<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  Tuxedo wisdom has long suggested that, unless you&amp;#039;ve got a pencil mustache like the one Jean Dujardin wore in The Artist, facial hair turns black-tie into something less formal. Which, actually, is great news for the stylish men we&amp;#039;ll see on the red carpet at Sunday&amp;#039;s Golden Globes. Almost literally, it&amp;#039;s the drunken younger brother of awards shows (at least when compared to the Oscars), yet the presentation is never quite so casual that we see men in the sort of &amp;quot;creative black-tie&amp;quot; that passes for dressing up at the People&amp;#039;s Choice Awards. And, real celebrities actually show up \u2014 often, with the sort of grooming that wouldn&amp;#039;t fly at the Academy Awards (or shouldn&amp;#039;t, at least) but nonetheless turns their formalwear into something that&amp;#039;s festive enough for the Globes&amp;#039; dinner-party-as-excuse-for-too-much-champagne-on-live-television. Thanks, Hollywood Foreign Press Association. (And, again, we hope, Ricky Gervais.) Stubble, goatees, mustaches, but rarely beards: When looking at our list of the best dressed men at the 2011 Golden Globes, there&amp;#039;s nary a clean face in the crowd. Ryan Gosling, arguably Hollywood&amp;#039;s current style leader, always wears the kind of three-days&amp;#039; growth that says, &amp;quot;Oh, damn, that event&amp;#039;s tonight. At least I have this perfect, black, velvet Ferragamo tuxedo slung over my club chair.&amp;quot; The spectrum goes outward from there: Last year, when Jake Gylenhaal looked like George Clooney in the making, he wore the platonic ideal of an evening beard \u2014 tapered down the neck, and evenly trimmed to a length that was millimeters past stubble but still short enough that none of those hairs would ever catch the wind. Perfect. Yet it&amp;#039;s always surprising to see how many men on that red carpet can get away with the sort of facial hair that would read as creepy (or even ugly) if these men were neither handsome nor recognizable. On a stranger, a goatee is something to shield your kids from. But on Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCarprio,Christian Bale, or any of the other A-listers who often choose to halo their mouth, it merely suggests they&amp;#039;re not shooting a project. That these rich men have some time to finally relax. With the exception of Brad Pitt \u2014 whose ever-changing hair is as varied and exotic as the home countries of his children \u2014 it&amp;#039;s never the Old Guard who shows up with some scruff. Willing to bet that George Clooney will be clean-shaven, as will Martin Scorsese and Jeremy Irons. They&amp;#039;ve been here before, they know the routine. And for those on the cusp like, say, Patton Oswalt, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt, they will pull out the Mach-3, too. Why take chances when things are going so well? Which leaves us with a crop of men in the middle \u2014 those like Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, and the director Michael Hazanavicius, all of whom have gotten noticeable attention this year by taking a few chances. Those will be the ones competing with Master Pitt for facial-hair supremacy on Sunday&amp;#039;s red carpet. If they succeed, it could be the right move that makes them the Best Dressed Man at the Golden Globes 2012. And even if they go clean-shaven, they&amp;#039;ll still look better than those skinny-tie&amp;#039;d, kid-entertainers who haven&amp;#039;t even bought their first razor yet. Yes, Justin Bieber, we&amp;#039;re looking at you. PLUS: The Golden Globe Style Nominees + the 2012 Golden Red-Carpet Fashion Awards Coming Sunday and Live on @ESQStyle "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/style/grooming/a12374/golden-globes-fashion-2012/>