Fedoras and beards

[bowlerman]

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Beards also do a fine job of camouflaging weak chins and double chins.

Don't remind me!

 

[scottyrocks]

I wear a mustache only in summer, and a well-trimmed beard in winter. I think a fedora and beard combo work just fine!

Maybe for some. When I had a faceful of hair and a dark fedora, I was more than once mistaken for hasidim.

 

[monbla256]

Maybe for some. When I had a faceful of hair and a dark fedora, I was more than once mistaken for hasidim.

That 'll teach ya not to wear your black frock coat and 3" brimmed Borso with a beard up your way :eusa_clap. For me, I've had a 'stach since 'nam back in '69 and when I grew a beard back in the late '70s it was a FULL Hemingway style of beard, not these 5 day growths that is being passed off as a "beard" these days! I've a couple of freinds who sport long beards ala ZZ Top and they look alright with their long white hair on them!

 

[Sam Craig]

The goat and the fedora stay.
Don't know why.
Don't care why.
It's just me.

Sam

 

[Neophyte]

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Beards also do a fine job of camouflaging weak chins and double chins.

Exactly! I have a strong jawline but a weak chin. The goatee helps to even that out.

 

[Lefty]

from a few years ago
Cincinnati

Brussels

 

[scooter]

Sam and I think the same way. In the last 17 years, I have seldom (read all most never) been without my goatee, and I don't see that changing. That goes for the fedoras, as well.

 

[hatophile]

from a few years ago
Cincinnati

Brussels

That's some impressive facial hair. It would take me about 20 years to grow something like that.

 

[scottyrocks]

That 'll teach ya not to wear your black frock coat and 3" brimmed Borso with a beard up your way :eusa_clap. For me, I've had a 'stach since 'nam back in '69 and when I grew a beard back in the late '70s it was a FULL Hemingway style of beard, not these 5 day growths that is being passed off as a "beard" these days! I've a couple of freinds who sport long beards ala ZZ Top and they look alright with their long white hair on them!

I think the funniest thing that happened to me in this regard was when I was a friend's wedding on a boat, probably about 15 or more years ago. I was dressed in dark gray suit. I was wearing a light gray almost-western hat (~3" brim), and full, but short, facial hair. An older woman asked someone if I was the rabbi, as in, the guy doing the ceremony. I'm not so sure I thought it was all that funny at the time.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Scottyrocks, I had almost the same thing happen in the '90s. On a trip down to Meyer the Hatter, I picked up an NOS Borsalino, which I'm pretty sure now was an Alessandria, in black. I had on a white shirt, long-sleeved, and dark jeans, and was wearing the new hat. While I was waiting for the bus, a guy takes one look at me and says, "Orthodox?"

 

[frussell]

I went to a bris ten years ago, semi-casually dressed, with no hat on, short hair (with no side curls), but even with western boots and belt on, the person who opened the door asked if I was the mohel. I took out my Leatherman tool and said "yes," and walked on in. The parents of the baby boy still find this amusing. Everyone agreed it was the beard. Last summer I went to an old-fashioned barber shop nearby, and the guy asked if I wanted my beard trimmed. It was a bit scraggly, so I said yes. I was pretty relaxed and didn't pay attention, and he proceeded to take my full beard down to Don Johnson-Miami Vice-style stubble. It was the first time I'd seen my face in about 25 years, and the very first time my wife had seen my lower facial regions. It was a long couple of months growing my chin back. Still gives me the willies. Frank

 

[bowlerman]

that's a hilarious anecdote, Frank!

Lefty-- that thing could have been prize-winning!

 

[hatophile]

I went to a bris ten years ago, semi-casually dressed, with no hat on, short hair (with no side curls), but even with western boots and belt on, the person who opened the door asked if I was the mohel. I took out my Leatherman tool and said "yes," and walked on in. The parents of the baby boy still find this amusing. Everyone agreed it was the beard. Last summer I went to an old-fashioned barber shop nearby, and the guy asked if I wanted my beard trimmed. It was a bit scraggly, so I said yes. I was pretty relaxed and didn't pay attention, and he proceeded to take my full beard down to Don Johnson-Miami Vice-style stubble. It was the first time I'd seen my face in about 25 years, and the very first time my wife had seen my lower facial regions. It was a long couple of months growing my chin back. Still gives me the willies. Frank

Those Leatherman tools sure are versatile, aren't they?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Funny you say this. I had a goatee for a few months, then shaved clean, grew a beard, and just shaved tonight. First thing I noticed was how much 'fatter' my face looked clean shaven.

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Beards also do a fine job of camouflaging weak chins and double chins.

 

[mattface]

I've been wearing a beard more or less since I was 17 (I'm 40) from time to time I'll shave it off for one reason or another. usually it's for change of pace, but more or less everyone agrees I look better with a beard.

I've always been into hats, since long before I could grow hair on my face. My first Fedora was a hand-me-down from my Grandfather who favored flat caps when I knew him. He also bought me a fairly nice wide brimmed wool felt once when he came to visit me in college. at that time I wore my hair and beard long, I was a skinny young dude with a lot of hair, tended to dress in bulky layers of wool at that time, and looked a bit like a mountain main.

Nowadays, since I can't seem to grow a convincing amount of hair on top of my head, I shave my head and wear my beard trimmed short and shave the neck and cheeks for neatness most every day. having also put on a few pounds since then, I guess I'd say I have a very different look in a hat, but I still favor wide brims, and I dare say they still look good on me. Hat's and beards both serve similar functions for me visually. Even at 155, I still had a neck like a tree trunk, and a less than well defined chin, the beard gives some definition between the face and the neck, and a wide brim and tall crown balance the shoulders, so I don't wind up looking like a pin-head.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I'm also somebody's who's had a beard ever since the end of high school/start of college (1973!) I have NEVER shaved it, and have no intention of ever doing so - nobody would recognize me! Aside from going from what began as a vague Van Dyke style to a shaved-cheeks approach to a full beard, it's never changed much, though I generally don't let it get that long. And of course, it's changed color from light brown to salt and pepper to mostly grey over the years...

Anyway, I've always been a hat guy. Count me as another who REALLY can't wear black hats without appearing to be Orthodox (and I'm only lapsed Reform!), so I avoid them. Even my carbon/steel/mid-grey Stylemaster is darker than I'd like...