Berdan Chops It Off For Charity

Izzy Berdan has been a fixture in the South End and Back Bay for over a decade now. Whether you know him from his Newbury Street furniture shop, his nightclub management days on Lansdowne, his current gig at or his ongoing photography career, his impressive, unmistakable mane of thick curly hair has remained a constant.

Not anymore.

Last Sunday, as part of a charity ‘cut-athon,’ Berdan lightened his load. The cause? A Connecticut-based camp started by Paul Newman for kids and families struggling with serious illnesses.

We checked in with the now-short-haired Mr. Berdan to see how he’s fairing in the wake of this agonizing breakup with his defining ‘do.

Patch: How long has it been since your hair was short?

Izzy Berdan: The last time I had a short hair cut was in 1997. It was a very similar to what I have now, mostly because my hair only does one thing—it curls. On Sunday, I removed 2 ft. of hair and Monday morning it was in a bag on its way to Locks of Love in Florida. 

Patch: Explain the charity portion of this event

Izzy Berdan: The event itself was a ‘cut-athon.’ So, stylists from all over town graciously came together on Sunday and donated a day of their work to help raise some money. All together we ended up with 11 stylists and sold nearly every slot but for just two or three. After all was said and done we raised $3200 to go to the Hole in The Wall Gang Camp.

Patch: Was it a painstaking decision?

Izzy Berdan: The decision to cut my hair was actually made three years ago. In 2007, one of my dearest friends found out she had lymphoma and asked me if I would give her my hair if she started to lose hers. In 2008 her cancer went into remission and has stayed at bay ever since. I was cautiously optimistic--as one tends to be when dealing with something like cancer—so I continued to grow out my locks. In 2010 I decided that I would still be donating my hair even though my friend no longer needed it. Everything after that point was easy. 

Patch: For many, the end result after having multiple inches (or 2 ft!) of hair cut off is emotional in unforeseen ways - it changes the shape of your face and removes a component of your physicality that you may have come to depend on... potentially, there's a naked feeling. Are you experiencing any of this?

Izzy Berdan: Mr. Mom had Kenny's 'Woobie"; Toddlers & Tiaras had Makienzie's 'Ni-Ni'; and I had my mane… For the last 14 years I've used my long hair as a calling card, a safety blanket and one hell of a fashion accessory, but I always knew in the back of my mind that it wouldn't be forever. Even after I decided to donate it a couple years ago it still wasn't quite ‘real’ to me. I’d been so wrapped up in the organizing part of this event over the last three months, I didn't really have much of an emotional preparation period.

On Saturday, I had everything set up on location… and then it hit me like a sack of bricks. It wasn't as much a sad moment as much as it was a bleary-eyed look back on the life of my hair. I do realize that I’m referring to it as if it were a person but if you knew me, you knew my hair had a mind and life of its own. It was the longest relationship I've ever had. Some days we were deeply in love with each other, and then there were weeks where we fought and wouldn't speak to one another. In the end we decided to go our separate ways...

Patch: Going to grow it back now? 

Izzy Berdan: I'm going to start "seeing" other hair styles… play the field a little. I just got out of a long term hairstyle and feel like it would be healthy for me to see what else is out there. Maybe in a couple years I'll be ready to settle down again, but there’s no hurry.