Movember, the month formerly known as November, has begun and Mo Bros around the world are putting their vanity on hold while they refrain from shaving their upper lips for a whole month.
The theory is that in growing something as hard to ignore as a great big, fuzzy ‘tache, people are bound to notice and hence talk about it. In this way, all those handlebar sporting gentlemen are actively doing their part to raise awareness and funds for men’s health – specifically prostate cancer.
As with many of the best ideas in life, the concept of Movember was born in a pub. The men from Adelaide, Australia, who came up with the idea were originally raising money for animal rights charities. The idea was to grow “whiskers for whiskers”.
As more people signed up across the country the focus moved to health issues affecting men – prostate cancer in particular.
Movember has only really been recognised outside of Australia and New Zealand since 2007 but the UK and Canada are already the nations that have raised the most funds through the fan-tache-tic event.
Cayman has its own Movember committee and all proceeds raised will go to the Cayman Islands Cancer Society.
What’s your style?
Just as the hair on one’s head can be cut, waxed, moussed and gelled into countless styles and looks, there is an almost unlimited number of ways one can wear a moustache. According to the World Beard and Moustache Championships 2007 there are six accepted categories of moustache: Natural, Mexican, Dali, English, Imperial and Freestyle.
In reality only your imagination limits how you might choose to wear your ‘tache. The actual size and fullness of the moustache should work with the size of the man’s facial features, say moustache experts. The general rule of thumb is that men with smaller facial structures should wear smaller moustaches. Men with more prominent features should go with a larger or more prominent design. Those of a more flamboyant nature may choose to go with the highly styled, curly numbers.
Top Ten famous moustaches
- Charlie Chaplin
- Albert Einstein
- Groucho Marx
- Tom Selleck
- Salvador Dali
- Burt Reynolds
- Mahatma Ghandi
- Hulk Hogan
- Freddie Mercury
- Borat
Mo Facts
You may think only a small minority of men wear moustaches, and while they are not as popular in North America and Europe as they may have been in the 1970s, up to 80 per cent of men in southern India, and almost as many in Mexico, grow the hair on their upper lips as a sign of virility.
Scientific research, commissioned by the Guinness Brewing Company, found that the average mustachioed Guinness drinker traps a pint and a half of the creamy nectar every year.
The moustache has a wonderfully powerful effect upon a man’s whole expression. The idea of virility, spirit, and manliness that it conveys is so great that it was a long time the special privilege of officers of the army to wear it.
Groucho Marx for many years wore a fake moustache of greasepaint on stage and film, then grew a real one later in life.
Firemen are not allowed to have facial hair because it prevents breathing equipment from fitting properly.
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