1974—year of the heard

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33516, 23 April 1974, Page 17

1974—year of the heard

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) LONDON.

This year will go down in fashion history as the year of the beard, according to the president of the National i Hairdressers’ Federation in Britain. “One reason is that modern man feels the need to be extreme in his attire and hairstyle, as part of the continuing process of wanting to look different from the older generation,” Mr David Colclough told a hairdressers’ conference in Edinburgh. “One psychologist has argued that men are tired of being the less-noticeable sex, and that they now want to be peacocks themselves.

“Some women believe that a man is sexier with a beard, and there have certainly been many great lovers with beards. No-one ever heard Nell Gwynn complain of the abilities of King Charles the Second.

“But, beware! A Cambridge scientist found that his beard grew very quickly when he was living alone on a remote island, and concluded that cutting out sex increased the level of his male hormones, and that these stimulated his beard growth.”