Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-30
STYLES IN WHISPERS.
Observations on How the Hirsute
Fashions Change.

doh1oAIS SAdake-
The disappearance of the man with the
beard or the goatee marks a great change
in the facial appearance of the men Of the
present generation" said old-timer to
a Star reporter as he surveyed the throng
on F street on sunny afternoon recently.
or course. the mustache and the goatee
were once facial fixtures among the men of
the south. and once a great many were to
be seen upon the streets of the capital
But II you will observe nowadays YOU will
note that the men who wear them belong
to past generation, and that this distinc-
tive mark of the southern gentleman Is now
white, and frequently accompanied by an
empty sleeve: most of the young men from
that section wear mustaches or have the
face smoothly shaver.
The full beard has almost entirely dis
appeared. while the pointed, closely clip
pea beard, once SO popular, is infreQuentIy
seen as reminder of the time when about
every other man. especially under middle
lffe wore their hair on his face In la Van
Dyke The long side whiskers, or the short
mutton chops, are conspicuous by their alb
sence and when man with hirsute adorn-
ment of THIS kind comes into view you in
stinctiyely attempt to size him up whether
he Is waiter in a fashionable hotel or
is waited upon when he puts In appear
ance there.
The only men who have any right to
the mustache and the goatee are those who
have an aquiline or Roman nose and the
fuller the face of this type the better. 1t
was mainly for this reason that the cele-
brated mustache and imperial of Napoleon
III were so becoming to that unfortunate
monarch. When a hatchet-faced, fiat-nosed
misguided chap wears them he looks the
part he unconsciously fits. 1t is the same
with the full, chubby-cheeked stout man
who wears a full beard, particularly where
the beard lines come far up on the face
or over the cheekbones-it intensifes the
fullness and gives an appearance of puff
ness which is not at all becoming. To the
man whose cheeks are full of valleys or
VINO has poorly shaped mouth, In the
instance of an understood lower Jaw or
protruding upper teeth. beard is a kindly
accompaniment to the face. When this
class OF men shave off their boards their
wives fall in a faint upon their return
home, and 1t Is small wonder, as the change
is startling.
ION the other hand. it does not follow
that the smoothly shaved face is necessa-
rily the more becoming because il is the
more in vogue. The features of many men
would be improved by fringe of hair. no
matter where 1t was placed. Perhaps the
short, closely trimmed mustache Is the
most becoming to the average man. where
men have handsomely shaped mouths
which IS the exception rather than the
rule, the smooth face is the more agree
able, particularly where the nose is straight,
which is also not the rule. The long,
dropping mustache, so much affected by
the English guardsman and gentleman
alike, is not becoming to the average face
because 1t gives the features a drawn-down
expression.
Yet men follow the fashion in this re-
spect as do women in the arrangement of
the hair. though perhaps to less degree ir-
respective of whether the prevailing mode
Is individually becoming or not Thus in
the thirties nearly every man wore the
snort side whiskers, and the old prints of
that period in amusing contrast with
the style of today