A NEW generation of young men are putting their hair where their mouth is, literally, and it’s up for debate whether the ladies like it.
Pop culture saw the moustache blossom during the 70s and 80s but the emergence of metro-sexual males in the 90s lead to it’s inevitable demise.e
However a quick walk down Wellington’s Cuba mall and it becomes clear, something is different and it’s written on the faces of trendy young males.
The moustache is back, if Darwin Brooks’ (right) upper lip is anything to go by, it is here to stay.
Roy Lindsey
“It’s like a piece of furniture. I’ve had it for three months. Definitely keeping it, mate,” he says.
The owner of one of Wellington’s most recognisable moustaches, restaurateur Lorenzo Bresolin, is not surprised at the resurrection of the popular mo but says the fashion now is more closely related to the 1900s than the 1970s.
Josh Jeffrey
“All fashions have that 20 year cycle. It definitely has a fashionable connotation, but there are more classic gentlemen moustaches now.”
Andre Simpson
The men donning these facial adornments seem to agree with Mr Bresolin’s sentiments, mostly citing old photographs and movie stars as the inspiration behind their journey to becoming a man.
Hairdresser of 13 years, Danny Todd, has seen more young people with moustaches but does not think it is purely cyclical.
“It’s tied in to music, indie and country are coming back and they are rocking it a lot more,” he says.
Joseph Bailey
“The 70s had a lot of beards, the 80s had more mo’s, handle bars and pilot moustaches, the 90s did not have much at all.”
Tattoo artist Andre Simpson, decided to shave his beard in favour of a moustache after seeing some on tattoos and in magazines.
“Heaps of young cats are rocking the minor ‘taches, I’m going for the big curly one,” he says.
“It makes girls go weak at the knees.”
Women, however are not convinced.
“No,” says Melz Thompson, (left.)
“It reminds me of a paedophile, I love spring but November is my least favourite month of the year.”
Retail assistant Immy Morris, right, has lip locked with a moustache just the once and can’t see herself doing it again any time soon
“Just the feeling, I don’t even want to think about it,” she says. “I’m never going back”
Words from Holly Spoon, left, will be of comfort to those now part of the bristly revolution: “I like my men hairy”.
But even if there is enough hair to cover the vacant patch of skin above the lip, as 18 year old student, Florence Cooper says “you have to have to right attitude to carry it.”
If the new owners of Wellington’s moustaches cop any slack from disconcerting members of the public they can always fall back on musician Nick Caves’ famous words: “A man without a moustache is rather like a woman with one.”