEEN readers of this journal would know that past versions of this editor's letter used to carry a photograph of me.

Tom Piotrowski

KEEN readers of this journal would know that past versions of this editor's letter used to carry a photograph of me.

It's fairly standard practice in magazine publishing, but I was never comfortable with it. I hate having my photograph taken because my idea of how I look is not quite the same as the way the camera tends to depict me. That said, I was fairly comfortable with the photograph that ran on these pages and I'm sure the photographer who took it has recovered from the agony I put him through at the shoot. Some readers, however, thought the same way I did about my photograph and were more than happy to share their feelings with me. Or more specifically, what they didn't like was the way I looked.

But please, dear readers, don't feel sorry for me. What some people took exception to was a part of my physical appearance that could have been easily fixed - if I wanted it to be, that is. Every month, on the day of publication, I would receive emails from readers telling me that I should shave my beard off. They said that I looked like a hobo or a caveman or that I had just crawled out of the jungle. Then there were the funny ones who - as my father was fond of saying - would tell me that I should stand a little closer to the razor when I shave. Hilarious!

But the truth is, shaving is just a total bore. I appreciate that some men enjoy the process, but personally I would rather go to the dentist and have my teeth drilled on a daily basis than drag an extremely sharp object across my face every morning. This is why when I saw Tom Piotrowski, the market analyst from Commsec, on television one night I was surprised to see that he had grown a beard - a bushy one at that - especially given how conservative television producers can be when it comes to the personal presentation of on-air presenters. I thought he looked pretty sharp and that he might be a good candidate for our Best Dressed list this year.

So I picked up the iPad sitting next to me to do a little more research on him and was stunned to discover the volume of online commentary - mostly negative - about his beard and his longish hair and that there was even a Facebook page dedicated to the removal of said beard. It only served to consolidate my view that he should make the list this year. So when we booked him for a photo shoot I gave strict instructions to our picture editor, Christine Westwood, that Tom was not to shave his beard off for the photo and if he did then we no longer wanted him. Of course, he's not just about the beard. He's a sharp dresser and seems to be aware that you can carry off a full beard in the workplace if the rest of your attire is neat and tidy.

Speaking of neat and tidy, we're not suggesting that facial hair is for every man, so we sent The Australian's Weekend A Plus editor, Stephen Brook, to experience first-hand a growing trend in men's grooming: the return of the barber shop shave with a cut-throat razor. Brook says the experience at the barber shop at the QT hotel in Sydney was "the closest shave of my life".