This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s fall editorial intern Alayna Thomas. Find her on Instagram at @ratatoolie. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Let’s face it: zillennial dudes love rocking a mustache. I have even observed this amongst guy friends of mine. A nice majority of them have a stache, sometimes with a goatee. But, are mustaches back in style? Have they ever really gone out of style?
I have done some trend spotting and forecasting for a while here, looking at things like our obsession with Crocs or Neo-Tribal tattoos. But now, I’m turning the lens to men’s facial hair trends. And, I came up with a few theories as to why zillennial men wear mustaches and what contributes to its popularity. Some of these connections may surprise you.
Trends Are Cyclical
As I have noted time and time again in my fashion trend articles, trends are cyclical. Many believe that Gen Z has a nostalgia problem, taking trends from the late 90’s and early 00’s and remixing them. However, every generation does this! What I find even more interesting is that this often occurs, whether a generation knowingly mirrors an older generation or not.
In the late 1800’s, facial hair and beards were all of the rage. In the United States, president Abraham Lincoln inspired a new beard style called the ‘chin strap’. From the 1860’s onward, beards were stylish for men.
Then, World War I happened. Men need to wear protective gear and find that it’s hard to stuff a full beard into a gas mask. So, they cut off their beards and start sporting a more clean shaven look.
The early 1900’s saw the handlebar mustache become popular due to president William Howard Taft. This continues into the 1920’s with many leading men and popular movie characters of the time having mustaches.
Beards Are Out
In the mid 2010’s, the hipster look took over the streets of every American city. People wore fedoras, man buns, and suspenders. Although there was a stereotypical hipster look, there were also subgroups of hipsters. One of these subgroups is the infamous ‘lumbersexual’.
A lumbersexual is a more rugged, outdoorsy type of hipster. He likes spoken word poetry, but can also chop down a tree. He frequents artisan coffee shops, but enjoys playing with power saws. He also takes pride in his appearance; he probably has beard oils. Lumbersexuals tend to have a more burly look; they have facial and body hair and are tall and big. I say that lumbersexuals are the straight women’s equivalent to a bear.
In 2013, this was a popular look. Why? I honestly don’t know. I think that it’s because women got the best of both worlds with lumbersexuals. Here comes a ‘masculine’ man who is hairy and is strong… but also spends an hour in the morning getting ready and gets pedicures. Lumbersexuals didn’t seem toxically masculine.
However, we are now in the ‘hot rodent boyfriend’ era of looks. Boyish charm is in. Lumbersexuals and beards are the antithesis of that. It’s also not lost on me how strikingly similar this trend cycle is to the late 1800’s-1920’s. Beards were in, then out.
Millennial Irony
Sorry, but we have to stay in 2012. And we have to discuss hipsters again.
One big part of hipster subculture was the co-opting and use of vintage iconography. In fact, I think this is part of the reason why vinyls are popular again. But I digress.
As I mentioned earlier, handlebar mustaches were big in the 1900’s and 1910’s. Many millennial hipsters thus became obsessed with handlebar mustaches. You could find t-shirts and hats with mustaches on them. A classic, stereotypical millennial tattoo is a handlebar mustache on the inside of the index finger. Us baby zillennials grew up watching older millennials go mustache crazy, so it obviously rubbed off on us.
Men’s Grooming Industry
This is a theory that I don’t have too much evidence for, but I may be onto something.
As a woman who does not have facial hair, I notice that there are many facial hair care kits on the market. Although I think that this mainly has roots from the lumbersexual and hipster era, these kits still remain fairly popular. Not only are there brands like Harry’s that are dedicated to men’s grooming, more mainstream retailers like Bath & Body Works also offer facial hair care products. I think that the men’s grooming industry is only going to continue growing. Many companies offer beard care and many consumers buy these products to care for their mustaches. These companies are taking note. Perhaps in the next few years we will see an uptick in mustache care products.
Also, according to Gillette, traditional razor sales are down. This further shows how men are tapping into caring for their facial hair, rather than shaving it all off.
Changing Societal Attitudes
In the 1970’s, facial hair made a big come back. I think this is due to the ‘hippie’ look being in style from the late 1960’s. This emphasized a more natural look. But, why the sudden rise in facial hair in zillennial men? A big reason that I believe facial hair is more accepted is that these ex-hipsters and ex-lumbersexuals are now increasingly becoming bosses and managers. They don’t enforce strict codes of grooming on their employees.
This is something that I have personally experienced. I have held numerous jobs and internships and have reported to many types of people. Whenever I have a manager or a boss that is under the age of 40, they tolerate a lot more personal expression than older bosses. They don’t mind facial hair, cut and dyed hair, tattoos, and colorful nails. They allow personal style to mix with professionalism. Simply put, a handlebar mustache or big beard is no longer ‘unprofessional’.
Additionally, more and more men are interested in trying different types of facial hair. Now that their jobs don’t require them to be clean shaven and they can easily buy facial hair oils and balms, there might be more incentive to experiment with looks.
Famous Male Celebrities (and Characters) Sport The Look
Top Gun: Maverick was the highest grossing film of 2022. This film is notable because it was also the first big blockbuster after the Covid-19 shut downs in 2020. But it’s notable for another reason.
Miles Teller’s mustache. After this movie came out, I remember seeing mustache discourse all over my social media. Some people hated it, some loved it. Regardless, this mustache was here to stay.
Almost three years later, we are still reeling from the consequences of allowing Miles Teller to grow out that stache. Interestingly, Teller shaved after completing his role. Other male celebrities may not have gotten the memo. Pedro Pascal, Michael B. Jordan, Timothee Chalamet, the list goes on.
These male celebrities might not be the sole reason for mustaches being back in style, but they are letting us know that we are firmly in the era of the stache.
What do you think? Are mustaches back in style? Do you prefer other types of facial hair? Let us know in the comments!
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