Fedoras & facial hair: are they mortal enemies?

[Stanley Doble]

Some hats go well with a beard. The fedora is not one of them. A mustache, OK as long as it ends at your upper lip ( no Fu Manchu).

There are other hats that go well with a beard. The pork pie goes well with a goatee and mustache for the hipster look. A Homburg with a Van Dyke. A Russian shearling winter hat with a full beard.

Having said that, you can wear whatever you like. Just stand in front of the mirror for 60 seconds by the clock before you go outside.

 

[1961MJS]

Some hats go well with a beard. The fedora is not one of them. A mustache, OK as long as it ends at your upper lip ( no Fu Manchu).

There are other hats that go well with a beard. The pork pie goes well with a goatee and mustache for the hipster look. A Homburg with a Van Dyke. A Russian shearling winter hat with a full beard.

Having said that, you can wear whatever you like. Just stand in front of the mirror for 60 seconds by the clock before you go outside.

Hi Stanley

There are a whole lot of guys here that wear a full beard and wear fedoras regularly. I'm one, but I'm one of many. I think at least one of the bartenders is on that list.

I do agree with standing in front of the mirror before you go out with a new hat (or any new look for that matter). This is where I KNOW I can't wear a pork pie, a traditional Homburg, or a Pith Helmet (think Toadstool).

Later

 

[Rick Blaine]

Stuff & Nonsense!

Some hats go well with a beard. The fedora is not one of them.

BOLLOCKS!
A load. Ten pounds in a five pound sack!

To wit:

Scruffy & Haggard (k'yuck-yuk... get it?)are the new black w/ pearls. Get with it!

...just do not take it to Mr. Sutton's level (may he Rest in Peace).

Or ginger here...

... and of course -the hat has become entirely redundant by this point, eh? :eeek:

Humbly (if most reactionarily) submitted-

RB

 

[pipefan413]

BOLLOCKS!
A load. Ten pounds in a five pound sack!...
RB

Got a good laugh out of that. Excellent.

 

[Lexybeast]

I feel like the beard + fedora question comes up every six months. Oh well. Another chance for me to post this ol' picture.

Don't worry, it isn't nearly that long anymore. And beards + fedoras are fine.

 

[pipefan413]

I feel like the beard + fedora question comes up every six months. Oh well. Another chance for me to post this ol' picture.

Don't worry, it isn't nearly that long anymore. And beards + fedoras are fine.

... I approve.

 

[pipvh]

The key element here appears to be attitude. Great pics, Mr Blaine. And great beard, Mr Lexybeast.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

I never wanted to have a beard myself but I agree it can look cool on certain types. Aside from the fedora thingy I also really like if a neatly trimmed beard is paired with a good "short back and sides" haircut like this Nick Wooster guy. I don't even know what he does but he appears in menswear blogs all the time.

 

[Benzadmiral]

If beards and fedoras don't go together, one of my standbys has got to go. I just can't decide if it should be the hat, the beard, or my face. (Believe me, if I could order a new face online, say something like George Clooney's, I would.)

I hate pics of me, but here's a sample with trimmed beard:

 

[pipefan413]

If beards and fedoras don't go together, one of my standbys has got to go. I just can't decide if it should be the hat, the beard, or my face. (Believe me, if I could order a new face online, say something like George Clooney's, I would.)

I hate pics of me, but here's a sample with trimmed beard:

You totally could! Didn't you see Face/Off? You just run the risk of turning into John Travolta. Or something. I wasn't really paying attention.

Also, that is pretty much precisely the sort of beardage I desire. I think mine's too chaotic at short lengths to sit so neatly, though. Hope not though. We'll see...

 

[Stanley Doble]

All those pictures confirm my view that beards and fedoras do not go well together. At best, they would look better in a different hat. At worst, they look like fugitives from a police lineup or side show.

Chacun a son gout.

 

[1961MJS]

If beards and fedoras don't go together, one of my standbys has got to go. I just can't decide if it should be the hat, the beard, or my face. (Believe me, if I could order a new face online, say something like George Clooney's, I would.)

I hate pics of me, but here's a sample with trimmed beard:

Hi Paul

You're face isn't shaped like George's, but you haven't been beaten near death with the ugly stick either. I'm going to attempt the King George V / Kaiser Bill look, then trim it all back again as per your picture.

Later

 

[Benzadmiral]

Hi Paul

You're face isn't shaped like George's, but you haven't been beaten near death with the ugly stick either. I'm going to attempt the King George V / Kaiser Bill look, then trim it all back again as per your picture.

Later

Thanks, Mike,

I personally believe that the ugly stick would be frightened away by my mug, but thanks for the compliment. I've had the beard since 1988 -- grew it before Jonathan Frakes popped up with his on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" -- and buzz away at it with a beard trimmer every week, sometimes a bit more often. It does take some work. I think it's worth it. You'll enjoy yours; and if you don't, it can come off!

It is true that we bearded folk have no Golden Era model to point to, neither Gable nor Bogart nor Stewart. In a 1937 novel, the authors had Ellery Queen, the author-detective, pop up in Hollywood with a beard; but generally, men back then, as someone here pointed out, in movies, novels, and real life, were clean-shaven, or sported only the mustache.

Somebody handy with Photoshop could add a neat beard to, say, a pic of James Stewart as George Bailey, and give us an idea of what it would have looked like. I'm no P-shop wizard; anybody?

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

It is true that we bearded folk have no Golden Era model to point to, neither Gable nor Bogart nor Stewart.

Ezra Pound by Man Ray 1923

Man Ray selfportrait 1948

Orson Welles (late 1930s?)

And there is still Ernest Hemingway....
I couldn't find pictures with fedoras though.

 

[LocktownDog]

One of my favorite actors ... Monty Woolley.

 

[dnjan]

I have this continuing issue with white/blond hairs in amongst the dark.

I have that problem as well. Only the white ones are more grayish. And it seems like the problem is gradually resolving itself in favour of the gray.

Personally, I see no problem with beard and fedora.

 

[1961MJS]

Thanks, Mike,

I personally believe that the ugly stick would be frightened away by my mug, but thanks for the compliment. I've had the beard since 1988 -- grew it before Jonathan Frakes popped up with his on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"

HI

I grew a mustache in the fall of my first year of college. Somebody called my name while i was shaving my upper lip, I turned towards them slicing my lipe, and by the time it healed, I had a nice mustache. I've I it since roughly September 1979. I started growing a beard every Winter. In 1984, a neighbor who wore a beard year round (to hide an extra chin) said that all he did was trim it back in the summer. I tried that, it worked and since then, I've only been without beard for the wedding for a month, and for Scout camp 13 years later for the week it took to grew back.

Later

 

[Rick Blaine]

All those pictures confirm my view that beards and fedoras do not go well together. At best, they would look better in a different hat. At worst, they look like fugitives from a police lineup or side show.

Chacun a son gout.

...n'importe comment désagréable et avec mépris exprimé

 

[Benzadmiral]

That goatee-bedecked pic of Orson Welles could be from a little later than the Thirties, after he did "Citizen Kane" -- perhaps when he was about to film his adaptation of "Macbeth." But yes, his phiz is a good model.

As for Ernest, in all the pics I've seen when his hair was still dark, Hemingway wore a mustache but not a beard. By the early Fifties, I think, the beard had made its appearance. Was there ever a pic of him in a fedora?

 

[1961MJS]

All those pictures confirm my view that beards and fedoras do not go well together. At best, they would look better in a different hat. At worst, they look like fugitives from a police lineup or side show.

Chacun a son gout.

Hi

In defense of our fedora wearers, I give you three guys from the Lounge, beards with fedoras...

BobC from the Buckaroo Hats thread:

frussell from the Tony B thread:

handlebarbart from the Tony B Thread:

1961MJS (that would be me, but I don't exactly refute your argument)

Later