Dunstans

Here’s the tale of how Dunstans came to be. Decades of being passed down by oral tradition has twisted and reshaped it, but whether true or false, the story is our own. The seed of the idea that would grow to become Dunstans was first planted in the head of Ernest Dunstan in the mid-1800s. Working at a barber shop as a young boy to earn some extra pocket money, Ernest developed a fascination with the world of men’s grooming – from the atmosphere, to the rituals, to the actual skill itself. However, while he dreamed of opening his own shop once he grew older, Ernest eventually found himself on a ship in search of a better life – and ended up in a little island then known as Ceylon. Once there, he fell in love with the island and its people, and realized he’d like to make his living here instead. He set up a makeshift shop out of his own house, and quickly became known amongst his neighbourhood as the go-to for men’s styling. Much to Ernest’s delight, his business and personal life came together, when his own son got involved with the shop, and his father’s aspirations soon became his own. As generations passed, each took the dream and made it a little bigger, and a little better. But despite all changes, the name of the shop harks back to our small-town days, when everybody came over for a haircut at Dunstans. That (as the old folks say), is the story of Dunstans. While the facts may be shrouded in the mists of time and maybe even garnished over the years, one thing has remained true. Our passion for men’s grooming.