Fads

This blog post https://wetshavingtimes.wordpress.com/20...ust-a-fad/ proposes that wet shaving is not a fad. I’m not sure I agree so I’ll throw this out there for comment. Feel free to disagree or agree. There is no right answer.  We won't know for another 20 years or so. This is about single blade razors and traditional soap with brush. It's purely a discussion about historical fads and I think one of the oldest “artisan” products – bread – is a good analogy.    

We all know our great grandparents or older made bread by hand. Then it was commercialized and you could walk to you local grocer and by a fresh loaf every day. Today its mostly commercialized and full of chemicals. That is, until the bread maker came out. Suddenly, artisan bread appeared – healthy and cheaper. Sound familiar?

Millions upon millions of bread makers were sold. I don’t have the exact numbers but in any neighborhood, it might be hard to NOT find a breadmaker or two among neighbors.  They started in 1986 and EXPLODED on the scene. Today? Yeah, try to find anyone who uses one. They end up in the back on the closet, given to charity, or in the trash. But wait!  A new fad came up, instant bread.

You could now make bread dough ahead of time (lots of books on this), shove it in the Fridge, bake a loaf every day, use whatever ingredients you liked – the ULTIMATE in variety and fresh ingredients. Buy a Baking Stone and rock those home made artisan breads. And MANY people did as cook book sales rocketed. Kickstarter campaigns came up with new baking stones.

And where is that today? Anyone making fresh bread daily? Make no mistake about this.  You will NOT taste any bread better than bread baked in your own oven with the ingredients YOU like. There is NO comparison between home baked bread and anything baked in a commercial bakery. And to top it off – YOU created it. What can be better than that? AND its cheaper, much cheaper!

YOU are the artisan. Cool huh? But its probably slowly moping along with the diehards. How many people make home made artisan bread daily?

So lets look at the points

1. Innovation  

Discussing Harry’s is not traditional wet shaving.  However, I do see innovation. Lots of new razors. This is good. Now how about bread making? Sure, 1986 saw the first home made break maker. Suddenly everyone was making bread makers … sales rocketed. By the mid-1990s, how many homes DIDN’T have a bread maker? Sound familiar?

2. Artisan Growth.

I call that “jumping on the bandwagon to make money”. Same thing happened for bread makers. How many people made money selling cookbooks? How many new people jumped on the bandwagon? Everyone who baked was an "artisan". After all, what can be better than home made bread?

3. Curiosity

I’m not buying this argument at all. Maybe the author was curious but the masses? No, the masses are motivated by money. Make a loaf of bread for 20 cents vs buying one for $2? Sure. Trying traditional wet shaving out of curiosity? I doubt that.

4. Vanity?

Vanity? I though the quote was “Vanity thy name is woman”.     Misquoted from Shakespeare. Who knows who wrote that originally?


5. Lack of expense

Sure. If you buy the cheapest blades and soaps, no question its cheaper. Same with bread. Anyone checked the price of 5 lbs of flour? Its cheap as dirt and goes on sale all the time.  “Artisan” bread in the supermarket can sell for $6. Homemade with the freshest ingredients?  I’ll guess a quarter (i.e., 25 cents).

6. Variety?

Sure, lots of soap variety and razor variety. Bread variety – FAR more. You have no idea how many different breads can be made. It’s endless and all with ingredients good for you.

7. Fun?

Shaving is fun? Maybe to some but NOT to the majority of men. Breadmaking fun? I doubt it. Its work.

8. Collecters

I agree. People collect anything, including bread makers

9. Diverse community

I agree, in both counts. People got to eat. Men got to shave.

10. Camaraderie

Think forums.  No difference, lots of bread making forums. Lots of places to discuss recipes.

11. Meetups and conventions.

Don’t know of any bread making meetups.

And that is why I think this it is a fad of sort. Perhaps the jury is out but it takes too much work, just like baking bread from scratch takes too much work.

Sure, hobbyists will do it. Hobbyists will make bread every day and those who struggle with costs can use flour, water, yeast, and salt very cheaply and make their own bread daily will save money. But the VAST majority of American will not. Its just too simple to pick up a loaf of bread the next time you go to the supermarket. It doesn’t matter it doesn’t taste as good nor is as good for you. It’s just too convenient.

I think that is what it comes down too for the masses – convenience. Meanwhile my bread maker is long gone but I still have a baking stone. It just sits and takes up space.


I believe the jury is still out there. Maybe a fad. Not clear yet.

Interesting thread.  I'm in year two of my journey with all of this so I'm not sure if I could give an opinion on if this is a "fad" or not.  I feel like I'm nearing the end of my collection phase as I'm very happy with my soaps, DE razors, and mostly with my brushes (although I'm shopping for  Paladin tomorrow night).  Single Edge razors, I might want one or two more before I'm done.  See I'm not so sure this can be defined as a fad or not?  I feel like hobbyists are driving this right now.  I do not believe, that this is something that is going to catch fire across the fruited plain of America, much less the world, because to some, the brush/soap/razor/2-3pass type shave just doesn't seem workable.  Smear on some cream, shave off the beard and go to work. It takes time to develop a true enjoyment for shaving and a ton of experimentation as well and I'm not so sure every man or even most men would be into it.

Now the real question is in my opinion, is this a fad among hobbyists? I do not think this is a fad among hobbyists.  I feel like we are going to continue to drive the market to making more razors, soaps, brushes, etc. for quite some time.  Many of us are collectors and completest types.  I thought I was very happy with DE razors, then The Hawk and General came out and I tried them.  Then I had to buy blades for them.  Then I wanted some type of luxury razor (ATT perhaps) to go along with them, the same way I explored DEs. Collecting and exploring continues for me it seems, even though I purchase CONSIDERABLY less stuff recently, as I just seem to have this belief that one day a unicorn is going to stand idly by as I shave with the absolute perfect gear, and true harmony and world peace will commence following my absolute perfect shave.  I honestly think this trend of soapmaking, razor making, brush making is going to continue for quite some time because people of our ilk seem to be willing to purchase it.  Sure some vendors will drop off but we've seen it lately, many more will join the party and spark the interest of folks like me, to collect more gear.  Look at vendors like Paladin, Wolfman, that cannot keep up with all of the sales.  We are crazy enough to drive this for a long time I believe.  

Another thing affecting all of this is, when it comes right down to it, shaving isn't really all that expensive of a hobby.  True, we spend much more than we did when we were cartridge razor shaving, but for something that you love to do, something you do everyday, shaving isn't that costly of a hobby compared to tons of other things like guns, golf, etc.  Its easy to keep collecting and have tons of variety.

is this a fad among hobbyists?

I doubt that. By definition hobbyists collect stuff, anything. So I'm good with that. Its the mainstream I'm talking, just like with making bread at home, the hobbyists continue but the big boom is likely over.

is this a fad among hobbyists?

I doubt that. By definition hobbyists collect stuff, anything. So I'm good with that. Its the mainstream I'm talking, just like with making bread at home, the hobbyists continue but the big boom is likely over.

I doubt you see a DE/Straight in most homes like you did bread makers though. I doubt traditional wet shaving goes mainstream (JMO).

Great Thread...

Three years in the wet shaving world here is what I can attest to.

1. I buy a whole lot less than I used too. It seems normal for the rookie wet shaver to go psycho and spend ALOT of money early (that kills the value argument) however, as time passes realizing they have enough soaps to shave until death and one or two razors he or she really likes that produce phenomenal shaves, the "collecting" and mass purchasing ends and they just shave.

2. I would never not be a wet shaver. I'm in this for life.

3. See the aforementioned point and add 12 people tot hat sentiment. I have converted 12 people over the last three years to wet shaving and I don't see any of them ever going back. Even if the recidivism rate is 25% that means 75% of wet shavers are in it for the long haul. Simply put, I think it could be mainstream if enough wet shavers convert others and that trend maintains. However, as of today, this is a niche hobby, practice, market.

A fad is, by definition, transient, temporary, short-lived. Since wet shaving dates to the 4th century BC, perhaps as far back as 3000 BC, it isn't a fad.

A fad is, by definition, transient, temporary, short-lived. Since wet shaving dates to the 4th century BC, perhaps as far back as 3000 BC, it isn't a fad.

Not talking the entire concept, only the resurgance of the last 8/9 years. Just like people have been baking bread since the first caveman figured out how to make flour and some people still bake a loaf of broad from scratch once in a while, the fad of home baking appears over. That's the point.

This fad is the current fad that started around 2008 or so but took off in the last two/three years and yes, it can easily be a fad and all many of the artisans go out of business and just the commercial entities remain.

I don't think it's fair to call wet shaving a "fad". It has always been around in one form or another, and even the use of traditional tools has been maintained throughout it's inception. It has never really gone away, it simply left the mainstream in favor of faster/easier/disposable.

As a hobby, it is self-evident that serious collectors have always existed, both in terms of collecting new goods and saving them, and in terms of collecting antiques and saving them, the hobby side of wet shaving is evident throughout the history of the task.

I, personally, don't see any end to that aspect of it. The hobby will always live within the minds and hearts of those that practice the techniques. It's like model railroading, scale model building, comic book collecting, etc...these things will always ebb and flow in and out of the mainstream consciousness, but the core hobbyists will always keep them alive and thriving, regardless of the mainstream perception.

Just because the mainstream does not appreciate the techniques and tools of traditional wet shaving does not mean the hobby itself has or will diminish.

We aren't talking about dayglo leg warmers or NeoPets here...Fads are popular for a year or two and then disappear almost completely. Wet shaving with traditional tools has had a strong hobbyist base for as long as it has been in existence...

The concept of Fad came from https://wetshavingtimes.wordpress.com/20...ust-a-fad/

I think I understand the idea behind using the word ‘fad’ in this context.

I started getting into this hobby about five years ago.
• How many of the current artisan shaving soap makers of today were manufacturing products five years ago? Some of them, yes, but not nearly as many as today.
• What was the quality and selection of synthetic shaving brushes five years ago? Quite different than it is today, for the most part.
• And what of stainless steel razor brands? Some have come and gone, others have arrived later.
Those are just a few examples of things that I have observed changing or evolving within a relatively short time period.

Just in the last five years, I would say that the amount of products to select from has almost exploded, especially when it comes to soaps, and it will definitely be interesting to see where we are in another five years.