Chicken or egg, kilt or beard

[Redhawk]

Except for Basic training ,I've had a moustache since I was 16. The beard is a winter thing that the wife is always happy to see go (even though she never complains)

[brewerpaul]

Ever since I could scrape up, instead of scrape off with a razor, a good bit of hair on my face it has been there. Some years a bit scraggly than others but in time it has filled out fully and become increasingly gray. I dont mind the color changes, that started about 25+ years ago. I keep the beard, mustache and hair cropped tight, only need one set of clippers that way. The kilt is new although I have always found them interesting. Have always thought bagpipes would be great to learn, if I had musical abilities. So the beard and stache for 30+ years, the kilt for less than a year and I plan for them both to stay for many more years.

[dadgad]

Had a moustach since I graduated from high school (73). A beard off and on for years, then continuously since about 2000. Only been clean shaven twice in all those years, Navy boot camp, and for oral surgery (then I only shaved once).

Started wearing the kilt two years ago, so the facial hair came first. Chicken? Or egg? Whatever.

[biblemonkey]

I have a beard because without it my baby face makes me look 18 when I am in fact a rather well preserved 31. And my wife thinks I'm sexier with a beard.

[TheBrus]

My son got his first kilt for his first birthday. He's been growing a beard since he was four. He's now seven. Let's just say he has slow-growing facial hair that's nearly invisible. For him, it's all about convenience. He doesn't shave, because it saves a lot of time and blood. I think he started on the beard because he saw a clip of Her Majesty Mrs Brown and thought Billy Connolly looked sharp with the beard and kilt.

[kilted hillbilly]

Beard first, later kilted,no connection. Wife likes the beard,hates when I shave it off 1-2 times a year to let my face "breathe".

[Riverkilt]

Don't recall why I grew my first beard - it was 1970 - maybe the thing to do. I was working in New York City. My clients began calling me the "Goy Rabbi." It came to an issue back then and I was fired/asked to leave because just one client complained that I was bearded. Somewhere in there I was looking at myself in the mirror while wearing a shirt in the Royal Stewart tartan and thought how well the beard and the tartan went together.

I kept the beard and was hired bearded every job since. Somewhere in the early 80s I put in for a promotion at work and shaved the beard thinking I'd have a better chance. I didn't get that promotion so grew it back. Bearded again I got lots of promotions. Shows what I know.

Once on a spiritual retreat about 1990 some new age dweeb suggested I was "hiding behind the beard and should shave it off so the World could see the real me. Well, I shaved it off and found myself staring in the mirror at the image of my late father and promptly grew the beard back. The "true me" is bearded - a natural condition. I believe them that scrape off the fur are the ones hiding from their true bearded self.

Okay, a little neck and cheek trimming is okay for a less "wild" look.

Kilts came along over 35 years after the beard. But I'm still struck by how well beards and tartans go together.

[Cygnus]

The first time I wore a (rental) kilt I couldn't grow a beard, but I had already had a beard for some years before I decided to take the plunge and get a kilt of my own.

So I'm a bit of both.

[Tobus]

I believe them that scrape off the fur are the ones hiding from their true bearded self.

Hope nobody takes offense, but I feel the same way. We males of the human species typically do not engage in all the preening and artificial body alterations that women do, except for shaving. Why does society seem to pressure men to be clean-shaven? It's an abomination to who we are. I refuse to be clean-shaven just like I refuse to shave my head or eyebrows or chest. Hair grows there, and I find it downright silly to spend a lifetime trying to make it look like it doesn't, just to conform to someone else's idea of how I should look. Not that I'm judging those who want to be clean-shaven. Just saying I don't understand the intent.

A lot of men complain about how beards are itchy, hot, etc. But I've never found this to be the case. It only itches when you're first growing it out. Once it reaches a certain length, it just feels natural. And even living in Texas with our brutal summers, I've never felt like my face is hot enough that I'd feel better without a beard. Rather the opposite, in fact. The beard protects my face from the sun and reduces my sunscreen usage! It's great in the winter, too. When the wind is blowing 60 miles an hour and my wife's face is all red and chapped from the cold and wind, mine is fine.

Honestly, I don't understand the aversion to beards in society. There's something to be said for grooming and trimming for style, of course, just like any other hair. But to shave it off completely and go bald-faced? No sir!

For the past 13 years I've kept my beard fairly short, but this winter I'm growing it out. Just to see what it does. It usually tends to frizz out sideways from my cheeks when it gets long, but I'm hoping I can find a way to tame it. Growing it out long helps hide any patchy/thin spots, too. Sadly, though, it also tends to accentuate the grey hairs that are coming in!

This morning a co-worker greeted me with "good morning, Viking!", so I guess that pretty much describes the way it looks, lol.

[O'Searcaigh]

I've worn a full beard since 1969. I have only shaved once since then, about eight years ago, so my wife could see my face without it. She said: "grow it back!" -- I did. I have worn kilts for about ten years, also with the approval and encouragement of my wife. I've never really thought or worried about my "masculinity" (whatever that is) irrespective of beards or kilts. I have found that wearing a beard or a kilt -- or presenting any other "out of the statistically common appearance" for one's time and culture does tend to attract attention and challenge one's sense of self-consciousness which once overcome, makes one more confident and self-possessed. All clothing and grooming is costume; it's just a matter of context.