Mustaches make their way at the Houston Facial Hair Club's annual competition
Check out our slideshow of magnificent beards and mustaches.
When you think about fads in hair you usually associate them with the female gender. It is women who fluff and style and buy expensive products for their 'dos not men. Men who spend too much time worrying about their hair have been deemed "metro" or even a little on the "fem" side. But this lady-like connotation gets thrown right out the window when you start talking about facial hair because facial hair is a manly, manly thing.
Saturday night, Walters hosted the Houston Facial Hair Club's annual competition and the beards and 'staches were out in full furry force.
The Houston Facial Hair Club, Houston's local chapter of Beard Team USA, has a mission of promoting the love of facial hair while fighting the first world problem of "facial hair discrimination." The club was founded by Kenten Marin in 2008 and has built itself into an established club with roughly 100 members. The club meets monthly to chat about facial hair, grooming, new styles, upcoming competitions and everything else beard-related; they also drink beer, surprisingly enough.Kenten Marin the HFHC's founder
Tiffany Whitman currently runs the club and organized this year's competition. Whitman, despite being female and totally facial-hair free, believes in the club and the rise in interest in men's facial coifs.
"I think facial hair is beautiful," Whitman says. Here, here.
This past Saturday's competition saw fleece-faced gentlemen from near and far vying over the right to say that they have the best facial hair in Houston. The proceeds from the evening went to the Friends For Life animal shelter, which is fitting when you think about fur and stuff. Facial hair and a fez? How can you go wrong?
The competition consisted of numerous categories such as the newbie category, 6-12 inch beard, 1-6 inch beard, mustache, goatee and, of course, full beard. There was even a category for women, and yes, there were several ladies there who donned 'staches. The judges, who were members of the Houston chapter as well as facial hair fans, rated the gentlemen on overall appearance, style and personality, overall presentation of the hair, and crowd response, among other specifications.
I chatted with a number of beard growers who came to show off their facial fuzzes. Just earlier this month Austin held its annual competition and the event was apparently packed. If you are familiar with the IFC show Whisker Wars you know that this counter-culture is alive and thriving in Austin. And it is "growing" in Houston as well. This year's competition was the largest Houston has seen thus far according to Marin.
As a woman, I was interested as to why these dudes take so much pride in their beards? Everett Bradshaw, a guy with a mid-length white beard who looks like Santa, told me that he loves everything about the philosophy behind the "movement" and the hair on his face. Additionally, the beard culture is a way to interact with others that share the same passion and hobby.Matt Broussard, Everett Bradshaw and Jason Keating rock some serious beards
The entire night was full of energy and stache-citment (I just made that word up) and it might be the first time that I took some stock in the fact that guys care about their hair too.
If you are interested in the Houston Facial Hair Club visit houstonfacialhairclub.com
Source Article from http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2013/03/houston_facial_hair_club_is_gr.php