Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Goatee. Mustache. Mutton chops. For men, facial fashions can be a

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Sunday, July 15, 2001
Goatee. Mustache. Mutton chops. For men, facial fashions can be a...
Hairy affair

By Dan Parker
Caller-Times

‘(My wife) just says it’s sexy, I guess. So, it’s off-limits. I can’t do nothing with it.’ - Efren Perez, 38, connstruction worker from Mathis

Efren Perez sometimes considers shaving off his mustache - a jet-black creation that swirls around the corners of his mouth and courses down his chin, Fu Manchu-style.
   But he says his wife won't let him shave it.
   "She says it's her mustache, not mine," said Perez, a 38-year-old construction worker from Mathis. "She likes rubbing it over her face. She just says it's sexy, I guess. So, it's off-limits. I can't do nothing with it."
   Talk to Coastal Bend men about why they wear facial hair, and they'll give you every kind of explanation. It's to look older. It's to look more distinguished. To avoid shaving. Or to please a girlfriend or wife.

‘My mustache has been there since I was 17. I don’t think I could live without this mustache.’ - Pedro Rodriguez, 52, janitor from Kingsville

   Personal identity
   And some men say they have beards simply because they can't imagine life without one. Their facial hair has been a part of their personal identity for as long as they can remember.
   Pedro Rodriguez has held onto his big, full-bodied mustache for 35 years. Its color has changed from black to white over the years, and he has worn it in several styles, including a handlebar.
   But he never has cut it, and he says he never will.
   "My mustache has been there since I was 17," said Rodriguez, a 52-year-old janitor from Kingsville. "I don't think I could live without this mustache. It wouldn't feel right."
   Hair today, gone tomorrow

‘I grew it because I can. ... That, and my girlfriend likes it, too.’ - Jason Andrews, 28, Corpus Christi waiter

   At the opposite end of the facial-hair spectrum is Robert Rios, a 21-year-old criminal justice major at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. His beards come and go. Not long ago, he dyed a portion of his goatee blue.
   "I had half my hair purple, so I thought I'd go for blue on my goat," Rios said. "I just go with what I feel like at the moment. I'm a really impulsive-type person. ... I don't put much thought into it."
   The soul patch - that dab of whiskers directly beneath a man's lower lip - is one of the most hip styles for men who want to put on a fashionable face, according to Brian Fallon, a manager at Pivot Point International, a Chicago company that develops curriculum for cosmetology schools.

‘I just go with what I feel like at the moment. - I don’t put much thought into it.’ - Robert Rios, 21, criminal justice major at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

   "In fashion, there are so many things that are acceptable now," Fallon said. "In terms of men's hair ... anything goes. You see everything from buzz cuts to flat tops, and a lot of guys are growing their hair longer. The same goes for beard fashion, whether it's a goatee or a full beard, or a little soul patch thing. Nothing much stands out as truly, truly odd."
   Looking his age
   Zack Kinsey said he wasn't trying to be particularly hip when he grew his goatee.
   The 24-year-old Corpus Christi tattoo artist said he grew his blond chin whiskers 2 inches long only because he wanted to look his age.
   "I look like I'm about 12 years old without it," Kinsey said of his goatee. "I even have trouble getting into R-rated movies without it."
   Kinsey also has long sideburns, but he sometimes shaves them off and clips his chin whiskers short - especially to avoid splitting hairs with family members who aren't partial to his blond beard.
   "Like if my dad has a dinner party," he said. "And my brother has a wedding coming up next month."
   Distinguished face

‘I think I'd look funny without it.’ - Nathan La Nasa, 22, criminal justice major, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

   Before committing to a fuzzy face, Jason Andrews, 28, wanted to wait until his 5 o'clock shadow grew in like clockwork. He's had his beard for about eight months now.
   "I grew it because I can," said Andrews, a Corpus Christi waiter. "It's just now I'm getting in my late 20s, and I can grow one and it won't be patchy and messed up."
   Andrews likes the beard because it makes him feel distinguished.
   "That, and my girlfriend likes it, too," he said.
   Jerry hair
   Jaime Briones, a 52-year-old print shop worker, has a wiry gray beard that falls to his chest.

‘I look like I’m about 12 years old without (the goatee).’ - Zack Kinsey, 24, Corpus Christi tattoo artist

   The beard has once tempted his cousins to snip off a few inches as a practical joke while he was sleeping.
   His cascade of gray has a few advantages, too.
   "I've gotten a lot of free drinks out of it," he said. "People say, 'Jerry, you're alive!' Like I'm Jerry Garcia, from the Grateful Dead. And they buy me a drink. This has been going on for years."


Contact Dan Parker at 886-3753 or parkerd@caller.com

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