Mustaches: The Gift That Keeps on Growing

Recently, it seems as though everywhere you look there is a new quirky product giving people the possibility of having a momentary mustache. I feel for the facially follicly-challenged and their desire to accessorize (especially after wearing the Real McCoy for over a year) but this trend has gotten out of control.

MSLK probably inspired this whole thing years ago when Sheri and I created handkerchiefs to give out to folks at Burning Man. The place is so dusty that a handkerchief around your face is practically a fashion statement. We figured why not give everyone a mustache?

Well, it must’ve caught like wildfire. Move over Tamagochi, bread-machine, and Wii — this year’s gotta-have-it gift is better than cash… it’s “the ‘stache.”

We’ve assembled a stubbly gift guide for you after the jump.

But first, here is a rare remaining example of an MSLK original which has inspired it all. The mustache was one part of the idea…

Along with a zipper…

fangs…

and sexy lips complete with beauty mark…

Perhaps the most egregious example of our influence in the world of faux-hirsute accessories is a kerchief printed with four styles of flavorsavers. Had we been more entrepreneurial and thought to sell our kerchiefs instead of giving them away for free, we might’ve had a monopoly on the whole hanky biz. Here is an example of what can be purchased from online retailer Etsy

It’s all good though. Clearly Etsy has made a name for themselves in the world of ironic mustachewear. Currently, they sell 571 products featuring some form of nose neighbors. The trend hardly stops there… there’s an entire blog dedicated to a certain strain of face fungus.

Beyond hankies, there’s much much more.

How about a set of five pencils each with a famous artists’s crumb catcher on it? (Apparently it’s impossible to reference a classic mustache without paying homage to Salvatore Dali, the surrealist master whose master-‘stache is in a category all its own..)

Perhaps a milk mustache of beer is more your style?

Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s got the fanciest lipbrow of them all? You can, with the help of fancy laser-etching.

(This posting was made possible thanks to generous contributions from this organization.)