Hmm, well in the west, the only time that happened in "recent" history was a period from about the 1850s to 1900, then it went away again. So it was only about 50 years or so that big crazy beards were ever fashionable on a wide scale, contrary to popular belief. Maybe even less than that! O_o
History and I never had a good…well…history. :( I'm happy my guess at least included that time frame! ;)
By the way, ozone, I honestly don't think the top three in your collage of yourself don't look too bad!
Despite not knowing the history of the beard, this subject holds great interest to me.
I just know that when you're my size ( approx 5'11" and 200 pounds ), it absolutely has to be a full beard. No other facial hair will work as an acceptable substitute, unless you have a desire to look like a fat comic book nerd or creepy preacher.
Look at paintings and sculpture from all throughout European history… I HAD forgotten about the beards in Renaissance Italy though! I admit that! But art before and after that period featured men with either limited goatees or clean shaven…
Not according to the histories of costume and fashion I have in a pile next to my computer and the "Writer's Guides to…" books. They point to a fashionable ebb and flow occasionally connected to the popularity of Classical Learning. The Italian Renaissance was a conscious imitation of the Greeks and Romans. The bearded High Medieval lord was in emulation of the Crusaders who picked it up from the people of the Middle East where it was accepted custom that a youth had no beard and an adult male did. This also flowed to and fro with the Byzantines who also influenced medieval fashion.
I do NOT see where you get Greeks with lots of unruly facial hair…? In most of the imagery they have they seem quite proud of how well groomed and well looked after their long, combed and immaculately oiled beards were
Homer, Herodatus and Thucydides mostly. Long unruly hair was considered a sign of manly vigor. The young Athenians copied Spartan styles as noted in the comedies and satires making fun of Spartans. The cropped look was the cultivated civilized Athenian look. The Hellenic Greeks only started being clean shaven after Alexander the Great who was noted as being a beardless youth in myth, though evidence indicates he had a beard during his Persian and Indian campaigns just like all his Macedonian generals.
The "porno-stache" is so called because of the particular clipped and modified shape. With the line on either side etc- looking weird…
It's called that because all the porno stars of the 70s had them. ;) I forgot to mention the pencil stache like Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, and other role-models of male virility in the 30s and 40s.
As for blonde beards etc- The rule with facial hair isn't colour, it's contrast! THAT is a good general rule for facial hair.
Exactly, otherwise you just look fuzzy (ie grotty) Long unkempt beards can look good on some fair-skinned men especially those with round faces.
With my reasonably fair to olive skin skin and very dark hair I always look good with facial hair. Due to the heavy cut under my lip I probably won't be able to shave off my "soul patch" until it's all healed but it looks good in combination with my healthy dark mustache. I have statistical evidence. I had to tour my college dorm on a bet and ask every woman I met what was my best feature. The winner was my mustache. If I had had a wit of sense when I was in college I could have parleyed that into numerous dates but I was very dim back then. Hard to believe I was once dimmer than I am today. lol!
I have a goatee. I think it works well with me I can't grow it out too long so it just makes my chin look squarer and it goes well with my short never combed hair.
I do NOT see where you get Greeks with lots of unruly facial hair…? In most of the imagery they have they seem quite proud of how well groomed and well looked after their long, combed and immaculately oiled beards were
Homer, Herodatus and Thucydides mostly. Long unruly hair was considered a sign of manly vigor. The young Athenians copied Spartan styles as noted in the comedies and satires making fun of Spartans. The cropped look was the cultivated civilized Athenian look. The Hellenic Greeks only started being clean shaven after Alexander the Great who was noted as being a beardless youth in myth, though evidence indicates he had a beard during his Persian and Indian campaigns just like all his Macedonian generals.
Interesting. I had read that Alexander mandated clean-shaven soldiers so that, when fighting hand-to-hand with the enemy, the enemy would have that much less to graspand hold. Seemed pretty pragmatic to me. As far as one contemporary female viewpoint,it's not so much style as smoothness and CLEANLINESS (soup strainers are SO nasty.)
I've pretty much always wanted that Van Dyke beard thing which is the combined mustache/goatee thing (the one that Genejoke and Gordon Freeman sport), long before I was able to grow one.
My early attempts were pretty pathetic though, since it took forever for my beard to develop but it's acceptably full today. Then I had to deal with women who didn't like men with beards.
But then bachelorhood reared it's ugly head, allowing me to grow it again so here's the finished result:
The bearded High Medieval lord was in emulation of the Crusaders who picked it up from the people of the Middle East where it was accepted custom that a youth had no beard and an adult male did. This also flowed to and fro with the Byzantines who also influenced medieval fashion.
I don't really see how this contradicts me…? Those beards were slim, neat little goatees for the most part, like I said. -the powerful and fashionable like to be well groomed. Now if you're talking about shepherds and such, it's a different story! :)
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Homer, Herodatus and Thucydides mostly. Long unruly hair was considered a sign of manly vigor. The young Athenians copied Spartan styles as noted in the comedies and satires making fun of Spartans. The cropped look was the cultivated civilized Athenian look.
Going by what I can see, and there's no shortage of visual depictions of the Greeks as they were in all their daily activities over the centuries, the only people you can point to as being "unruly" in facial hair are certain older men like philosophers, rustics or a "wild man" character like Hercules. Men in Greek art as a rule generally have neatly styled beards, similar in shape to their famous helmet visors, either that or clean shaven. And hair when it's long is worn loose in oiled curls… Perhaps the writers were biased or their aim was to create an exaggerated impression?
It's called that because all the porno stars of the 70s had them. ;)
I just called mine that because it reminded me of a porn star stache. I dunno anyone else who uses the term.
my healthy dark mustache.
If you can wear on well, I salute you! It's rare.
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I think the motto is that as long as humans have been civilised and probably before, our appearance and grooming has always been very important to us. Even the idea that cavemen were hairy, stinking, shaggy hulks is probably completely incorrect when you consider not only the care and attention a lot of tribal people take over all aspects of their appearance, but also the careful grooming undertaken by almost every mammal species. - Cavemen were probably very healthily bearded, but not the unkempt, shaggy monstrosities they're generally depicted as. And probably less extravagantly bearded than your average Victorian male, since it takes the benefits of civilisation to achieve and maintain that sort of look lol!
Cavemen were probably very healthily bearded, but not the unkempt, shaggy monstrosities they're generally depicted as. And probably less extravagantly bearded than your average Victorian male, since it takes the benefits of civilisation to achieve and maintain that sort of look lol!
Considering that among the most common archeological finds are combs, specialized grooming blades and hair ornaments/pins going back to those Cro-Magnon caves most likely.
One thing I've noticed among all the soldiers I've served with, whenever someone retires after his 20-30 years, the first thing he does is grow a full beard. Nearly Every time.
After a lifetime of grooming acording to the regs you want to grow that beard but the novelty wears off, the itching starts and off it comes.
Razors and my face don't get along. I have sensitive skin and can never seem to get by without slicing copious amounts of it off with the stubble. Instead, I just trim it short…ish, with a trimmer. When I forget, however, I end up with "Donald Gibb" face… :B
(Ogre from Revenge of the nerds, among other things, though I don't think he had his hobo beard in that)
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