mustache medley

I'm noticing a lot of mustache-themed items lately and have been contemplating the charm of the mustache.

Nowadays, it's somewhat rare to glimpse a fluff of hair in its natural habitat below a man's nose, but perusing Etsy and some of my favorite design blogs, I am tickled by the whimsical, whisker-like tufts of 'staches. On first glimpse, facial hair-themed art and knick knacks (as well as the cultivation of the hair itself) strike me as overly quaint and hipsterish, the kind of forced irony engaged in by people desperate for an easy way to articulate their cleverness.

And yet part of me is irrevocably drawn to the mustache. I recall images of my father, who nurtured a fuzzy black 'stache off and on throughout the '80s that would have put Tom Selleck to shame. I believe that most of us, buried deep in our subconscious perhaps, have a genuine nostalgia and warmth for the mustache, the way it itched when it nuzzled in for a good night kiss or gleamed at us from its perch above a proud smile.

I wonder if mustaches have been robbed of their ability to be genuine. Can a man wear a mustache un-ironically anymore? Or have the cultural implications rendered it a simple signifier of hipsterdom? Perhaps a man can wear an ironic mustache with so much gusto and genuine passion that it comes out the other end of irony and becomes a genuine expression of who he is? In any case, there is a mysterious quality to the mustache that no woman can completely grasp. They are at once so familiar and yet completely unattainable. I am not sure quite how I feel about them (overly cute or narrowly on the acceptable side of twee?) but I must admit that certain designers know how to give the 'stache some flair.

What do you think about mustaches?

Examine the evidence.

Exhibit:

a The Miniature Tiny Mustache Stick

b Lewis (Art Print)

c Mustaches on Strings - Signed Print

d Mustache Teacup with Saucer