 "Photo: Alex Palomino/The Observer")
Lions, tigers, beards, oh my! New York is freezing and Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) boys have stopped shaving. Protecting their features from the biting wind, fuzzy faces have become more commonplace here at Fordham. Some even choose to express their artistic ideals through their facial hair philosophy, and they are not alone. Facial hair has evolved into a world-class sport.
The Germans once again topped themselves in all things weird, creating the World Beard and Moustache Championship (WBAMC). Hosted for the first time in 1990 in Hofener, Germany, by the First Hofener Beard Club, men gather from all over the world to compete and compare facial hair sculptures. Since the inception of this testosterone-fueled contest, Germany, Norway, England, Sweden and Nevada have played host to the fuzzy competitors. Held every other year since the second competition in 1995, the next championship will be held on May 23 in Anchorage, AK.
Categories include various levels of style for moustaches, partial beards and full beards. Elmar Weisser, from Germany, took first place in 2007 for the freestyle full beard for creating a replica of the host city’s, Berlin’s, Brandenburg gate on his chin.
Recently, handle-bar mustaches and muttonchops have made an appearance on more than one Fordham face. Francis Pastorelle, FCLC ’10, spent the summer of 2008 working as a sailor. The living and working on the sea left little time to bother with a razor, and he decided to let it grow.
“Shaving would’ve meant getting up at least 10 minutes earlier, and when you work on a tall ship, you take every chance you get for sleep,” Pastorelle said. “I’d been sporting a consistent stubble… the sailing job gave me an opportunity to go nuts, see what’d happen if I just let that shit grow.”
“The beard started off normally,” Pastorelle said. “Things didn’t get crazy until mid-July. That’s when my girlfriend started openly expressing that she was no longer attracted to me. But by then I couldn’t stop. It became a pride thing.”
Ian Hoerner, FCLC ’11, grows his beard for a more simplistic reason—he doesn’t like to shave. Even though it was not intended, the beard has become a part of his image. While Hoerner thinks the championship looks like a lot of fun, he doesn’t think he could dedicate the time and work to cultivating a facial forest.
“I, personally, do not have too much attachment to [the beard]… I miss it when I shave, but I know it’ll grow back,” Hoerner said. “I love seeing everyone’s faces after I do shave…you can never beat hearing someone say… ‘Oh my God! I can see your face!’”
Kris Payne, premier of Gotham City Beardsman Alliance (GCBA), agrees that there is certain stigma that comes with the beard. The GCBA is the New York City chapter of Beard Team USA.
“I’m a photographer by day…[there’s] a constant stream of comments and/or compliments,” Payne said. “Once you hit the ‘no turning back’ point, people begin to respect you more.”
Payne decided to grow out his beard when he was asked to attend the 2007 WBAMC as a photographer’s assistant. He had so much fun that he decided to stick with it and plans to attend the upcoming championship.
“Barring death and finances, I’ll be there,” Payne said.
Although Payne let his beard flow freely, Pastorelle decided to return to smoother pastures, but he could not let the beard go without a proper send off. With the input of his friends, he sculpted the beard into muttonchops, circa 1861. They lasted for a few weeks before he returned to a more mainstream, shaven look.
“Even though the beard was itchy, ugly and got food stuck in it, I miss it,” Pastorelle said. “I can totally understand why some of those guys grow seven foot long beards. It’s something that distinguishes you…[but] there’s a trade-off. I have doubts that those beard championship winners ever get women…”
The World Beard and Moustache Championship offers family packaging for spectator sports, so these hairy competitors may have luck with the ladies. It’s $25 for one adult and two children to enter the events as spectators. Each contestant must pay $40 per category. All proceeds are donated to charities. The 2007 competition, held in Brighton, England, raised nearly $20,000 for Everyman, a men’s cancer research charity, and for The Rockinghorse Appeal, a children’s charity in Brighton.
Hundreds enter, but only a few can claim the glory of having the fullest, most elaborate facial hair. To enter your own furry face, go to www.worldbeardchampionships.com. If you can’t make it to Alaska, there will be a GCBA-sponsored beard and moustache contest on March 14 in Williamsburg.
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