Rick Perry’s bargain haircut?

Popping into a Pickens, S.C., barbershop, Rick Perry fielded a question about how much he pays for his hair to be cut.

“Twenty-five dollars,” the famously well-coiffed Texas governor told reporters, according to a Jan. 9, 2012, ABC News blog post. “Twenty-five dollars, good hair cutter.”

The blog post mentions that during the 2008 election, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards drew heat when a federal report revealed he had spent $400 on haircuts.

In Pickens, Perry marveled at an antique plaque listing prices for an old-fashioned haircut — 40 cents — and also said he remembers getting a buzz cut for a dollar. “Of course a buzz cut —  that didn’t take long,” the former Air Force pilot said. He may also have been reflecting on the cuts he got as a member of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets.

The ABC blog post noted that Austin-based hairdresser Dixie Gilley has cut Perry’s hair for years, as seen in this September 2010 video by Houston’s KTRK-TV.

Perry says in the video: “Dixie’s been cutting my hair for a couple of years now. She’s good with the scissors and laughs at my jokes so I’m always happy to spend some time in that chair. We sit and we have a good visit, catch up on our families.”

So, is Perry — dubbed Governor Goodhair by critics including the late Texas-based columnist, Molly Ivins — really getting his locks trimmed for just $25 a pop?

Up to sometime in 2010, he stopped coming to Austin’s Tarrytown Barber Shop, the shop’s barber-owner, Mary Murray, told us in a telephone interview. “We (still) charge $25” for a basic men’s hair cut, Murray said.

A-ha?

No.

Perry’s personal barber, Gilley, declined to comment when we reached her by telephone. “I just can’t,” she said.

So we can’t independently judge what Perry pays. Only his hair cutter knows for sure.