Fifty years ago I looked like that. Now the hair on my head is mostly gone and it is all nearly white. Sigh. But it is not new.
They shared the same beard and were on roller skates in The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
Weirdly, I don’t like it much myself. I’ve seen it on a lot of younger guys in the office, and it just looks strange.
I say “weirdly” because I had long relationships with two guys with short hair and beards. But one was a 40-something lawyer, and the other was a 40-something professor. Both were sartorial anachronisms long before the hipster ironic look, so the beards worked for them.
ETA, when my lawyer friend’s beard got too long, I’d tell him he looked like he was fixing to start his own religious cult with a compound and guns. He usually trimmed it back shortly thereafter. 
I couldn’t think of a good joke to go with this guy, so:
The top pic in the “lumbersexual” article looks a great deal like one of my co-workers. It works on him, he is an attractive guy, but overall the look is kinda weird to me.
OK, since I fit the description in the OP pretty damn well -------- I’ve always had a pretty full beard from about age 14 on. At one point in college I could tuck it into my belt (had to actually) when on the bike or driving. My chin has seen daylight twice/maybe 3 times since Nixon left office and few times before that. The hair went long, the hair went short but rarely has the majority of the beard gone under three inches. Call par at 5 inches.
That being said, about 10 years back I was on a medication that killed off a lot of my hair. So now its basically a “Boot Camp Week 6” haircut for me and my beloved beard. From what I see at work, for men my age, its not that uncommon. Lots of pretty good beards on nearly bald heads. Fashion? Don’t know. Bruce Willis? Possibly. But it works for me.
Always reminds me of these guys.
“Step right up, you’re doing fine,
I’ll pull your beard, you pull mine.”
I know the OP is addressing a different thing but it’s all the same to me. What boggles my mind is why dudes here in Florida would want a face full of hair when it’s nearly 90 degrees every day.
You can hold a lot of water in those beards which acts as a natural air conditioner as it evaporates.
It’s just a trend.
“This too, shall pass.”
I call them terrorist beards 
I like the look, though I’m not sure I’d want to get all up in a long beard. I enjoyed watching Nathan in Ex Machina; my husband, on the other hand, keeps his beard fairly short, and I’m glad.
I generally approve of the re-emergence of male body hair.
I have seen it a lot too and I’m sorry, but I don’t like it!
Can I ask a very personal question of men with long beards, since there are a few in this thread? What happens when you go down on a woman? :eek:
I can’t imagine all that scruffiness in my nether regions. I don’t even like kissing men with long beards.
(But I will agree that long hair doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s HOT all the time. I have long hair and it retains water and keeps my back cool for quite a time. Admittedly, when it dries, it does feel hot.)
Reminds me of this guy and he drinks like a fish.
IMO, if you think about the guy’s beard instead of what he’s doing, the problem isn’t the beard. 
Actually, no; it’s a genetically-driven biological process. Hair grows. Humans use their giant brains to examine the world around them and calculate how they might improve their experiences in it. They conclude that running a razor over their throats every morning is not only a waste of time, it reduces the chance of them successfully breeding, and stop doing it.
As to passing, well… go take a a look at chimps and bonobos, our closest relatives. Note how, despite their bodies being much hairier than ours overall, they have virtually no hair on their faces. The Neanderthals or the Denisovians or some other branch of the family that’s a closer relative may have had less- but we stuck around, and they didn’t. Facial hair isn’t going anywhere.
i will acknowledge some women might tolerate long beards, and some may prefer it. And some, I would wager, really get turned on by that look. I sincerely doubt, however, that long unkempt beards with shaved heads *increases *your odds when seeking a breeding partner. Yes, there are all kinds of people in the world, so you still have a chance, but don’t kid yourself. You’re not improving your odds for dates, jobs, or stress free encounters with law enforcement.
I think the point of the OP was not about the beard, per se, but the beard along with a shaved head. Running a razor over your head but not your throat doesn’t seem to be a net gain. Call me old fashioned, but I grow my hair and shave my face.
But, scratchy!
They’re rebelling against their clean shaven fathers who were rebelling against their bearded fathers.
A beard you can tuck into your belt (a la ZZTop) isn’t exactly what I’m talking about. These “lumbersexuals” have well groomed, precisely shaped beards, like facial topiary. And short 1950’s Don Draper hair (for the most part).
The Circle of Life
Beards are awesome. What else is there to explain? The beard is a separate beast from the hair. You can do whatever you want separately from the other. The beard will stay awesome.
And the bald/nearly bald head with full beard? Yes, yes, yes. Of course just about any kept beard is a yes, yes, yes.
Of course, I think a lot of stuff is beautiful. Like scarification for instance. Or Rick Genest.