A Ned Kelly beard is a style of

facial hair Facial hair is hair grown on the face, usually on the chin, cheeks, and upper lip region. It is typically a secondary sex characteristic of human males. Men typically start developing facial hair in the later stages of puberty or adolescence, ...

named after 19th-century Australian

bushranger Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under ...

and outlaw

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

. It consists of a full, luxuriant beard and a moustache, and is typically accompanied by short, styled hair. Although the term dates back to the early 20th century, it gained currency in Australia in the 2000s to refer to a trend in hipster fashion, and was named word of the month in March 2014 by the

Australian National Dictionary Centre The Australian National Dictionary Centre (ANDC) at the Australian National University in Canberra is a major centre for lexicographical research in Australia. It is jointly funded by the Australian National University and Oxford University Pres ...

Description

The Ned Kelly is said to require a high degree of maintenance and grooming.

History

The full beard became popular among men in Western countries in the mid-19th-century,"Beards were cool long before hipsters"
(3 December 2017), ''

Sunshine Coast Daily The Sunshine Coast Daily is an online newspaper specifically serving the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland, Australia. It is owned by News Corp Australia. It was originally founded as a print newspaper, however since 2020 the publication ...

''. Retrieved 7 July 2018. and was worn by many Australian

s, including

, who was hanged in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1880 after he and his gang killed policemen. The day before his execution at

Old Melbourne Gaol The Old Melbourne Gaol is a former jail and current museum on Russell Street, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It consists of a bluestone building and courtyard, and is located next to the old City Police Watch House and City Courts buildin ...

, Kelly posed for a photographic portrait by Charles Nettleton, which has since become a recognisable image to generations of Australians. The

cites this photograph as the inspiration for the term Ned Kelly beard."Word of the Month: Ned Kelly Beard"
(March 2018), Oxford University Press Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2018. The term was shortlisted in the

's 2014

word of the year The word(s) of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word(s) of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY" (or "WotY"), refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word(s) or expression(s) in the public sphere during a specific year. The Ge ...

competition, but lost to shirtfront, an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

term.Trembath, Brendan (10 December 2014)
"'Shirtfront' named Australia's word of the year by National Dictionary Centre"
''ABC News''. Retrieved 7 July 2018.

Examples

Celebrities who have been said to sport the Ned Kelly beard style include

player

Jimmy Bartel James Ross Bartel (born 4 December 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A utility, tall and weighing , Bartel contributed as a midfielder, forward, an ...

, politician

Phil Cleary Philip Ronald Cleary (born 8 December 1952) is an Australian commentator on politics and sport, particularly Australian rules football, and a former independent politician elected at the 1992 Wills by-election. Football playing career Cleary ...

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

captain

Mile Jedinak Michael John "Mile" Jedinak (; ; born 3 August 1984) is an Australian former professional footballer who served as the captain of the Australia national team. He is currently the Loan Player Development Coach at Aston Villa. Jedinak was born ...

, and freestyle skier Anton Grimus. In 2008, journalist

Mark Willacy Mark Willacy is an Australian investigative journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). He along with ABC Investigations- Four Corners Team won the 2020 Gold Walkley for their special report on ''Killing Field,'' which covered ...

described

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

military leader

Salah Shehade Salah Mustafa Muhammad Shehade صلاح شحادة (or Shehadeh, Shahadeh; 24 February 1953 – 22 July 2002) was a member of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. He led the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades military wing of Hamas, until his as ...

as having a "square Ned Kelly beard". Willacy, Mark (2008). ''The View From Valley of Hell''.

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

. , p. 19.

References

{{Ned Kelly Beard styles

Description

History

Examples

See also

References