Celebrate Men's Grooming Day with an eyeful of these extraordinary moustaches over the years

18th Aug 17 | Lifestyle

We pay tribute to the hirsute greats, from Tom Selleck to Salvador Dali.

Handlebar, walrus, chevron, to name a few – moustaches come in all different shapes and sizes.

To mark Men’s Grooming Day, we’ve taken a trip back in time to chart the popularity of the moustache from the late 1800s until today.

Styles have fallen in and out of fashion for various reasons, though in recent times the tache has enjoyed somewhat of a Renaissance thanks to the international men’s health initiative, Movember.

Bushy and bristly

Late 19th century England football footballer Charles Bambridge (PA) — A man’s man: late 19th century England football footballer Charles Bambridge (PA)

We’re starting our journey in the late 1800s. At this point in the Victorian era, a big and bushy moustache was seen as a symbol of manliness, prompting most men to invest a lot of time and effort on their upper lip.

Moustache (PA) — Ramsay MacDonald: a serious moustache for a serious politician (PA)

The trend for walrus moustaches followed into the beginning of the 1900s as well.

Handlebar heavy

George I (PA) — George I of Greece models an airborne handlebar style (PA)

The trend for bushy moustaches soon subsided, however. Thanks to advances in shaving technologies, men were able to style their moustaches more easily.

This led to the popularity of lighter styles, such as the handlebar moustache, though it did require a whole lot of wax.

Dali (PA) — Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali would have been unrecognisable without his handlebar (PA)

Bushy beards and moustaches were soon shunned for more delicate styles, the former considered more workman-like than gentile.

Hollywood hair

Robert Taylor (PA) — Hollywood actor Robert Taylor sporting a classic pencil moustache in 1951 (PA)

In the mid-1900s, inspiration came from across the pond: Hollywood.

David Niven (PA) — English actor David Niven shows how the Brits did the tache (PA)

Big name actors like Laurence Olivier took the clean-cut look even further, rejecting over-styled handlebar moustaches for a smaller, perfectly preened look.

Shaggy protest moustaches

Led Zeppelin (PA) — Members of Led Zeppelin sport the shaggy, unkempt approach to facial hair in 1970 (PA)

By the Sixties and Seventies, the general trend shifted again, away from the perfectly styled look to shaggier, unkempt facial hair, with wilder moustaches often paired with a bushy beard.

Melody Maker Pop Poll – Led Zeppelin and Sandy Denny – London (PA) — Led Zeppelin again, because their beards and moustaches were truly glorious (PA)

This was a generation becoming more politically active. Facial hair went against the status quo and became a symbol of protest and rebellion.

The sporting obsession

Cricket – England v Australia – Australia in England 1981 (3rd Test) – third day – Headingley, Leeds (PA) — Perhaps sporting success lies in a well-groomed moustache? (PA)

Throughout the 1800s and arguably for most of the first half of the 1900s, most men grew a moustache. However, as the 20th century wore on, it fell increasingly out of fashion.

Liverpool and Scotland footballer Graeme Souness’s moustache was the real star of the Seventies and Eighties (PA)

Of course, men still grew them, but fewer felt inclined to do so.

But one group still seemed to love their moustaches from the Seventies onwards: sportsmen. Not satisfied with having a shaggy head of hair, many footballers and cricketers were growing impressive facial arrangements and fuller moustaches grew in popularity again.

The chevron

Tom Selleck (PA) — Tom Selleck, aka Magnum, P.I. Could his tache be any more glorious? (PA)

No homage to the moustache would be complete without mention of the chevron and the person who made it famous: Tom Selleck.

A neat, unfussy moustache, the chevron was at its most popular in the Seventies and Eighties, helped by the fact it was relatively easy to grow, style and maintain.

Freddy Mercury (PA) — Queen singer Freddy Mercury also favoured the chevron (PA)

Other famous fans of the chevron included Freddie Mercury and George Clooney for a time.

Barely there boyband moustaches

MTV Movie Awards Justin Timberlake — Luckily Justin Timberlake’s facial hair game has improved since 2003 (Ian West/PA)

Cast your mind back to the “barely there” moustaches sported by boybands and other celebs in the Nineties and Noughties.

Usher (Rich Lee/PA) — It’s hard to tell whether Usher meant to leave that hair there (Rich Lee/PA)

Long gone is the walrus moustache of the Victorian era: these were more a dusting of the upper lip.

The dawn of Movember

Idris Elba (Ian West/PA) — Idris Elba undoubtedly has some of the most impressive facial hair around (Ian West/PA)

Moustaches have enjoyed a comeback recently, thanks largely thanks to the increasingly popular Movember.

Since its inception in 2003, Movember has called on men to grow a moustache throughout the month of November to raise money for a range of men’s health issues, including prostate and testicular cancer.

Colin Farrell (Matt Crossick/PA) — Colin Farrell pairs his tache with a goatee (Matt Crossick/PA)

Unlike in previous eras, no one style triumphs over others – the broad range judged at the World Beard and Moustache Championships illustrates this. The moustache categories are: natural, Dali, English, Imperial, Hungarian, muskateer and Fu Manchu.

More often than not, the modern moustache is paired with a beard, but with trends moving as quickly as they do, who knows what is up next for the world of male facial hair?