Wellcultured - Well Cultured is a men’s online magazine with advice and reviews on fashion, dating, finances, health, music, movies and many other topics, as well as a robust message board and the Well Cultured Guide, a freely editable community wiki.

My friends and I might plan to grow out beards in 2010. Is this fashionable?

Well, not really.

The important thing to understand about beards is that they are very very stereotypically a thing for elderly men- that is to say, men over 40 or so. They do indeed have a dignity of sorts to them, but part of it comes merely from the group of men they are associated with.

That being said, growing one out when young isn’t exactly the best thing to do, especially in the willy-nilly way many guys do. There’s nothing wrong with keeping facial hair if it frames your face nicely (which is a whole other topic)- the main issue is to keep a nice, groomed look. Most guys who do things like going without shaving for months end up looking just… messy.

So basically, if you do choose to do so, be very careful. Look around at celebrities and other people in the media and see what they do- oft, especially for more professional photos, celebrities keep their own facial hair rather nicely styled. Whatever you do, just don’t let it grow out pointlessly.