Mustache or No Stache? : I wear them for my nerdy obsession and just like the way they look

People say that looks can be deceiving. In the case of my mustache, they would be correct.

On first glance, people would guess that my mustache, with my tight- (some might say ill-) fitting pants, deep v-necks and flannels, would seem ironic, a typical ridiculous hipster-stache.

My mustache usually looks like a petite handlebar mustache, a smaller version of the typical handlebar mustache. For those who are unaware of what a handlebar mustache is, it’s a mustache that is fairly thick and/or bushy that is curled at the ends with wax.

The handlebar mustache was popularized in the late 1800s and early 1900s and was worn by many men all over the Western world, including athletes, soldiers, emperors and presidents.

The handlebar was revived with the recent introduction of hipster culture into the mainstream, where usually unkempt-looking young men cultivate elaborately groomed handlebar mustaches to contrast with the fact that they didn’t regularly shower.

This is where my appearance deception comes in. While I do self-identify as being rather hipster and I sport a form of a handlebar mustache, complete with locally made gin-and-tonic-scented mustache wax, I wear my mustache for non-ironic reasons.

I’m a history buff and prospective history major. One of my favorite periods of history, the Victorian era, took place in the golden age of the handlebar mustache and I’ve come to adore a finely crafted handlebar mustache. Thus, when I was able to wear my own, it was for two reasons: as an homage to my nerdy obsession with the Victorian era and because I just like the way it looks.

Still, I endure disparaging remarks about the sheer coincidence of my apparent hipster-ness, as well as my supposedly flamboyant mustache. However, I tell my side here not as a rebuttal to all my “haters” but rather as a step to own the handlebar mustache and wear it for the right reason: because it looks good.

Advocate Staff