The Venerable Handlebar Mustache, Do You Own One?

Hola compadres. I've never been a man to be known for his clean-shaveness. In fact, my beard is currently at its longest on record, and I fear that one day it shall grow and consume my entire body in one glorious, hairy display of predation. But I digress.

I was looking in the mirror the other day and realized that my mustache was decidedly uninteresting. Long story short; handlebar mustache. It is a mild mustache, relatively speaking, but I've been experimenting with the curve while out and about on the (small) town. I feel it has classed up my ugly mug just a tad. I was shocked that my lady friend agreed, but then again, she already accepts the beard.

Seeing as I've had yet to post anything on the FL, I thought I'd ask if any fellow forumers sport the handlebar on a regular basis. You know, like, in public. How does the general population seem to react to your vintage choice of facial hair? Admittedly I spend most of my time in the middle of the backcountry, and bears don't seem all that bothered by fur. I'm also interested to know of any college-age gents like myself who have been successfully rocking the handlebar, although if you say you wear it "ironically", I'm not responsible for my actions.

Any proud mustache farmers are welcome to post pictures. Here's a picture I took on the first day of my experiment in an especially dark room.

Mine started while I was in college (around 1980). Didn't add the beard until around 2005.

I ended up having to wax mine, as one side tends to go to the side, and the other goes down.

My son grows a very thick beard (similar to yours) that he has not shaved off this summer. He has had a moustache (generally handlebar) since around his junior year in college.

I miss being a beardo. I had a beard for more than ten years, but now my choice of profession dictates shaving. I still have a mustache, but it's more akin to Tom Selleck than a handlebar. Way back when I had a handlebar mustache, I used Oregon Wild Hair mustache wax to keep it in place.