Moustache:
(from the Wikipedia)
A moustache (sometimes spelt mustache
in the United States) is an outgrowth of hair above the upper lip.
Other common vernacular names are tache,
tash and mo.
Most men with a normal or strong beard growth must tend it daily,
by shaving the hair of the chin and cheeks, to prevent it from soon
reverting to a full beard. This necessity has engendered the invention
of quite a wide variety of accoutrements designed for the care of
a gentleman's moustache, including moustache wax, moustache nets
(snoods), moustache brushes, moustache combs and moustache scissors.
The moustache cup is a drinking cup with a partial cover to protect
the upper lip from froth in the drink.
Historically, moustaches have been worn by military men and the
number of nations, regiments and ranks were equalled only by the
number of styles and variations. Generally, the younger men and
lower ranks wore the smaller and less elaborate moustaches. As a
man advanced in rank, so did his moustache become thicker and bushier,
until he ultimately was permitted to wear an ever fuller beard.
For a glimpse into this colourful and noble past, refer to the works
of famous military artists.
In Western cultures, women generally remove facial hair, though
many have and are capable of growing thin moustaches. The artist
Frida Kahlo famously depicted herself with both a moustache and
a unibrow.
An English moustache was formerly used in melodramas, movies and
comic books as a shorthand indication of villainy. Snidely Whiplash,
for example, was characterized by his moustache, his cape, and his
habit of kidnapping women and then tying them to train tracks, in
order to foreclose on their mortgages. It should be noted that stock
character 20's [male] attire is generally a tophat, a handlebar
moustache, and a monocle.
In some countries, it was obligatory for soldiers to grow moustaches.
The British Army, for instance, forbade the shaving of the upper
lip by all ranks from the 19th century until the regulation was
abolished by an Army Order dated 6 October 1916.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word is of French
origin, dating from the mid-16th century.
Moustache Styles
- Dali - Narrow, long points bent
or curved steeply upward; areas past the corner of the mouth must
be shaved. Artificial styling aids permitted.
- English - Narrow, beginning at
the middle of the upper lip the whiskers are very long and pulled
to the side, slightly curled; the ends are pointed slightly upward
; areas past the corner of the mouth must be shaved. Artificial
styling aids permitted.
- Fu Manchu - long, downward pointing
ends, generally beyond the chin
- Handlebar - bushy, with small
upward pointing ends
- Imperial - whiskers growing from
both the upper lip and cheeks, curled upward (distinct from the
royale, or impériale)
- Moustachio or mustachio - large
luxuriant moustache, with hair sometimes growing down the sides
of the mouth.
- Pencil- narrow, closely clipped,
outlining the upper lip, with a wide shaven gap between the nose
and moustache
- Toothbrush - thick, but shaved
except for about an inch in the center; associated with Adolf
Hitler and Charlie Chaplin.
- Trash - thin trashy mustache most
famously found on John Waters and Ted Turner
- Walrus - bushy, hanging down over
the lips, often entirely covering the mouth
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