A Ned Kelly beard is a style of facial hair named after 19th-century Australian bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly. 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.[1]
The Ned Kelly is said to require a high degree of maintenance and grooming.[2]
The full beard became popular among men in Western countries in the mid-19th-century,[2] and was worn by many Australian bushrangers, including Ned Kelly, who was hanged in Melbourne in 1880 after he and his gang killed policemen.[1] The day before his execution at Old Melbourne Gaol, Kelly posed for a photographic portrait by Charles Nettleton, which has since become a recognisable image to generations of Australians.[3] The Australian National Dictionary Centre cites this photograph as the inspiration for the term Ned Kelly beard.[1]
The term was shortlisted in the Australian National Dictionary Centre's 2014 word of the year competition, but lost to shirtfront, an Australian rules football term.[4]
Celebrities who have been said to sport the Ned Kelly beard style include Australian rules football player Jimmy Bartel,[5] politician Phil Cleary,[6] Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak,[7] and freestyle skier Anton Grimus.[8] In 2008, journalist Mark Willacy described Hamas military leader Salah Shehade as having a "square Ned Kelly beard".[9]