Saturday Morning Beard Fact

In the 2010s it became apparent that the full set of beard, sideburns and moustache was no longer a rarity. By then an idea that had begun in a bar in Australia as long ago as 2003 had become the international phenomenon that is Movember. It all started when a group of friends enjoying a beer in Melbourne joked about bringing the moustache back into mainstream fashion. Women’s cancers were getting a lot of publicity and fundraising thanks to inspirational campaigning, and they realised that male cancers needed similar efforts to combat them. Out of that humble night at the pub, Movember was born.

Moustaches, Whiskers & Beards by Lucinda Hawksley, National Portrait Gallery