A goatee is a beard formed by a tuft of hair on the chin resembling that of a billy goat. The goatee underwent a renaissance in the 1990s, when a close-cropped variant with an integrated moustache was popularized by the musicians, baseball players, athletes and sports heroes of the day.
Like the beard, the goatee is most commonly seen in combination with a moustache. However, since the beginning of the 21st Century, this has begun to change and new styles have begun to emerge. Frequently, goatees are worn concomitant with either very short hair styles, or even completely shaved heads.
In satirical fiction, the goatee is often a symbol of a character's evil twin. This may be due to historical portrayals of the devil sporting a goatee, and has been used in plot lines such as the episode Mirror, Mirror of the television series Star Trek, in which the character Spock had an evil alternate in a parallel universe who possessed a goatee. This was parodied in the South Park episode Spookyfish, where Cartman's evil twin from a parallel universe looked just like him, except that he had a goatee and moustache.
Goatee styles
- Musketeer - a snail, pointed goatee with an English moustache (narrow, prominent), as worn by the French mousquetaires
- Van Dyck - a thick goatee and moustache with upturned ends, as worn by the 17th century Flemish painter, Sir Anthony van Dyck. In modern usage, a Van Dyck is often any moustache and goatee combination.
Similar facial hair styles
- The royale (or impériale) is a tuft of hair under the lower lip (without a goatee, but perhaps worn with a moustache). While the royale was historically worn by French officers as a badge or adornment of military rank or status, it is not technically a goatee. It is sometimes referred to as a "bitch", "soul patch", or "nubbin".
See also
- Facial hair
- Other facial hair styles: Beard, Moustache, Sideburns, Soul patch
- Beards: Military uniforms