From her spot behind the chair, Portland hair stylist bears witness to a changing world for women

At the peak of her 52-years-and-counting career as a stylist, Shari Anton had more than 125 clients, most with standing weekly appointments to get their hair done.

She now has less than 25.

Anton, 72, took time off in 2014 after lung surgery followed by treatment for throat cancer. While she’s regained her strength, she no longer takes on new clients. Her plan is to work until her remaining customers, many older than she is, die.

She calls it “easing out with attrition.”

When that day comes, a Portland era will end.

Anton has worked exclusively in the Portland core. She started when the phrase “going downtown” was something special. For some women, that meant dressing up. Among a certain crowd, even gloves were de rigueur.

From her spot behind the chair, Anton bore witness to how women’s roles evolved in a changing world.

Early clients were stay-at-home moms. As young women began working downtown, they found their way to Anton.

Later, Anton began styling the hair of women who had earned positions of leadership in companies and businesses.

The one constant in the lives of those women was Anton. Her station reveals how she’s always approached her job. The only thing on display is her license. No photos or memorabilia, nothing that reveals anything about her.

“It’s not about me,” she said. “I’m here to focus on the customer.”

She considers the space where she works with a client to be sacred. She brooks no interruptions.

Anton wears her blond hair, colored for decades, in a medium-length bob with a natural wave, getting it cut by a fellow stylist. Her look is a testimony to her advice to her clients.

“Long ago, I gave up trying to straighten my hair,” she said. “That’s what I encourage my customers to do. Hair is going to do what it wants, so don’t fight it. That’s what enhances your appearance.”

Her first customer was her little sister. Their mother wasn’t happy with the ragged look, caused because Anton used scissors made for cutting paper.

Anton’s family moved from Texas to Portland when she was 14. Her hair, which had been blonde, darkened here and she started coloring her hair on her own. Her mother finally took Anton to see Ruby Edwards, a stylist at the Purple Poodle salon in downtown Portland.

Edwards did Anton’s hair while she was in high school. Seeing how fascinated the girl was with the business, Edwards said she’d hire Anton if she earned a stylist license by attending beauty school after she graduated from high school.

Anton worked with Edwards at the Purple Poodle, then at Coif Shop. After two other stops, she moved to G2 salon in the 200 Market Building where she’s been for 26 years.

Malia Wasson followed her every snip of the way.

Wasson, now 60, started going to Anton when she was 7 because that’s where her mother went. Wasson began with a pixie cut, moved to the Dorothy Hamill look and then to long hair.

“When I went to college in the Bay Area, I refused to get my hair cut until I came back to Portland on breaks. Then I could book time with Shari. She has been such a part of my life. Funny, I am back now to short hair, just what I started with as a little girl.”

Many of Anton’s customers have that same loyalty.

Death started taking some of the old crowd. For others, when it was no longer possible to come to Anton, she would go to them, fixing their hair in their homes and apartments, retirement communities and even in the hospital.

They weren’t just clients.

They were friends.

Anton understands the twists and turns of life and what it means to have support.

She had surgery five years ago to have part of her lung removed followed by surgery for throat cancer. She underwent chemotherapy and radiation and was on a feeding tube for 10 months.

“It was such a tough time,” Anton said. “I couldn’t always work. I tried to refer my clients to other stylists, but they stayed with me. My clients have been so good to me.”

In early 2017, Anton’s husband, Robert, 87, died. They were married 50 years. She has two stepchildren, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

And she has those 25 clients, an extended family.

Last week, Delores Price was in the chair as Anton fashioned her hair into soft curls.

Price began coming to Anton in 1965 and followed her from salon to salon.

When Price got married, Anton insisted that Price bring in the veil to make sure the hair style would look just right on the big day.

Price is 84.

Her hair, once auburn, is gray. Her husband has died. She no longer drives, using Lyft to get to the salon. Her walker rests against the wall.

She plans to be back next Friday.

--Tom Hallman Jr.

thallman@oregonian.com; 503 221-8224

@thallmanjr

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