Beard of the Week
This beard, a lovely specimen of the modern version of the van Dyke, reminds me of one of the more extraordinary beards I've ever seen.
I saw this extraordinary beard only once some eight years ago. There were no bells that rang nor sirens that sounded; I was simply eating lunch at (of course!) my favorite Taco Bell. It was a workday lunch hour, so there were a number of other people eating. My attention drawn to him, no doubt, because he displayed facial hair, I noticed one patron who had, I thought at first glance, a van Dyke style beard.
As I studied the patron's beard more closely, I discovered an additional feature. Notice how the beard in the photo tapers along the side of the mouth and then ends just below the chin. The beard I observed that day indeed tapered down the side of the patron's mouth, but it did not end below the chin. Instead, it continued in a tapered fashion so that his beard continued in a progressively thinner strip down under his chin, down his throat and across his Adam's apple, whence it disappeared into his open shirt.
What an amazing visual effect it was! It's hard to say what images it evoked, but they tended towards the provocative. Did it look like an arrow pointing towards mysteries hidden below his shirt, or more something like the chasing lights on a movie marquee, or just a beard-fall that slipped off his face and beneath his collar?
Regardless, it was a sight that has remained vivid in this beard connoisseur's memory.
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I welcome comments -- even dissent -- but I will delete without notice irrelevant, rude, psychotic, or incomprehensible comments, particularly those that I deem homophobic, unless they are amusing. The same goes for commercial comments and trackbacks. Sorry, but it's my blog and my decisions are final.
on Friday, 18 May 2007 at 14.32
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You talk about how you don't like it when people miscall things. Like calling that particular beard style a goatee. You're right, it's not a goatee; a goatee is only the bottom of the chin.
However, that's not really a van Dyke beard, either. I know you call it the "modern" version but I'm not buying that. A van Dyke should have a pointed chin with a mustache that does not connect to the chin whiskers. The ends of the mustache must also be pointed. It's usually done with wax. Here's a good explanation:
The Flemish painter, Sir Anthony Vandyke (1599-1641) painted so many aristocrats with a pointed type of beard that it became known as the Vandyke beard. They were dressed with pomade or wax, applied with a tiny brush and comb.
(You can read more, and see a good representation at: http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/3365/?letter=B&spage=1 )
Perhaps I'm being picky but, to me, THAT'S a true van Dyke. And, if we must give that other style a name, I agree with you when you call it a schnauzer. It's much more fitting.
That's my two cents.
on Monday, 28 May 2007 at 10.21
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It's an excellent point, MAW; except for my reaction against calling it a 'goatee', there's no real reason to call it a 'van Dyke' either, since something van Dyke-ish really should be more as you describe. Sometimes Isaac and I just call them 'mouth beards', but I think I'll take your advice and try to encourage calling them 'schnauzers'.