Facial Hair.....And Hats

[T Jones]

Here's a few of mine. Three hats that I refurbished, black Borsalino, 3X Resistol Western, and a Knox Stagecoach, and a conversion, 3X Stetson.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

A little artistic work added. VS in Navy blue 10X.

 

[StoryPNW]

My facial hair has migrated from my lip to my jaw, for winter at least but it could be permanent.

 

[M Hatman]

Historical Beard and hat.....(clean shaven myself...could not grow a beard if my life depended on it, so, I live vicariously through others).

 

[Phineas Lamour]

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Just about a yr ago…

 

[Zombie_61]

I had, apparently, voted in the poll at the beginning of this thread when it was new. Since then, The Lounge had their software upgraded, members (including myself) lost everything they had posted before that date, and had to pick a new username and start over. That being the case, since all of my previous posts are long gone I guess I'll start over with the Readers Digest somewhat condensed version.

I have no idea about the motives of others. I first grew out my mustache and beard with intent when I was about 18 years old because my girlfriend and I were planning a "secret" trip to San Francisco with friends and I wanted to look older. For me, "older" was a moving target because I've usually looked younger than I actually was; facial hair didn't help much. So I grew my mustache and beard, starting too late for them both to grow in properly before we left for San Francisco, but I did look older by maybe an hour or two. Since then (1980-1981) I've been clean shaven, mustache and goatee, or mustache and full beard, usually trimmed short but occasionally grown out a few inches. I learned early on, and had verification from my aforementioned girlfriend (who became my wife) and other female friends that a mustache alone didn't look "right" on me; I needed more so that I wouldn't look like a child molester or appreciation star (this was before the term "appreciationstache" was created), so I've had various configurations of beards over the last 43+ years, and likely will until I stop drawing breath.

Hats came along in 2008 for me. I mean, I liked them and they were always around, but I felt they never looked quite right on me. Finally I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, decided I wanted a Fedora, discovered The Lounge, learned that a company called Akubra in Australia made good hats for a reasonable price, and that started my next fascination. Fedoras, Trilbys, Pork Pies, Flat Caps, and so on. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I have no idea about the motives of others. I first grew out my mustache and beard with intent when I was about 18 years old because my girlfriend and I were planning a "secret" trip to San Francisco with friends and I wanted to look older.

This is how my morphosis happened: In high school I don’t think there was any policy on facial hair but I doubt it was necessary to have one anyway. After HS graduation I spent all summer growing a Fu Manchu mustache so I wouldn’t look like a baby faced Freshman when I arrived at college. When the upper classmen arrived the wk after Freshmen Orientation I saw many sporting big bell bottom sideburns with their Fu Manchu’s. Wow! So I started to extend & flare my sideburns to just below my ears. By that first winter my sideburns had extended into my Fu Manchu so I started to trim it all into something we called Mutton Chops (sorry I have no pics of that time other than 35mm slides somewhere).

It didn’t take long before cutting in the lines & shaving the chin for Mutton Chops became a chore so everything was just allowed to fill in to a full beard. By that time my hair was on my shoulders anyway. After college I had to keep it trimmed short & neat for my “professional” yrs. In all that time I’ve only been clean shaven for one or two days. It’s long been white & it’s getting thinner but now I’m back to where I can experiment with length & style. I’ve frequently been told that I have an old soul (whatever that means), & I live in the 1880’s with a few modern conveniences. So that’s how this final chapter shall be.

 

[Frunobulax]

I sported a light moustache in HS that got better as I matured. I went through my own mutton chop phase, but that was very short. Sometime in the mid-80s, shortly after I started dating my future bride, she looked at me one day and said, "You would look good with a beard."

I've only seen my face once since then, when I had to get fit tested for a respirator.

As far as facial hair and hats? I'm of the opinion hats look decent no matter what.

 

[RickP]

For many years I had uniformed jobs that required short hair so it was never an issue. After a stoke several years back I was on some serious blood thinners. After I discovered that I could cut myself with an electric razor, I gave up on shaving. ( off those meds now so my facial hair is by choice now) Ive debated letting the beard just keep on growing, but for now I trim it short enough that I dont have to comb it. The top of the noggin doesnt really cooperate ( hair is really fine and somewhat thin) so a ponytail really isnt an option. Particularly in warm weather a #2 trimmer head on the dog clippers does the trick... No combs, no gel, no problem. Short hair results in better fitting hats anyways.

 

[Edward]

Interesting thread. My dad has always been a beard man during my lifetime (and some years before that). Best as I'm aware, he grew the beard in around and about the same time as Brian Wilson grew his. No idea if that was anything to do with it (though he is a fan). My paternal grandmother, God rest her soul, hated it. Reminded her of George Best (who in my lifetime was primarily known for being a drunken wastrel). She campaigned for years to persuade him to lose it. Until the day when she showed tow year old me a photo of him clean-shaven and tried to get me onside. I howled the place down and refused to accept it was him. In the remaining twenty-right years of her life thereafter she never once mentioned it.

For most of the 80s when I was at school it was unusual to see a man with a beard in our corner of Ireland. The occasional tache, possibly. Moreso on working class men in my memory. I always had a notion I'd be clean-shaven as an adult. My way of distinguishing myself at home, I suppose - and facial hair wasn't at all common in any of the subcultures in which I moved for most of my youth. I did have an attempt at a pencil tache for about ten minutes when I was nineteen, but I couldn't be doing with it after that. Turns out it didn't make me look like Hendrix. Whoda thunk.

The only facial hair that survived any length of time with me were my sideburns. Grew them in during the era when I was doing a lot of Rocky Horror, particularly playing Frank'n'Furter; with a little powdering to match my wig they looked great. Then in June 2006 (when I was 32) the advance of premature male pattern baldness led to a (really about four years overdue) headshave. The sideburns looked ridiculous on their own and had to go.

Unless I went into fulltime performing of some sort and needed it for a role, I now don't ever see me sporting facial hair. A tache could probably work with my aesthetic, but combined with a shaved thread I'd end up being taken for ex-military on a regular basis, which I don't fancy. I like shaving anyhow - makes me feel clean. Although I did miss out on the opportunity to have a quiff, in all honesty if they invented a miracle hair cure and it was offered me for free, I think I actually prefer the 'all off bar the eyebrows' look on me now. Hat liners get a little grubby ( *WHY* is the standard a WHITE lining???), but I don't miss having to think more about the top of my head than running a razor over it every other morning.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Barber & Beardsmith extrodinare, hat wearer Matty Conrad (Canadian).

 

[RickP]

Barber & Beardsmith extrodinare, hat wearer Matty Conrad (Canadian).

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pretty epic beard! The fellow that founded Maestros Beard products relocated from New England to our little town of Crockett Texas a couple years ago. He bought a cool old two story historic Bar/ "Short term hotel"/ "Horizontal recreaction" place and set up several old barber chairs that visiting beard guys can work out of. Always has coffee and sometimes interesting things he cooks. Hes also one of the local pipe / cigar smokers... nice place to hang out. I use their "Speakeasy" beard wash and dressing... a nice leather and tobacco scent

 

[StoryPNW]

Barber & Beardsmith extrodinare, hat wearer Matty Conrad (Canadian).

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I've been watching his YouTube videos for quite a while, great for learning to trim a beard or mustache.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

The fellow that founded Maestros Beard products relocated from New England to our little town of Crockett Texas a couple years ago. He bought a cool old two story historic Bar/ "Short term hotel"/ "Horizontal recreaction" place and set up several old barber chairs that visiting beard guys can work out of. Always has coffee and sometimes interesting things he cooks. Hes also one of the local pipe / cigar smokers... nice place to hang out.

I would enjoy hanging there with like minded brethren. I’m always on the lookout for a good Victorian Beardsmith that’s close in miles. It seems like every clip & curl mall shop thinks they can handle doing it & they can’t. There are a few shops around with vintage barber equipment & decor that’s being totally wasted on the clientele they have because they are no good at anything to do with beards except maybe a 5 o'clock shadow of a beard.

I've been watching his YouTube videos for quite a while, great for learning to trim a beard or mustache.

Haven’t watched any of his videos. Tried his beard wash in my rotation. But I follow a few beardsmith‘s thru NBMC & Beard Team USA looking for others as sited above. By the way, there are a couple of shops in ID.

 

[TimmyV]

For most of my working life I kept my beard trimmed neat because I worked on a lot of machinery as a Millwright and did not want it to get tangled in anything moving and get injured. I retired at the end of 2018 and have since let my goatee grow long. Kinda my way of "sticking it to the man " . Lol.

 

[StoryPNW]

I would enjoy hanging there with like minded brethren. I’m always on the lookout for a good Victorian Beardsmith that’s close in miles. It seems like every clip & curl mall shop thinks they can handle doing it & they can’t. There are a few shops around with vintage barber equipment & decor that’s being totally wasted on the clientele they have because they are no good at anything to do with beards except maybe a 5 o'clock shadow of a beard.

Haven’t watched any of his videos. Tried his beard wash in my rotation. But I follow a few beardsmith‘s thru NBMC & Beard Team USA looking for others as sited above. By the way, there are a couple of shops in ID.

I'm in WA now and though the area I'm in has a million barbershops I haven't find one I really connect with, so I'm still on the lookout. Before I moved to this area I had a great barber.

 

[RickP]

Someday I'll grow a big bushy JEB Stewart type beard

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Someday I'll grow a big bushy JEB Stewart type beard

At least one of Stewart’s hats with the feather plume is in the American Civil War Museum (formerly the Museum of the Confederacy), Richmond, VA.

 

[Who?]

First grew a beard late in 1983, and have had it ever since.