Fake moustache

Fake moustaches

A fake moustache or false moustache is an item of prosthetic make-up. Fake moustaches are made in a variety of ways, but usually require a form of adhesive to affix the moustache to the wearer's face.^[1]

History

The use of false facial hair dates back to antiquity. In Ancient Egypt, most men were clean-shaven (real facial hair being a signifier of low social status). Pharaohs, however, often wore elaborate false metal beards, linking them with Osiris, the god of the afterlife.^[2] In Ancient Greece, Aristophanes referenced false facial hair in his play Assemblywomen, in which the women of Athens disguise themselves as men using false beards.^[3]: 133

False facial hair has been used as a disguise for thousands of years.^[3]: 134 In particular, women throughout history have used false facial hair to disguise themselves as men, often to gain access to freedoms they were denied as women.^[3]: 136

False facial hair has also been used for theater and performance since at least the early modern period. Boy players would often wear false facial hair to appear older onstage.^[4]: 15

In the 19th century, fake moustaches held associations with deception and criminality. Lewis Powell, one of the conspirators in the Lincoln assassination plot, carried with him a fake moustache during his assassination attempt on William H. Seward.^[5]: 71 A key witness, Louis J. Weichmann, commented that he "thought no honest person had a reason to wear a false mustache".^[6]: 91

Despite these perceptions, false facial hair was worn for aesthetic reasons during the Victorian era, as facial hair was particularly fashionable during this period.^[7]

In the mid-20th century, fake mustaches were sold commercially. The New York Herald Tribune reported in 1963 that customers were primarily "young boys for fun or to 'virilize' themselves" as well as "wives who give them to their husbands".^[8]

During the 2010s, fake moustaches surged in popularity, as a humorous, ironic, and retro motif.^[9]

Cultural significance

In many forms of popular media, the use of a fake moustache as an unconvincing disguise is a commonly-used trope.^[10][11] The "disguised face" emoji (🥸) features a fake moustache, as well as a pair of glasses.^[12]

Drawn-on fake moustaches are deployed humorously in graffiti and other artistic means. Marcel Duchamp's artwork L.H.O.O.Q. depicts the Mona Lisa with a moustache. In the 1946 cartoon Daffy Doodles, Daffy Duck draws fake moustaches on everyone she sees.^[3]: 138

Many iconic moustaches in popular media have been prosthetic: Charlie Chaplin,^[13] Groucho Marx,^[14] and David Suchet (as Hercule Poirot)^[15] all wore fake moustaches. Marx's moustache, in particular, has gained prominence as the namesake of groucho glasses, novelty glasses with a fake moustache attached.^[16]

See also

• Groucho glasses

References

1. "How fake facial hair is made for movies & TV". Insider. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
2. El Samman, Khaled (December 17, 2015). "King Tut's Beard Is Back, With Help from a Little Beeswax". National Geographic. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
3. Casey, Helen (2018). "A Tiny Cloak of Privilege: Facial Hair and Story Telling". In Jennifer Evans; Alun Withey (eds.). New Perspectives on the History of Facial Hair – Framing the Face. Genders and Sexualities in History. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 131–146. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-73497-2_7. ISBN 978-3-319-73496-5.
4. Rycroft, Eleanor (2019). "Liminal Masculinity". Facial Hair and the Performance of Early Modern Masculinity. Studies in performance and early modern drama. Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge. pp. 65–96. doi:10.4324/9781351265041-3. ISBN 9781351265041. S2CID 243679413.
5. Ownsbey, Betty J. (1993). Alias "Paine": Lewis Thornton Powell, the mystery man of the Lincoln conspiracy. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-89950-874-0.
6. Poore, Benjamin Perley (1865). The Conspiracy Trial for the Murder of the President: And the Attempt to Overthrow the Government by the Assassination of Its Principal Officers. J. E. Tilton.
7. "Victorian beard craze inspired false 'mechanical' whiskers". phys.org. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
8. "1963: False Real-Hair Mustache Speeds Youths to Manhood". International Herald Tribune Retrospective. The New York Times. November 30, 2013 [November 13, 1963]. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
9. "All of a sudden, mustaches especially fakes are everywhere". Deseret News. February 20, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
10. "5 Baffling TV Tropes That Are Constantly Overused". Collider. April 15, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
11. "Smart chicks on screen: representing women's intellect in film and television". Choice Reviews Online. 52 (5): 186. December 18, 2014. doi:10.5860/choice.188094. ISSN 0009-4978.
12. Hy, Mo. "Proposal for New Emoji: Disguised Face" (PDF). Unicode.
13. Kratz, Jessie (September 2, 2022). "Facial Hair Friday: Charlie Chaplin". Pieces of History. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
14. "Groucho Marx voted America's favorite facial hair icon". Yahoo News. November 26, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
15. "Suchet: Moustache completes Poirot". Belfast Telegraph. December 20, 2010. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
16. Gary Giddins (June 18, 2000). "There Ain't No Sanity Claus". The New York Times. Retrieved August 20, 2023.