Have beards had their day?  According to a new study by the University of New South Wales, Darwinian selection has a say in the ebbs and flows of beard fashion – the more beards there are, the less attractive they become, thereby handing advantage to clean shaven men.  When this happens, the pendulum swings away from a lot of beards to less beards.  The rarer a beard is, the more attractive it is; conversely, in a bearded world, clean shaven is the more attractive option.

Anyway, this is all very well, but what does this mean to Alfie fans?  Do we think Alfie will shave his beard or keep with it, after all, he’s had for quite a while now.  Do we even prefer him with a beard or without?

Personally, I love the beard despite not being a fan of beards before I became a fan.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that beards positively turned me off before.  Not any more, beards are often the thing I notice first! And now, thanks to this study, I can say it’s evolution, nothing to do with me at all!

Just to prove it, here are a few photos of my favourite beards – and there’s a new beard in town! But I kind of think I would like Ricky Wilson clean shaven too  x

And another beard we like (although, again, a clean shaven Toby Stephens is also delightful) – this shows Toby as Captain Flint in the engrossing pirate series Black Sails:

The lovely Ben Affleck:

Gorgeous George Clooney

The lovely John Owen Jones