Lifestyle FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 Metrosexuals be gone: Europe is agog for

akub Marczewski grew a six years ago because he was too lazy to shave. Now he finds himself in the middle of a Jglobal trend. The 21-year-old got his and beard trimmed at a new shop with a hip retro vibe, the Barberian Academy & Shop, which opened in Warsaw last month to serve the growing number of Polish men with . A revival in the cul- ture of barbering in this Eastern European capital is just one sign of how popular beards have become, with actors, athletes and hipsters leading the way. Metrosexuals be gone: Europe is agog for beards. “Worldwide, we are at the height of facial hair,” said Allan Peterkin, a Toronto psychiatrist and author of “One Thousand Beards: A Cultural History of Facial Hair.” “It’s a delightful expression of masculinity, people have more respect,” said Salvador Chanza, a 31-year-old but not a super-macho master barber from Spain who trains professionals. Sporting both expression.” After World a handlebar and a substantial beard, he said the War II, men were mostly embrace of facial hair reflected a rejection of the previous clean- clean-shaven, reflecting a shaven metrosexual ethos. military ethos that came to Now facial hair is hugely popular across Western Europe, espe- dominate corporate life, cially in fashion-conscious Paris. And across the globe, it’s the Peterkin said. Over the next month of “Movember” - when men are encouraged to grow a decades facial hair was mustache to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues. adopted by outcast groups Piotr Zuchowski, manager of the Warsaw shop, said barbering is like beatniks and hippies. reviving after vanishing during Poland’s communist era. Although Since the mid-1990s, it has democracy leader Lech Walesa sported an impressive walrus been slowly spreading to the point that now the mountain man moustache, most communist-era workers were clean-shaven. beard is all the rage across North America. Peterkin said the popularity of facial hair has always been cyclical. The 2008 financial crisis added to the beard momentum, with “When something once edgy becomes so commonplace, like tat- Salvador Chanza, right, 31, a master barber from some men who lost their jobs ditching the conformist look as they toos, it loses its edge,” he said. “If every guy across generations is Spain, who also calls himself Lord Jack Knife, finish- reinvented themselves. “To grow a beard is to start a new life and doing it, then there is going to be a shift back to clean shaven - es styling the beard and hair of Jakub Marczewski, to have more confidence in yourself. You look a little older, so ness.” — AP in Warsaw, Poland. — AP photos Swift remains at top of album Cosby under pressure as shows chart for third consecutive week scrapped amid sex claims aylor Swift’s “1989” has claimed the top expected to shove “1989” from the top slot he US network NBC pulled the plug in which he would share stories from his child- of the US album chart for a third consec- with a 400,000-unit-plus opening. Wednesday on a new Bill Cosby sitcom fol- hood, first romantic relationships and parent- Tutive week, but the singer will probably Foo Fighters’ “Sonic Highways” (RCA) was Tlowing a similar move by Netflix, piling hood. But the allegations of rape and sexual have to move aside for One Direction next the week’s top debut, bowing at No. 2 with pressure on the veteran comic over growing sex abuse made against him by several women in week. Swift’s Big Machine blockbuster reaped 190,000 sold. The rock band’s latest release assault claims. The double setback came after a recent weeks are tarnishing the public image of sales of 312,000 (down 22%), according to arrived on a wave of publicity generated by lawyer for the 77-year-old Cosby dismissed the the urbane actor, famous for his long TV career- Nielsen SoundScan data for the week ending front man Dave Grohl’s peripatetic HBO series, claims of a string of attacks made by several especially his role as a doting father on the pop- Nov. 16. The collection is now just shy of 2 mil- which surveys the various U.S. locales in which women as “old, discredited allegations.” “We can ular “Cosby Show” in the 1980s and 1990s. lion in cumulative sales. However, the UK boy the album was recorded. It’s the group’s fifth confirm that the Cosby project is no longer in Former model Janice Dickinson, now 59, on band’s new “Four” - which, ironically, features top 10 album; their last release, 2011’s development,” NBC said in a statement, declin- Tuesday added her claims to the list, telling Swift’s onetime paramour Harry Styles - is “Wasting Light,” reached No. 1. Classic rock’s Entertainment Tonight that Cosby sexually iconic Pink Floyd hit No. 3 with “Endless River” assaulted her in 1982. Dickinson said it hap- (Columbia), its first studio release in 20 years pened after a dinner they shared in Lake Tahoe, and purported swan song. The collection Nevada, where she said she had gone to talk shifted 170,000. It is the British band’s eighth about a job offer from Cosby. At the dinner she American top 10 set. The act, presently led by said she had red wine and a pill Cosby gave her guitarist David Gilmour, last reached the chart because she had menstrual and stomach pains. with its 1994 No. 1 set “The Division Bell.” “The next morning I woke up, and I wasn’t wear- The top-selling album act of the ing my pajamas, and I remember before I passed SoundScan era, country star Garth Brooks, out that I had been sexually assaulted by this made a relatively quiet return to the chart, as man,” Dickinson said. In all some 13 women have his comeback set “Man Against Machine” (RCA made similar allegations against him, including Nashville) claimed No. 4 with a 130,000-unit Joan Tarshis, who claimed she was drugged and tally. The album’s sluggish start may have had raped by Cosby in 1969. “I didn’t go to the police something to do with Brooks’ decision to keep In this Nov 18, 2013 file photo, actor- because I was 19 years old. I was scared and I his music off iTunes and Spotify. The new comedian Bill Cosby poses for a portrait in thought nobody would believe me... He was album - Brooks’ first since 2001’s “Scarecrow” - New York. — AP Mister America,” Tarshis told CNN on is his lowest-charting set since his self-titled ing any further comment on the accusations Wednesday. debut, which peaked at No. 13 in 1989. Rapper dogging the award-winning entertainer. That So far, Cosby himself has remained silent on Big K.R.I.T.’s “Cadillactica” (Def Jam) climbed came 12 hours after streaming video service the issue. Cosby lawyer John Schmitt told enter- aboard at No. 5 with a comparatively mild Netflix said it was postponing the launch of a tainment news website The Wrap at the week- 44,000 sold. The title matches his personal new stand-up comedy special, to be called “Bill end: “Over the last several weeks, decade-old, Taylor Swift performs on ABC’s “Good best: His 2012 debut “Live From the Morning America” in Times Square in Underground” peaked in the same slot, with Cosby 77.” discredited allegations against Mr Cosby have New York. — AP first-week sales of 41,000. —Reuters People magazine said the Netflix special was resurfaced.” “The fact that they are being repeat- supposed to be a birthday celebration for Cosby, ed does not make them true. —AFP