Beards and kilts

[Galician]

I usually have a Van Dyke (proper name for what is usually called a goatee) but since Thanksgiving I've had a full beard.

Maybe it's a regional/generational thing, but for me, a Van Dyke always implied a specific kind of goatee, the one which came to a sharp point. It was the one villains always had in the movies and cartoons!

[fluter]

Bearded: 32 years. Kilted: 225 days, more or less. They do seem to go together, just observe the photos of gents in belted plaids!

Given the oft-seen ethnic trait of brown hair and red beards, it's just too bad that I did not take up the kilt when my beard was still red. However, the kilt also goes great with grey.

I've had the beard since the last job which prohibited beards --- the job involved a char-broiler and occasional grease flare-ups, and the boss-lady did not like the smell of burnt hair in the restaurant, for some reason. So, you could say that my wife has never seen my face. The only clean-shaven pictures she's seen were from about age 18. Once upon a time, perhaps 20 years ago, she expressed some mild curiosity.

So before Hallowe'en of 2006, I came up with the idea of shaving as my "costume"... just a one-shot, have the beard back before Christmas sort of thing. She vetoed it absolutely, so I guess she's used to me... or was afraid that I'd have fat cheeks.

for me, a Van Dyke always implied a specific kind of goatee, the one which came to a sharp point. It was the one villains always had in the movies and cartoons!

To me, the Van Dyke/van Dyck is the combination of a moustache and goatee which "connect" around the mouth. I believe that's the old 20th-century usage. The point just depends on how you trim it. So yes, that's the cartoon villain type of beard.

In my mind, the goatee is a separate item from the moustache; but without the 'stache, it has several alternate names?