MIRA THORNE
MASTER BARBER · RAZOR LEAD
Trained in Lisbon, moved to the shop in 2016. Fastest clean-line straight-razor on the floor — by a full minute.
[ SINCE 1998 ]
Twenty-seven years of disciplined hands, heated towels, and straight-edge respect. No appointments in a hurry. No haircut mailed in. Just the cut that suits your face, every time.
YEARS ON THE CHAIR
Same shop. Same chairs. Same discipline since 1998.
27
CUTS COMPLETED
Eighteen thousand and counting — one face at a time.
18k+
A MONTH
Monthly throughput — peak Saturdays, full chairs, no sprint work.
220
MASTER CHAIRS
Six chairs. Six master barbers. No apprentices on the floor.
6
[ THE WORK / ON THE CHAIR ]
We do three things — and all three the way the old men taught us. If you want a fade in twelve minutes, there's a shop on the corner. If you want the cut right, read on.
Classic Cut
The cornerstone. Scissor-and-clipper refinement, brown-paper shave of the neck, hot-towel finish. Forty-five minutes, no shortcuts.
Beard Sculpt
Straight-razor lining, contour on the jaw, balm-and-oil conditioning. For beards that earn their place on the face.
Hot Towel Shave
Six-pass straight-razor shave in the old order — tonic, lather, steam, blade, balm, done. The full ritual, fifty-five minutes.
[ IN THE ROOM / ON THE FLOOR ]
Twenty-seven years of grooming, photographed where it happens. No staging, no flattering angle, no greased-up model. Just the room, the tools, and the clients who made it what it is.
A good cut isn't style. It's respect — for the face it sits on, for the person inside it, for the thirty minutes you lent us. Everything else is just trim.
[ THE HANDS / THE SIX ]
Every barber on this floor trained four years on the chair, three of those here. No apprentices cut you — they pass the towels, stock the oils, and watch. When their hands are ready, they get a chair.
ELIAS KOVÁR
SHOP DIRECTOR · CLIPPER WORK
Third-generation barber from Brooklyn. Runs the shop since 2011 — pulls a chair twice a week, mostly to keep the hand in.
RENATO DELUCA
BEARD SPECIALIST · SHAVES
Thirty-one years of straight-razor work. Taught both barbers above him, still takes the first appointment of every day.
[ ON THE REGULARS / IN THEIR WORDS ]
Four lifers and a drop-in. No review farming — these are what people wrote back to us, verbatim.
ADRIAN PERNECKY
Client since 2014
They shaved off a decade. I go nowhere else now — even moved apartments to stay in the neighborhood.
THOMAS RUDD
Client since 2019
The only place where 'trim the beard' means more than it says. I'm not a beard guy. I am here, apparently, a beard guy.
MARCUS BLAKE
Lifer · second generation
My dad sent me here in 1999 when I was twelve. I bring my son now — Silas remembered his name the second time.
JASON VALDÉS
Client since 2022
Walked in for a cut after a bad week. Left with a haircut and what felt like a code. I don't know how else to say it.
[ ON THE CHAIR / BY THE HOUR ]
Same-week appointments held back for walk-ups and regulars. Call the shop, or pick a slot online — we confirm every reservation by name within the hour.
[ BEFORE THE CHAIR / WHAT YOU'LL ASK ]
If something's missing here, call 773-555-0148 — somebody's at the front desk from nine to eight, Tuesday through Saturday.
Do you take walk-ups?
Four chairs are held for walk-ups every day. Saturdays are booked solid by noon — come before, or call ahead. Tuesday through Friday, after 2pm, we can almost always fit you in without a reservation.
How long is a classic cut?
Forty-five minutes from scalp wash to hot-towel finish. We don't shave time off the shave. If you have a hard stop, tell us at the desk — we'll recommend the cut that fits your window, not the one that fits ours.
Is the straight-razor shave beginner-friendly?
It's the safest it's ever been in a hundred years. First shave, we slow everything down and talk you through the six passes — tonic, lather, steam, blade, balm, done. Tell the barber it's your first; they'll double the conversation and halve the tempo.
What about kids?
Eight and up. Before that, we don't trust our own cut on them — too much movement, too little patience, too many tears that we can't repair. Bring them at eight, they'll leave with their first straight-edge neck-finish and a story.
Do you sell the products you use?
The pomade, the balm, the oil, and the towels — all at the front. The hands stay here. Every product is either made in-house or hand-picked from four Italian and Portuguese shops we've worked with for a decade.
Can I tip with card?
Tip jar at the chair. Card works too. Neither is expected — your barber is on a living wage and doesn't need to charm you for rent. If the work was worth it, say so; if it wasn't, say that too.
A Chicago barbershop in its third decade. Six chairs, three rituals, one way of doing things. Tuesday through Saturday, nine to eight.
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© 1998–2026 Brass & Blade · Est. Chicago · 2117 W. Belmont Ave · 773-555-0148