The New Murrey and Blue blog

I know, the title is a little reminiscent of Father Jack’s “hairy hands syndrome”, but this is definitely a hairy throat.

Maybe I’m being forgetful here, but I have never before seen a beard that consists of a hairy throat and that’s it, apart from a tiny tuft under the lower lip. But now I look closely at the usual portrait of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, (10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477) that’s exactly what I see. To me it’s weird, as if he didn’t let his”man” finish shaving him that morning.

It’s certainly not a fashion that appeals to me, but was clearly what your snazzy duke-about-town wore in the 15th century. But what goes around comes around, and my fellow-poster Super Blue informs me that he’s seen this style recently. I do hope it’s not going to become the latest 21st-century fad!

Consider me appalled by the mere thought!