Ever sit around and look through those hair style magazines in the hair salon? The ones filled with page after page of “fashion hair”, usually modeled by women who, in their desperation to make it into the modeling field despite features better suited for a life of non-photography related pursuits allow their hair to be teased into concoctions Tim Burton would be proud of? I have always been amazed at the sheer myriad of styles available for us women. Some good, many bad, a handful outright scary.
Men have a lot less options. Let’s see, we have buzz cuts, mullets, the David Cassidy, the preppy cut, and various variations of those. Oh, and bald. So what is a man to do to entertain himself and more importantly, express himself through his hair follicles and still remain manly? Ah yes, the beard.
Facial hair is oft overlooked here in the US. Jason Priestly single handedly brought sideburns back in style in the mid 90s; I don’t know who brought goatees back into the American face hair lexicon but I think it was some rocker guy in the same time period; other than that, nothing. You had Tom Selleck selling the mustache, I guess. Yet who’s rocking the beards? ZZ Top? Willie Nelson? The Unabomber?
Beard fashion is a very overlooked part of the American fashion and beauty scene. I blame the Schick razor. With all the aftershaves out there promising sex in return for a nice clean shave, American men can’t be bothered to spend the time it takes to groom a nice full chin o’ hair. When is the last time you saw an ad for a good mustache wax on Must See TV night?
Thankfully, the international beard scene is still alive and kicking. Look no further than the World Beard Championships, held in that bastion of such manly manlinesses as tankards of ale, and leiderhosen, Germany. Now that’s what I’m talking about! Architectural masterpieces of keratinization. Check out the Gallery of Championships for some of the finest examples of follicular self-expression. I think of all the things I’ve been missing, being married to a clean shaven guy! Maybe I can convince him to go for the triple swirl. Let’s start a revolution!
Jesvet
Oh my gosh - those are great!! And here I thought the handlebar moustache and all its variations went out with the 19th century. Boy was I wrong!! LOL :p