Here comes the fuzz

'MR TWIT didn't even bother to open his mouth wide when he ate. If you peered deep into the moustachy bristles sticking out over his upper lip, you would probably see things that had been there for months and months, like a piece of maggoty green cheese or a mouldy old cornflake or even the slimy tail of a tinned sardine. Because of all this, Mr Twit never went really hungry.

And so began the introduction to one of the most terrifying characters in children's literature: Mr Twit, of Roald Dahl's The Twits. Aside from his cannibalistic tendencies (he liked to trap children in his garden by coating his tree in glue, then threatened to bake them in a pie), Mr Twit's enormous and repulsive beard was by far his most terrifying characteristic.

It's unsurprising, really, that beards haven't been particularly fashionable in recent decades. They're not very practical, they're often faintly ridiculous-looking and they're very scratchy for those who get close to them. However, all this may be about to change, now that men's style icon David Beckham has unveiled a full face of fuzz.

The 32-year-old footballer premiered his new look – a short, thick beard covering his face and neck, contrasting with his closely shaven head – at Los Angeles Galaxy's game against Chivas USA on Sunday. And he's not the only one: Hollywood celebrities including George Clooney, Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McConaughey have all been spotted sporting substantial facial hair recently, while British comics Russell Brand and Justin Lee Collins are both long-time devotees of the chin-rug.

"I think beards look great on men and they're definitely fashionable," says Melanie Rickey, the fashion news and features editor at Grazia. "I spoke to (designer] Marc Jacobs at the weekend and he told me he's growing a beard, so that's evidence straight from the horse's mouth that they're a definite trend. I think they're handsome, regal and masculine and they're a good way for a man to change his look. Women have make-up and men have facial hair."

While Beckham looks slightly absurd as a beard-wearer, it's not the first time that the Essex pin-up's follicular choices have shaped the nation's hair. From his floppy blonde fringe to the Mohican, the shaved head and the "Hoxton fin", Beckham's tonsorial styles have been copied slavishly over the past decade. This latest look could mean that men across the nation will be downing their razors before too long.

"Beckham's not exactly an innovator, but he tends to pick up on trends just as they're about to go big," says Ellis Cashmore, the author of Beckham, which analyses the phenomenon of Britain's most iconic modern-day footballer. "He's a good-looking man as well as a footballing legend, so people are naturally inclined to copy him. He's made it acceptable for men to care about their appearance. Stylistically speaking, where he goes, other men follow."

It's not all that surprising that Beckham is ditching the razor as throughout history, beards have been associated with wisdom, virility and high social status.

They have been viewed as the ultimate symbol of masculinity and also play a role in certain religions, particularly Sikhism and Islam. One Greek saying goes: "There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless – boys and women – and I am neither one"; while in Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice laments that: "He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man."

The highest-ranking ancient Egyptians grew hair on their chins, which was often plaited and woven with gold thread as a sign of their social standing, while in ancient India and Israel, where a beard symbolised dignity and wisdom, the punishment for adultery was to have one's beard cut off in public. The Spartans would partially shave a person's beard as a punishment for cowardice.

The beard has fallen into and out of favour throughout history. In the time of Alexander the Great, smooth-shaving became fashionable, reportedly because the leader ordered his soldiers to be clean shaven to avoid their beards being grabbed by the enemy in a battle situation. Queen Elizabeth I is said to have disliked beards and therefore introduced a tax on them.

For most of the 20th century, beards were out of fashion, but in the Swinging Sixties they became a mark of hippie rebellion and were to remain popular throughout the Seventies (particularly among bespectacled geography lecturers, for some reason). Since then, they have largely fallen out of fashion. However, if Beckham, the ultimate clean-cut metrosexual, is embracing face fuzz, could this be a signal that beards are destined for a revival?

"Beards are on their way back in, so Beckham could be responding to a burgeoning trend," says Steve Parsons, organiser of the 2007 World Beard & Moustache Championship.

"I've been getting more e-mails recently from young men asking about how to grow and maintain beards and moustaches, and I'd love to see more men sporting them. They're a great way of expressing your personality, and attempting to grow one is almost a rite of passage for a young man. The reaction from women varies a lot. There are definitely some women out there who hate facial hair, but we actually get quite a lot of female groupies at the Championships."

So, for any women who want to cajole their other half into growing a beard, or smooth-chinned men who fancy a change, what's the best way to go about cultivating a face garden?

"A beard can look great as long as it's properly looked after," says Suzie Gillespie, the owner of The Players Lounge in Edinburgh, a modern barber shop and grooming salon for men.

"The key to a good beard is to keep it short. It should be no longer than a couple of centimetres and it should be trimmed regularly. If you're thinking of growing one, it's best to get a bit of length then go to a barber's to get it shaped. After a few visits, you can maintain it yourself with clippers, if you wish. Keep it clean, and never wear your hair shorter than your beard. The same length or longer is fine, but shorter is a definite no-no." Take note, Mr Beckham – that close-cropped scalp will have to be grown out.

Clearly there's a very fine line between a neat, masculine face of hair and a wild, filthy bush la Mr Twit. So whether you want to grow a tidy little Abraham Lincoln-style number, a full-blown Charles Darwin carpet or a Karl Marx hedge, to follow in the footsteps of Goldenballs you must bear in mind that to delve into the world of facial hair is to enter a forest. Don't enter it unprepared; be prepared to commit to the journey; and – above all – if you ever find yourself snacking between meals on tasty morsels that lie deep within it, reach for the razor.

CHIN-COVERINGS OF THE FAMOUS

SEAN CONNERY

Neat, balanced, dignified, clean; Connery is arguably in possession of the finest beard in Hollywood. No wonder he's constantly name-checked as one of the world's sexiest older men.

GEORGE CLOONEY

Gorgeous George can do very little wrong, and the short beard he's been sporting recently only adds to his sex appeal. The rough-and-ready smattering of stubble has had his female fans swooning even more than usual.

FIDEL CASTRO

Was Castro's beard the source of all his power? The CIA certainly thought so, since they reportedly hatched a plot to use a depilatory chemical that would make his beard fall out, thus damaging his powerful image. How such a sparse, fluffy nest could help anyone's image, however, is something of a mystery to us.

LUCIANO PAVAROTTI

The issue here is perspiration. We all remember the late, great Pavarotti as a brilliant but rather sweaty man and, as he hit the highest notes in Nessun Dorma, the damp, quivering beard was not a good look.

NOEL EDMONDS

To give Noel his due, he's been flogging this horse for a good 30 years. Not one to jump on the trend bandwagon when the beard becomes fashionable, Edmonds has flouted both fashion and good taste for three decades in favour of a hideous and rather odd goatee-cum-stubble effort. It's "no deal" for us on this one, Noel.

RICKY GERVAIS

That weasly little goatee is probably more David Brent than Ricky Gervais. Since his massive hit series The Office ended, Gervais has ditched the look, but it remains one of the most hideous beards in recent memory. Often worn by fat-faced men who wish to create the illusion of a slimmer visage, the goatee simply draws attention to chubby cheeks and usually makes the wearer look utterly slimy in the process.