In the US they were definitely out of fashion in the '80s and '90s. They were fashion statement that said "I'm a gross hippie" or worse, a BeeGee.

I was a teen at the time and the consensus among teen girls was that a beard was the ultimate dealbreaker of a physical attribute. Makes sense, really, because most guys our age couldn't grow a nice one if they wanted to. (And also - hippies are gross). I always respectfully disagreed, and would point to our classmate, Murad. He had pretty well grown facial hair by junior year and he looked fiiiinne.

The exception that proved the rule? Luckily (for Murad) my classmates generally agreed, but refused to back down from their opinion in general.

That attitude persisted, with the occasional appearance of a goatee or soul patch in the late '90s, both of which proved to be a gateway drug that led to the appearance of proper beards. I think a lot of guys would have liked to have beards, but realized that they were driving away potential partners. But they were pretty normal by 2010.

I'll drop this line from wikipedia, which should illustrate just how boringly mainstream beards have become in the US.

Since 2015 a growing number of male political figures have worn beards in office, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton.

Damn hippies.

It's been trending since COVID

I grew one so people would stop thinking I'm 12.

The mid 2010s trend plus COVID putting everyone into goblin mode.

Receding chins

I grew a beard after I got food poisoning and the flu back-to-back. I couldn't be arsed to shave.

I did try shaving years later but I hated nicking my chin with a razor and doing it every day was a pain.

I've had facial hair in one form or another since I was 13, now 45 and have a shorter ZZ-Top kind of beard. Wife refuses to let me shave it off.

I mean, beards are in fashion for several years now, aren't they?

I personally started growing a beard, because my skin is easily irritated and I don't like walking arround looking like a pizza. Luckily I also think I look better with a short, well kept full beard. Beards either take time or look like shit though in my experience.