I do get what you mean but all it is really is longer hair and a bit of a beard. Maybe he just likes that look? Like you, I thought he seemed fine at the concert so hopefully all is well.

IMO, the main problem is that the style doesn't do him any favour...
And he might look slightly too thin to look perfectly healthy (like he used to), so he could eat a couple of sandwiches maybe.

The facial hair doesn't always suit people, and I don't think it's that great with the current hairstyle -same for Liam depending on the hairstyle.
But they seem hell bent on proving that they aren't little boys anymore, so let's wait it out... Or they really like it maybe -they are free to do so after all, I just like it less.

And while I love Harry's wild hair, it is getting to the point where a haircut would be nice... But he looks so happy with his fancy hair rags!

Yes I agree he is just growing up and lost that cutesie boy look. I would imagine the beard and the long hair is to give him a more grown up edgy look. Another sign they want to appeal to older demo graph

I think they paid a lot more to own all the shares. This crowd-funding thing is just a campaign to expand the base of donors, I guess. If they had only bought the shares from the previous owners, the club wouldn't have had any more money to spend on a competitive team. And I guess that's the plan here, invest money in the squad in order to be competitive for promotion this coming season.

And yes, I agree with you, he looks absolutely terrible in these pictures. I remember the one from the dailymail yesterday, he looked like a ghost!

I wonder how much he paid in total then? Can't have been cheap.

I agree with you about Louis (sorry i've been away for a few days). The hair was never especially neat and tidy but it seems to me from looking at his teeth that he is certainly smoking some sort of unfiltered cigarette - or worse - very frequently. In comparison fellow MJ Blige fan Zayn's face doesn't seem to have suffered at all (that gorgeous smile!). He is thin but most of that is him being naturally slight and I think he's put on a little weight since last year. Louis just doesn't seem to be trying to look good, which will actually harm some of the fundraising for Donny Rovers.

Speaking of which, I saw on the fund site that it has raised £514k - if that includes a £500k donation from Louis and John then the directioners really haven't arrived to support this. I don't much like that he's done this but it's clear to me that his true passion lies there not in pop music (and certainly not in 1D). He doesn't talk about going to see concerts like Niall and Harry do. If getting the club back on its feet helps him after 1D finish then that is a good thing long-term. I imagine he's spent a fair few hundreds of thousands of his own cash buying the shares (which he can afford to do).

Speaking of which#2 - about 5SOS. The 1D boys all own a share of the image/branding rights to 5SOS including that cross/hatch logo thing. As big a fan as Niall is it's no accident that the first photo of him holding Theo he was wearing a 5SOS branded T shirt. They were heavily promoting 5SOS when their first single was out and have carried that on. There were a lot of 5SOS merchandise amongst the Wembley crowd. It's a good investment on their parts.

I don't get too worried about competition from other pop groups and 1D are rare to have had a pretty clear two years (following their take down of Big Time Rush lol). During the Spice Girls' heyday there was also All Saints, Boyzone etc. and I'm sure they've gobbled up some of Bieber's marketshare. Seeing lots of Little Mix and 5SOS activity on twitter concerns me more about how little the 1D boys are doing about promoting One Direction. LM and 5SOS have taken the boys' social media strategy and run with it (to varying success). I'm ok if this is about the boys wanting to move out of the Kids Choice Awards nomination categories and into the Brits'.

I have been thinking that Louis has been taking the new look that bit too far. I think the main problem is the beard. Stubble is cool, fluffy beard just looks uncared for. An older look is a good idea but as with any look, taking it a step too far totally negates it. I have also noticed Harry's hair at times looks a little too unkempt. I will put it all down to making changes and maturing but not always getting it quite right. We all make errors

It's their personalities I tend to bother about more, worry when they seem too tired to even know what is going on, or the lack of communication between them. Burn out is a horrible thing that can cause the end if a career.

I wonder if he's really depressed about stuff? Sometimes people who don't take care of their appearance are suffering mentally. Maybe the pressure of being in the group is getting to him?

With Louis it could just be general attitude. I'm generous towards him and Zayn because they weren't chasing or dreaming about pop stardom like the others, but Louis could hide the fact that he is over the teen idol boyband thing a lot better. It's amazing that he is more than two years older than Harry but acts much less maturely (in public anyway). His clothes on stage have been a bit better lately, it's mostly his hair and beard that are a mess. He seems quite wilful about not cutting them, I'm almost fascinated by how much longer it can grow.

I wonder if the news that Simon has asked Ed Sheeran to write songs for this album indicates that Louis and Liam have lost some control over it. Or that they haven't come up with the goods. Despite co-writing 14/18 songs last album SOML was the only successful single with a 1D credit (and I'm sceptical about how much input they actually had). "Midnight Memories" flopped hard, although obviously the album sold very well and got good reviews. I can see Simon worrying about chart placement for the lead singles. He loves the big numbers at the start of the X Factor intro lol.

You have to laugh, they take their hairdresser everywhere with them yet two must hide at hair time

Zayn wearing Perrie's jumper on stage tonight.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/011nfd02yg...3302241330.jpg

Awww. They are so cute.

he's so cute in pink

Isn't it red? Lol.

I would call it a dark pink? I do love a man in pink. Love the pics also of Harry in a purple jumper!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/abb9x1vy41...-pastel.jpg //

That's such a good colour on Harry. I love that he wears interesting clothes (on top of the same pair of black jeans lol). He and Zayn seem to enjoy fashion.

Definitely pink!

Love Harry's jumper too, he looks good in anything though.

As if by command Zayn gets even more fashion-forward and wears a purple jumper in Paris. Totally swoonsome. pic.twitter.com/yl6Injid5o
pic.twitter.com/AutNhGAAVv

Sooooo gorgeous.

Love it but looks like wool . Surely hot for this time of year ?

I agree with you. Unless the weather in Paris is very different from southern France, it's deffinitely hot during the days & evenings.
But it looks nice

It seems that the french fans like to organize something special during the concerts, last year they had a sign up during Kiss You I think.

This year: http://instagram.com/p/pi3nZtMAUx/#
from what I understand:
"you make me strong" during Strong during the 1st concert,
& "you and us" drawn in a heart showed during You and I.

They also did something to represent the french flag https://twitter.com/StylesTheBae/sta...83712120131584 and something about X factor https://twitter.com/StylesTheBae/sta...597440/photo/1.

It's nice to see the fans trying to be involved & doing something. I remember it happening during the European leg of the tour last year, or am I wrong?

that is awesome especially the french flag


and of course they trended their Thank You to the boys for stopping by...

http://www.theguardian.com/music/201...-singles-chart

From next weekend streaming will be included in the UK Top 40. 100 Streams will count as one download sale. I wonder if this will help 1D?

Do 1D do well on streaming in the UK?