Allan Peterkin - The Bearded Gentleman: The Style Guide to Shaving Face

THE BEARDED GENTLEMAN

THE BEARDED GENTLEMAN

The Style Guide to Shaving Face

ALLAN PETERKIN & NICK BURNS

Arsenal Pulp Press | Vancouver

THE BEARDED GENTLEMAN
Copyright 2010 by Allan Peterkin and Nick Burns

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form by any meansgraphic, electronic or mechanicalwithout the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may use brief excerpts in a review, or in the case of photocopying in Canada, a license from Access Copyright.

ARSENAL PULP PRES
Suite 101-211 East Georgia Street,
Vancouver, BC V6A 1Z6
arsenalpulp.com

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the British Columbia Arts Council for its publishing program, and the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and the Government of British Columbia through the Book Publishing Tax Credit Program for its publishing activities.

The authors and publisher assert that the information contained in this book is true and complete to the best of their knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the authors and Arsenal Pulp Press. Readers may wish to contact their healthcare provider with specific health-related questions. The authors and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. For more information, contact the publisher.

Efforts have been made to locate copyright holders of source material wherever possible. The publisher welcomes hearing from any copyright holders of material used in this book who have not been contacted.

Cover design by Electra Design Group; cover photograph Getty Images Illustrations by Jaye Lyonns

MY CONVICTION (from Hair)
Lyrics by JAMES RADO and GEROME RAGNI Music by GALT MACDERMOT
1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 (Copyrights Renewed) JAMES RADO, GEROME RAGNI, GALT MACDERMOT, NAT SHAPIRO and EMI U CATALOG, INC.
All Rights Administered by EMI U CATALOG, INC. (Publishing) and ALFRED MUSIC PUBLISHING (Print). All Rights Reserved Used by Permission of ALFRED PUBLISHING CO., INC.

Printed and bound in Canada on FSC-certified paper

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Peterkin, Allan D.
The bearded gentleman : the style guide to
shaving face / Allan Peterkin & Nick Burns.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-55152-343-9
1. Beards. 2. Shaving. 3. Grooming for men.
I. Burns, Nick, 1980- II. Title.

RA777.8.P48 2010 646.7044 C2010-901953-9

Acknowledgments

For Robert, Meg, Skip and Millie

Special thanks to Nick Burns for a wonderful, fun collaboration (and for his high-tech web-wizardry); to Brian, Robert, Shyla, Susan, and Janice at Arsenal Pulp and to Amanda Miller for help with the manuscript; and to Phil Olsen, Jay Della Valle, Eric Brown, and Dr Paul Cotterill (for their hair-raising tips) and to Dr Chris Moss and Brett and Kate McKay (for expertise on fur-removal). Thanks also to all the wonderful facial hair (and shaving) communities who keep things alive on their websites, blogs, and through their charity work.

AP

My heartfelt thanks to Allan for his patience and genius during our fun collaboration; Mom, Dad, Pamela, Heather, Alex, and Cathy for their love and support; Susan, Shyla, Brian, Janice, and everyone at Arsenal Pulp Press for making this book possible.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the book, including Martial Vivot, Shorty Maniace, Brad Katchen, MD, Neil Sadick, MD, and the people behind the websites, books, and magazine articles that assisted us in our research.

Special thanks to Susan Rasky for her inspiration, editing brilliance, and guidance; Amanda Miller for her research; Aaron Krach and Sally Chew for lending their eyeballs; Chris Nutter of Nutter Media for his generous marketing support; Tyler Sipe for the great photos; Richard Koci Hernandez and Josh Williams for their help with Beardedgentleman.com; Paul Grabowicz, Jerry Monti, Bill Gannon, Neil Henry, and the entire Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley for all the support.

NB

CONTENTS

SHOULD I SHAVE
OR SHOULD I GROW?

One morning, you look in the mirror and it hits you. You basically like your face, but its time for a change. (Were not talking plastic surgery.) Youve always been Mr Clean-Cut. Youre starting to look more and more like your dad (and nice as he is, thats not what youre aiming for). Youre feeling like a corporate drone. Or maybe your trademark goatee is going grey and your dentist (who just charged you $933 for a filling) has the exact same growth on his chinny-chin-chin. You have a low-cost, all-empowering option, but its time for a decision: You can either drop the razor or pick it up. And you dont have to ask anybody for permission (though everybody will have an opinion!).

Men just like you the world over now change their facial hair whenever they like, and for all kinds of reasons. You may want to look older (or younger), more laid-back and playful (or more macho), or show that youre in some kind of transition (think of Al Gores beard after he lost the election, or the one on your recently divorced buddy).

Whatever your fuzzy (or clean-cut) motivation, this fine volume will help you pick a look, maintain or modify it, and then eradicate it (in style) so you can start all over. Beardies and Babyfaces unite! We are one and the same. Your face is your canvasnow go to town!

Why have men grown (or removed) their facial hair?

The answer was fairly simple until the twentieth century. Cavemen really had no choice because shaving hadnt been invented. From the Neanderthals onward, once a guy hit puberty, something bristly started sprouting on his face. Shaving (or at least plucking hairs out with clamshells) began about 2,000 BCE. Thereafter, whether Egyptian, Greek, Roman, or Judeo-Christian, you had to grow a beard to indicate your religion, class, and allegiance to your king. You sometimes removed it if your clergyman told you it was Satanic (rather than saintly), or if, like Oscar Wilde, you rebelled and took it off (so as not to look like all those bushy Victorians). Mustaches were popular in the military, but aside from that, and depending on the time and place, could be interpreted as foppish, fiendish, or foreign. Basically, you took your cues from those in charge.

The twentieth century is when things really started to get interesting. King Camp Gillette started producing his disposable razor blade in 1903 and revolutionized shaving forever. After both world wars, men became convinced that clean-shavenness signified godliness, patriotism, and modern life. A male grooming industry was born, and razors (both blade and electric) with accompanying foams, tonics, and aftershaves became big business. Our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers wouldnt have been hired with beards and mustaches (unless they were orthodox clergy or university professors). Between 1900 and 1950, men were (apart from a few commies and mustachioed Hollywood types) essentially hairless, but thereafter every decade brought its own furry expressions. Western civilization increasingly began to trumpet individualism over communal identity. The fifties gave us beatnik beards, daddy-o Soul Patches, and Elvis sideburns. The sixties brought long-haired, wild-bearded hippies. The seventies brought swinger/bi/porn-star mustaches. The eighties brought designer stubble. Modern men were no longer taking their cues from politicians (who never have facial hair) and clergy (who usually dont) and instead looked to rock stars, movie actors, and athletes for what was cool, playful, and rebellious.