Jacob Elordi Is Reviving the ’90s Goatee

The actor wore one of Hollywood’s most popular pre-Y2K facial hair styles, and could very well usher in a resurgence of the style in 2026.BackgridJacob Elordi has been blessed with great hair, both on his head and his face. He debuted a divisive beard in 2024 at the Marrakech Film Festival, and has on occasion experimented with a mustache for red carpet outings. Now there’s new Elordi facial hair to add to his canon: the disconnected goatee.During a weekend outing, the 29-year-old Australian actor was seen exiting a sushi restaurant with a matching black outfit to his rumored girlfriend Kendall Jenner. Both were seen in black jeans, black tees, and black sunglasses, with Elordi hiding his wavy ‘do with a backward fitted cap. His signature diamond earring glimmered when making contact with the California sun, but it wasn’t enough to blind us from the goatee thing he had going.The same way mullets (which Elordi has worn) and slouchy tailoring from the ’90s have returned, so has the hairy upper lip and chin situation. The heyday of the goatee had all kinds of A-list stars like Brad Pitt and Robert Downey Jr. wearing varying degrees of the style. Some tried it with a connection between the mustache and beard, while others would leave the actual goatee part more defined while maintaining stubble everywhere else. In Elordi’s case, he went clean-shaven on the cheeks but left the density around his mouth and at the tip of his chin.The goatee naturally draws more attention to the lower part of the face, creating the illusion of a stronger, more angular jawline. It's especially appealing to men whose patchy cheeks made it hard for them to wear a full-on beard. There was also a bit of an edge to wearing a goatee, which is why so many guys during the ’90s and early aughts wore it with leather and all-black outfits—just as Elordi has recreated in 2026 and Guy Fieri has done his entire life.Then there’s the Jenner connection of it all. Timothée Chalamet, partner of Kylie Jenner, has also been known to wear a disconnected goatee since the two started dating. It’s possible the potential future brother-in-law’s influence could be manifesting itself on Elordi face—or he’s been channeling a bit of Se7en or Heat. But like so many other styles that we thought had disappeared for good, maybe the adventurous goatee look was just in hibernation, waiting for this generation of Hollywood's leading men to decide the ’90s were cool again.Tyler Chin is GQ's associate wellness & grooming editor. He'll occasionally dabble in the menswear space, but otherwise you'll usually catch him trying out new headphones, lifting in fresh workout gear, or testing out the latest and greatest in skin care. Before he ended up at GQ, he worked at ... Read More