Call Magnum P.I.: Mustaches Rise Again

ByABC News via logo
March 19, 2006, 10:59 AM

March 19, 2006 — -- Joseph Stalin had one and so did Robert E. Lee. Even ABC News' own Joel Siegel dons a mustache.

And now it seems the hairy upper lip is making a come-back.

The charge is being lead Jay Della Valle, who made a movie called "The Glorious Mustache Challenge," in which he dared his friends to grow a mustache for one month.

"My overall goal has been and will be to raise the consciousness of the mustache," he said.

Even the doubters are seeming to catch on.

"I never really liked it at first, but now I love it," said Michael Freeland, a participant in Della Valle's challenge.

Experts say men may be tired of the clean-shaven look and ready for a change.

"Men are bored with grooming right now," said D. Belisa Vranich, health and sex editor of Men's Fitness magazine. "They [men] have done everything possible, everything we've told them is the right thing to do. Now they're thinking, 'Hey, why don't I grow some facial hair and see if I can accessorize a little bit more?' "

The mustache has an illustrious past: President Teddy Roosevelt sported one -- as did entertainer Charlie Chaplin, scientist Albert Einstein, baseball pitcher Rollie Fingers and, of course, actors Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck.

But women are not always enthusiastic about the mustache, and that could be a problem. One woman told "Good Morning America Weekend Edition" that when she sees a man with a moustache, she thinks, "He is not well groomed."