mustache and beard

[ForresterModern]

Freshman year of college (fall '77) I started a routine of growing what little seed would find fertile soil each fall from Thanksgiving through my birthday at the end of February, than shaving it off. Started out as a wispy thin stache and some chin frizzle, and over the next 7 years it got slowly more full, dark and respectable goatee, as the side stuff just never got there (must be the Cherokee blood in me). After med school while in training i grew the "full Robertson" for a couple years, long enough to need daily shampoo and conditioner and at one point to even braid half of it (for a punk party). Shaved it off clean one day and it took folks at work a couple days to realize that the "new guy" was actually me sans fur. Back to the winter growth pattern for a couple years, then to a fu man chu for a couple rebel "jeep with no top year round" years. Full grown but trimmed for the birth of my kids, then back to the winter growth pattern til about 10 years ago when I settled on the year round short trimmed goatee. Shaved it off once or twice, found that both the wife and the dog growled at me like a stranger and the kid cried every time he saw me from stranger danger, and grew it back. Tried the full Robertson again last year for a few months but it is not as attractive in salt and pepper (more salt than pepper), trying it again right now. Since I don't work face to face with folks on a daily basis I can afford to enjoy the break from the daily "face scrape" and the weekly "stubble knock off" in the shower littering the tub. Will try to rustle up a photo or two to post as I find it an interesting backwards look at the progression in photos myself (although I am not fond of the widening jowls that also showed up).

[Tarheel]

My wife and I like this look (shaven off twice since 1977)

[Mike_Oettle]

Tarheel, your growth looks like my uncle’s at the end of the week.
He cultivated a moustache, but shaved the rest of his face only once a week.
As a beardless teenager I studied him carefully, but decided that I did not want to look like that.
Regards,
Mike

[Tobus]

My brother keeps his beard, which grows much like mine, trimmed to about half an inch in length. I find this ridiculously short.

I kept mine that short from 1998 (when I first decided to stop shaving) until about 2011 when I decided to grow it out longer. For 13 years, I kept it this length:



Looking back on it now, I agree that it was ridiculously short. It was barely one step above the stubble look (which I don't understand at all). And I was always frustrated by certain patchy/thin spots that were very apparent when it was that short. But the reason I kept it so short all those years was because I was simply intimidated by the potential social ramifications of growing it out longer. I was a young engineer, still trying to establish my reputation as a serious professional. I didn't want to come off as looking sloppy, unkempt, or otherwise unprofessional, given the relatively conservative environment in which I live and work. In retrospect, that was probably a smart decision in my twenties, and less necessary in my thirties. Now that I'm in my forties, I am much less inclined to care what my boss or anyone else thinks of my facial grooming. My status as a professional is well established by now. And too, beards are much more common now than they were in the '90s when I first grew it out. I hope that trend continues, and that beards don't fall back out of style.

On the other hand, growing my beard out this long was probably a bit too far. It looks great on some guys when it's that long, but my growth pattern or facial shape just isn't suited for it.

[Tarheel]

Mike, your uncle and I have the same schedule on beard shaving and possibly the same aversion to the cost of razor blades. He also may have found (as I did) that he cuts his face to shreds if shaving on a daily basis. Bleeding cheeks and chin doesn't complete the Sam Elliot (actor) look.

[Mike_Oettle]

Indeed, Tarheel. No matter how new (and sharp) my razor blade was, I would sooner or later end up cutting myself and having to apply toilet paper to stanch the blood flow.

And Tobus, while my personal preference is for the longer style (as mentioned, I had mine shortened today, but not that much) I agree that your style suits you better.
Like you, I find the stubble effect illogical.
Regards,
Mike

[MNlad]

Same beard and stach style and approximate length for the past 30+ years—just a bit grayer every year. It's kind of grown on me.

[unixken]

It's kind of grown on me.

I see what you did there. ;)

[kiltedrennie]

Thanks for all the photographs and suggestions! I'll post an update after I see my barber this weekend.

[OC Richard]

Well I'm envious of these beards.

I always wore a full beard, then in 1989 I got a job at Disneyland which meant the facial hair had to go, and I was beardless until a couple years ago they began allowing beards and goatees, however these must be kept short and neat.

Here's my beard back in the mid-1980s



and my short-trimmed greybeard of today