MovieChat Forums > Wicked City (2015) Discussion > Shave, dammit

Shave, dammit

posted 8 years ago by carey-941-755692
19 replies | jump to latest

On seemingly every program I see men wearing a three day stubble. Apparently, this is fashionable these days. However, it is not acceptable in most offices today and was certainly not fashionable in the 1980's.

Nobody would be going out clubbing without a shave (unless they wore a beard). They would have been considered sloppy. A police detective would be dressed down if he was not shaved. Even if coming off an all night assignment, an officer or detective would shave before reporting.

While I don't care for the fashion statement, the least producers could do is keep it out of periods where it certainly never belonged.

[–] ilovemybrains 8 years ago

yeah i agree i hate stubbled man as well, there's something about his look that makes me feel really uncomfortable

[–] Sandoz 8 years ago

You're absolutely right--it is totally wrong to have characters look this way for a show set in the early 1980s. That's not to say some guys didn't affect this look back then, but they were either scumbag losers, or musicians (often both). For a cop and a killer trying to not attract unwanted attention to look this way back then is totally stupid.

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[–] batreta 8 years ago

While I agree it's not appropriate for the time period, at least he has been shown clean shaven. I'm going out on a limb here and guessing they don't want their lead character sporting a mustache haha. Probably wouldn't attract the younger demographic. Just my guess. All about having the men appear attractive (modern) to pull in those ratings. Maybe it'll change throughout the series.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] batreta 8 years ago

Having a mustache?

[–] atomicseasoning 8 years ago

I think the 'big gay mustache' stereotype mostly came about towards the end of the decade and the beginning of the 1990s with Freddie Mercury...but otherwise I'd thought the 80s mustache was mostly typed with Tom Selleck & Magnum PI instead.

[–] batreta 8 years ago

That's my thought. A lot of people had mustaches like Tom Selleck style. My dad sported one well into the 90s! Maybe it wasn't something people in their 20's wore, but 30s and 40s for sure.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] freemanpatrick7 8 years ago

I think you might have your dates mixed up Freddie Mercury was dead by 1991. However The Village People, an all gay boy band which got started in 1977, all but one had a mustache.
On the other hand, Tom Selleck, who is far from gay, had his mustache in the 70s, years before Magnum PI aired.

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[–] 8 years ago

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[–] ronniecaliente 8 years ago

More of a "dad" thing back then. My dad and all my uncles had mustaches in the 70s - 80s, as well as a lot of my friends' fathers. My dad had those big mutton-chop sideburns for a while too. I'm pretty sure we have a photo of us at the zoo and he's wearing striped, flared pants, complete with mutton chops and mustache. Throwing all the regrettable fashions of the day together!

[–] Briabba2 8 years ago

it is not acceptable in most offices today and was certainly not fashionable in the 1980's.

What kind of offices are you talking about? I would say nearly half the guys I encounter at work, including myself, are seldom clean shaved and I work in the financial industry.

As for the 80's.....George Michael, Don Johnson, Peter Reckell, many more certainly were not clean shaven either......

[–] Pzachlen 8 years ago

How can Burt Reynolds not be mentioned here.

[–] lynnlady 8 years ago

Maybe not the early 80's but it gained popularity in the mid 80's when Miami Vice was on. That show started in 1984, so it's pretty close.

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[–] dougo13-587-139884 8 years ago

It's the Don Johnson look. Never watched Miami Vice?

[–] shawnmichael15 8 years ago

So now having facial hair makes you appear to be sloppy? There are TONS of guys with facial hair, maybe more so than clean shaven..

[–] atomicseasoning 8 years ago

Now maybe, but the rugged look wasn't as popular in the early 1980s as it was later in the decade. I recently watched a few episodes of thirtysomething, and the main lead Michael, was clean shaven, while his friend Elliot (who was married for 12 yrs) had a beard and his other friend Gary had stubble, but he was more of a free spirit & a sort of relic of the 1960s with longer hair & the bit of stubble in 1987 & 88.

[–] shawnmichael15 8 years ago

Well I wasn't around in the 80's, but everytime I think of, I don't know vintage porn or something, didn't they always have a mustache or some sort of obnoxious facial hair?

[–] mikebourkefan 8 years ago

about the mustache you are thinking 70's porn look. 1980's did have more people with long teased hair and lots of hairspray

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