I feeL fortunate to have found my life mate in the brief era between 1910 and 1990 when it was unfashionable for men to have beards, because I like a clean-shaven man, as I like a pruned rose garden: Nature teeming, but kept at bay.
Today’s 20-something english rose has to feel or kiss her way through tundras of scratchy facial hair. Beards are everywhere: not the bushy W. G. Grace kind, but the ‘urban’ seven-day growth, sported by everyone from footballers to classical musicians. I fear we’ve reached a tipping-point when less than half of the male population shaves first thing in the morning as a matter of course.
Why this eruption? Is it that it’s harder for men to acquire the traditional trappings of adulthood—job for life, owning a house —and a beard is an easy way to signal ‘I really am an adult’? Beards certainly make a man look older: a 30 year old looks 50 and a 50 year old 80. everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon, the same as with long hair over the ears in the 1970s—perhaps today’s beards will soon look as dated as Donny Osmond hair now does.
The signals beards give off have changed beyond measure since the 1970s, when the few beardies tended to be scientists at the Open University or village Methuselahs. Today’s beards give off more of an ‘I’m a Nespressodrinking graphic designer in Shoreditch’ aura.
Denne historien er fra May 02, 2018-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 02, 2018-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
