Sideburns

Sideburns,sideboards,orside whiskersarefacial hairgrown on the sides of the face, extending from the hairline to run parallel to or beyond the ears. The termsideburnsis a 19th-centurycorruptionof the originalburnsides, named afterAmerican Civil WargeneralAmbrose Burnside,a man known for his unusual facial hairstyle that connected thick sideburns by way of amoustache, but left the chinclean-shaven.
Sideburns can be worn and grown in combination with other styles of facial hair, such as themoustacheorgoatee, but once they extend from ear to ear via the chin they cease to be sideburns and become abeard,chinstrap beard, orchin curtain.
Indigenous men ofColombiaandMexico, including Aztecs, shaved their heads and wore their braided sideburns long, said to be wearing "balcarrotas", rarely seen in modern times, but prized in the 16th century as a mark of virile vanity and banned by the colonial authorities inNew Spain, resulting in rioting in 1692.
Sideburns are present on statues and masks of Romans dating back to the 1st Century.Elagabalusis depicted with sideburns and a mustache.
Following the fashion in Europe youngSouth Americancriollosadopted sideburns. Many of the independence heroes of South America, includingJosé de San Martín,Manuel Belgrano,Antonio José de Sucre,Bernardo O'Higgins,José Miguel Carrera, andAntonio Nariñohad sideburns and are as such depicted on numerous paintings, coins and banknotes.
Nineteenth-century sideburns were often far more extravagant than those seen today, similar to what are now called mutton chops, but considerably more extreme. In period literature, "side whiskers" usually refers to this style, in which the whiskers hang well below the jaw line. As with beards, sideburns went quickly out offashionin the early twentieth century. InWorld War I, in order to secure a seal on agas mask, men had to be clean-shaven; this did not affectmustaches.
In 1936, PresidentFranklin Rooseveltbriefly experimented with sideburns on a yachting cruise, provoking laughter from wifeEleanor.Sideburns made a comeback in the mid-1950s whenMarlon Brandosported them as the title character inThe Wild One(1953). Further spurred byElvis Presley, sideburns were sported by "hoods", "greasers", and "rockers" seeking to highlight their rebellious post-pubescent manliness.Sideburns later gained popularity in thecounterculture of the 1960s: the struggle of a New Jersey youth to wear sideburns to his public high school graduation made a newspaper article in 1967.Sideburns were associated with young mods and hippies, but in the '70s became prevalent in all walks of life. "Lambchop" sideburns also became a symbol of the gay club scenes ofSan FranciscoandSydney, as did thehandlebar mustache. For the most part, sideburns have never gone out of fashion. They have continued to be popular among rock musicians, and even become a notable feature of such musicians likeStephen Stills,Neil Young,George Jones, andLemmy.
Notable 21st century examples includeEmmanuel Macron,Javier Milei,Cem Özdemir,Viktor Yushchenko,David Pountney,Adam Sandler,John LithgowandDavid Tennant.
Because of sideburns' multifarious history, they may be seen as stuffilyVictorian; an indicator of roughness, vice, orrebelliousness;a characteristic ofrock 'n' roll; or merely a retro fashion revival.