With the exception of sideshow professionals, women have never flaunted mustaches. In fact, most ladies, present company included, rid themselves of lip fuzz, and have done so for centuries, whether by bleaching, waxing, threading, laser or — in times of utter emergency and desperation — shaving.
Leave it to Williamsburg’s hipster contingent to bring hairy back.
“Hipsters love throwback fashions, anything that plays heavily on the kitsch,” says Jennie Howard, whose Handsome Howard designs of mustache tanks and totes were a hit at last weekend’s Renegade Craft Fair at McCarren Park. “In Williamsburg, a waxed mustache goes perfectly with an airbrushed kitten sweatshirt and some ugly sandals.”
Luckily for us women, though, waxing up (or off, rather) isn’t necessary when it comes to the new crop of ‘stache styles. Appropriately named accessories and apparel such as the “Stache Anything” tee from Fuzzy Ink and the “Inspector Clouseau” necklace from Brooklyn label Digby and Iona are of the non facial variety.
“I think the fascination comes from the taboo of it,” says Digby and Iona designer Aaron Ruff. “Now that fashion is becoming more ambiguous, it’s only fair that women appropriate fashions that have been traditionally reserved for men.”
As long as it’s easily removable, I’m game.