Seems like 80% of teens/young adults have stubble

[maxman]

I guess it just depends on who you are and where you are.
There is one guy at work in our department who looks good in stubble.
He just looks like a keener when he's clean shaven.
Stubble suits him. He's in his mid 20's.
I can go with a bit of a beard, but I have to keep it trimmed very close or I look awful.

Of course, most guys just go with what their wives or girlfriends like.
I do.

[Dennard]

I have always liked having some style of facial hair. My dad had a moustache for thirty years so that has probably made me somewhat biased. But I don't worry about what others are doing.

[PFP_Dad]

Some girls seem to like the stubble look; though I shave regardless. I do wear flip-flops often and think of them as my go-to shoe.

[Arcadies]

Laziness.

+1

I am 36 and have no children, but my nephew is like a son to me and I am around him and his children often so I've developed a peeve or two. One of which is he wears this really scraggly looking half goatee, I'm not even sure what it is called..Van Dyke I think...he has a thin and ratty looking moustache and about 2-3 inches of hair on the point of his chin but no hair actually connecting the two..it looks horrible because he doesn't have the growth/thickness to make it work. But that isn't the part that drives me nuts, it's the fact that he only maintains it and shaves the stubble around it and on the rest of his face once every 1-2 weeks...the rat beard looks bad but with all that stubble mixed in it just looks nasty. I know it's not for lack of time either because he has plenty of time to watch TV and play World of Warcraft.

[phillylion]

If you look at the magazines or TV, that's what you see. I think it's a style thing. And like all style things, I think it will eventually swing the other way.

[InkEd]

As I stated earlier, it's mainly an age/style thing. In a couple years (late 20's-early 30's), most women will be more impressed my you being clean shaven (or with well groomed facial hair), wearing clean clothes and having a job than looking like a scruffy, wrinkled deadbeat. Even in some circles of people that are somewhat outside the mainstream (e.g. HEAVILY tattooed people like me) people still tend to "clean-up" their appearance when they get older.

We're not gonna start shopping at Banana Republic or GAP (and would still kick our OWN butts for shopping at Abercombie)... BUT we do start to trade-in some of our metal t-shirts for bowling shirts for when we go out someplace. The same goes for grooming stubble becomes clean shaven and stragly beards get groomed (even if kept at viking-length. LOL)

Heck, I even wear a suit to work 5 days week. (However, I can't take my coat off with white dress shirt because you can see my ink through the fabric.) My friends always joke that "I clean-up well."

[shaveitoff]

If the young guys aren't shaving there is not much you can do about it. In my younger years there was the occasional 3 day beard. Lots of young guys did this back in the 80s. (Must have been that Miami Vice influence) When you are young and in school you probably have an irregular schedule. You might want that few minutes extra sleep in the morning. I think once you have a regular job and career going you should make the effort to shave every day (at least every day when you are at work). Part of the prevalence of stubble now might be that a lot of young guys haven't been able to get a regular job because of the economy. If you don't need to have a clean shaven face for work, and you haven't already developed the shaving habit, you are likely to let the stubble grow a bit. Especially given the price of the carts for the Gillette Mach3 turbo-charged, battery-powered Fusion dohickeys.

[dpmtherrien]

+1 on the fact that its laziness. It seems to be the "in" look for now, but its just a fad and after time it'll pass.

[boogieman_]

I am now 31 and had a beard for about 3 years. Before that I would shave once a week and then before the beard I would use electric hair clippers without the guard. Reason being, shaving was painful, expensive and a horrible chore. I blame that on cartridge razors, the price of the razor refills (ah I can get another week or two out of this one SCRAPE SCRAPE SCRAPE...), crappy canned gel, and I honestly didn't care what others thought. I was (still am) in a job where you can have any facial hair or whatever. Obviously In other jobs where shaving was necessary I did it every 3 or so days or whatever I could get away with.

To be honest some lack of shaving was laziness, but really it was mainly how crappy shaving was and how it made my face burn and feel terrible afterwards. Couple that with not wanting to spend $5 a piece on cartridges and not wanting to waste time with grooming and a beard was the way to go.

I enjoy shaving now with a DE and shave every day or every other if I have managed to irritate my face enough to warrant skipping a day. DE is different. It's a skill that is rewarding. Cartridge razor shaving is just a sucky chore.

Oh, by the way, I would compare this with some of my other interests... Listening to RECORDS (yeah, those vinyl disk things lol), loose leaf tea, grinding my own coffee, occasional pipe smoking, etc. The old way is often better and more relaxing. Making loose leaf tea is about the process and the result is much better. Grinding coffee is a nice process and gives better coffee. A french press coffee pot is about the process and is way tastier. Records are neat but mainly sound way better. Of course you have to take some care of them like cleaning and such. Pipe tobacco is great stuff with literally thousands of mixes/brands/etc. It is a luxury, sorry if it offends anyone but cigarettes are just nasty.

Maybe that's the real answer, as you get about 30 you start enjoying taking your time, enjoying a little more "luxury" and the process of getting a good result instead of just getting any old results fast.

Anyway that's all for now. Dang that french press talk just made me want coffee really bad, looks like I got some brewing to do haha!

[JetsMets#1fan]

Only classless dudes have stubble...

[bvance554]

I'm 37 and I may be going out on a limb but this is nothing new. Reading this thread it sounds like skipping a few shaves and going with a little stubble is a generational thing, but guys have been skipping shaves for forever. I wouldn't call a man lazy because he wore a few days of stubble. But yes, definitely shave for a job interview, or any other time that you feel the need to don a suit and tie.

[bmathe02]

It's has to do with fashion and location. In New York it was stubble now I'm seeing more full on beards a la James Harden style.

[Giant Kiwi]

Pyjamas in public?? I know they do it here but they have going to bed pj's and going out pj's.
I've just come back from a stag in Edinburgh and have 4 days stubble, no blades in hand luggage dealt with that.
Looking forward to shaving today though.
Just before I go out in my flip flops/jandals/thongs depending on where you are. Myself I call them my samoan safety boots.

[Jcabbage]

My dad shaves every day he is about 57 and its always stange to see him with stubble. When using carts i shaved about every 5 days due to irritation and slow growth. Said irritation has been greatly reduced (and on some shaved eliminated) so now i usually shave everyday or every other. I also have big sideburns so my whole face isn't clean shaven but i much prefer the feel and look of being clean on the neck, chin and moustache areas.

[WoodNUFC]

For me (25), I could only shave once a week or my face would break out. I just started my first full-time job last November, and I hated the fact that I shaved on Monday mornings and couldn't shave again until the following weekend. I finally replaced my electric with a safety razor and my face is completely healed. I know that several of my friends are the same way.

However, my older brother is terribly lazy. He's had a nice Circle Beard for years, but doesn't maintain it. It drives me nuts. He'd look good if he kept the thing trimmed and shaved the rest of his face.

[Chicago]

My problem is that, after my normal shave (two passes, WTG only), I have stubble by that evening. I can delay the onset of stubble by adding a third ATG pass, but I don't think my skin is ready for it yet - still makes my face burn for hours.

Well, there's also the fact that I'm one of these lazy people that have been so derided in this thread...I work from home every other day, and shave on those days (as well as on both Saturday and Sunday). On my in-office days, between getting up, getting ready, helping to get the kids ready, getting everyone out the door, and ferrying the kids to school, I'm just too rushed. But on my work-from-home days, after dropping the kids off, I head back home, make some coffee, put some tunes or some "Car Talk" or "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me" on the iPad, and have a nice, relaxing shave.

[ateace]

Stubble has been acceptable since Don Johnson wore linen suits and no socks on Miami Vice in the mid 80s.
I despised shaving (until I was able to get good results with a DE), so I sported whiskers four or five days a week.
Now, it really bothers me to skip even one day.

And those "studies" about which look women prefer? Worthless.
Women are different. Some like stubble, others despise it.

[ateace]

It's has to do with fashion and location. In New York it was stubble now I'm seeing more full on beards a la James Harden style.

That would be the Brooklyn thing. Beard, plaid shirt, PBR in the can (which ain't bad if it's ice cold).

[wrinkles2]

As A Woman, I can say that on some men stubble can be very attractive.
I Also Like a clean shaving man though.
My Pet Peeve Is A "Soul Patch"
It's A little bit of hair Below a mans bottom Lip, And Looks Like This:


I know a guy that has one, And I Fantasize about Shaving It off him Since It Bugs Me So Much.

[JeffOlson]

^ I have never liked or understood soul patches.