Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The Mustache: Leave It Where It Was

Austin is a hip town, hence it has many hipsters. I've noted this before, and while I appreciate the indie aesthetic and would, hesitantly, label myself as an indie hipster, I am weary of trends and trendiness. To me, being a trendy hipster is not any different from adolescent attempts at looking preppy.

One recent trend is going too far: the ironic mustache. I've seen 'stached guys in various funky coffee shops, playing in local bands and working at independent book stores. That's enough to solidify the mustache a true hipster trend. I've seen girls sporting t-shirts with slogans that favor the stache. Even the editor of Relevant magazine has had his say in defense of it:

"The rumblings are already there. The 'scene' kids have been sporting ironic mustaches for a while now, and as we all well know, every major fashion trend over the last 10 years has started by hipsters ironically donning something (trucker hats, non-sequitur statement tees, tapered jeans), eventually the irony wearing off and it just getting accepted. I figured I would accelerate the process a bit."
Cameron Strang, Relevant Magazine, "The Dash for the 'Stache," November 2007

I'm sorry, Cameron, but this is ridiculous. There is no point in being delicate or diplomatic, so I will be plain: Mustaches are not attractive.

Many other forms of facial hair can be well done, but please, let's leave the stache in the 70s where it belongs with door beads and super-flared jeans. My only hope is that once the mustache is generally accepted, the hipsters will move onto something else, maybe returning to the regular ol' beard (which I whole-heartedly endorse as attractive facial hair).

Signs of change are on the horizon. My preppy frat-boy brother has recently grown a mustache. Matched with his pink polos and Sperry boat shoes, it's sure to the turn off the hipsters. I can only hope.

6 comments:

A Bookish Woman said...

Oh God, I totally agree. The stache is AWFUL.

Beards are cool though. Let's go back to the beard and leave the stache alone.

The Lazy Editor said...

Yes, let's bring back the beards!

Joyf said...

I don't know, a mustache paired with a beard can be cute ... but I assume you're meaning the solo stache. In which case I cringe right along with you.

Hilarious, by the way.

The Lazy Editor said...

Oh no, I am referring to the oh-so-cringe-worthy solo stache.

An Introvert Experiments said...

so true! too many staches around and it's leaving me with little eye candy...maybe we should make anti - stache tshirts. good grief.

Anonymous said...

i remember this article by cameron. i think he only wanted to bring the stash back because his father finally woke up and realized it was 2007 and shaved his off. poor cameron felt his dad wasn't the same without the stash and is sparking a movement to bring it back.

i must say though that i think full beards are sexy, of course you knew that one already.