Bearded Beauty

I know it has been pointed out more than once how the perception of beauty has changed over the years, but I think it has been mostly applied to women. In this poem I
found a very detailed description of Palamon as he comes back with his army of men: "Black was his beard, and manly was his face"(2130), and is met by Arcite:
"His curly hair like rings was run (fashioned)"(2165).
This caught my attention since I would never consider a man handsome if he had a long beard and long, curly hair... quite the opposite, I'd probably think he looked like a hobo. The Knight's Tale is supposed to be about heroes, about handsome men fighting bravely to keep the damsel, I can only guess that back when it was written this was their version of the Twilight Saga (which is personally loathe).
If they were to make this appealing for the modern generations, Palmon and Arcite would have to shave, cut their hair, and completely change their wardrobe, not to mention they wouldn't even be battling on horses in the first place.