Over 200 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Strangest Facial Hair Trends in History, from Mustache Bags to Glitter
Voting Rules
Vote up the facial hair styles that you'd swipe left on.
Ugly facial hair happens. Weird facial hair happens. We get it. But history has been extremely creativewith facial hair in some pretty shocking ways. Dumb mustaches have been coming in and out of style since humanity began, and gross beards that need to be washed way more than they are have been popular and will be again. This is a fact of life.
But sometimes, seeing all of these beards can be difficult. Even painful. However, this is an important lesson in the folly of mankind. Vote up the weirdest facial hair trends ever.
One of the problems with not having a beard is that your chin can get pretty cold. The Gauls, Franks, Goths, and Saxons all came up with the same fashionable solution: grow your mustache so long that it is basically a beard. This style was incredibly prevalent and persisted for centuries, so it must have worked.
Victorians took beard-love to the next level. They not only believed that beards were natural, but that they were gifts from God that were important for your physical health. They feared that shaving off your facial hair would result in throat and mouth diseases, and even bronchitis.
A staple of late '90s rock and metal, the braided goatee takes the worst qualities of the goatee and the rat tail in order to create one of the most unsettling styles of all time. We probably have at least a few decades before this style attempts a comeback, so that's something to be grateful for.
America hasn't had a bearded president since Taft, but for a while, it was the distinguished thing to do. In fact, in 1860, Lincoln believed that his chances of winning the upcoming presidential election would be improved by growing a beard. Hey, it seems like it worked!
The origin of the goatee is, etymologically speaking, not surprising. Its inspiration is the beard of the goat, and as such, it appeared pretty early in history as the facial hair choice of Pan, the part-goat Greek god. Like all powerful trends, the goatee has come back again and again in history. It was popularized in the 18th century as the known style of the French bohemians. It was then appropriated during the American Civil War and the Wild West, and reappeared again in the 1950s as a beatnik look. Despite the fact that it's literally the facial hair of the devil, the goatee seems to be here to stay.
Before facial hair came back into style in the 19th century, it was considered genuinely offensive. By the 18th century, beards were considered a sign of criminal behavior and sinister intent. You did not want to be caught walking around with a beard.
