Fab Gear

The look of changed most noticeably when moustaches & beards were added.

Ringo was bearded even before he joined the Beatles

but soon afterward conformed to the Brian Epstein version of the boys, that is, the most common vision of the Fabs. The first glimpse that the American press had of our boys was at the now fabled, JFK Pan Am air terminal press conference of Feb'64.

Although this look is considered "clean cut" by today's standards and even conservative enough to be worn by a banker, the press was critical of the so called "mop top" look. One question was, "are you all bald so as to have to wear those wigs?" answered by Paul, "Were all bald, don't tell anyone". Another asks if they intend to get a haircut any time soon, George answers "I just had one yesterday!"

Their hair became longer and longer throughout the Beatle years, but it wasn't until Strawberry Fields

and Sgt. Pepper that the hairy faces became a thing.

Paul says his first moustache was the result of a bee sting. It hurt to shave and so he didn't for a while. According to him the others followed suit with various growths of their own.

George says that his first moustache was as a disguise suggested to him by the Maharishi to help him be not so recognizable as he traveled to India. My recollection is that the hairy faces were already in place by the beginning of the Maharishi period. It seems to me that the disguises used in the film Help! were a forerunner of their look.

Various cookie dusters, brushes, mutton chops, sideboards, Fu Manchu, goatees and Van Dykes were to come and go over the next few years.

Ringo's upper lip was not to go uncovered much. I think a beard suits him well.

I think John's look had the most variety. Extremes in hair length, the permanent addition of his trademark glasses, sideboards of various shapes and lengths, and one of the bushiest beards of any.

Paul, the one who felt it was his place to be the clean one, for the most part, was. His moustache was very short lived and his

Let It Be beard was not to last that long either.

George like Ringo was to have his moustache rather consistently but it did disappear from time to time. His beard was to surface before the others tried, but it like Paul's moustache was short lived. His post Beatles appearance has him bearded often and in some occasions long enough to rival Z Z Top.