Recently, in honour of Movember— a worldwide month of beard growth to raise awareness about prostate cancer risk— Gillette conducted a survey of 1000 Canadians, both men and women. That survey said the world needs more gentlemen. That means more people with integrity and confidence, and Gillette offers a new facial hair look to reflect such an inner state. It’s called the GentleMo.
The Gentlemo is the brainchild of Dan Trepanier of tsbmen.com and three Movember-rated Canadian barber shops: Toronto’s Mankind, Vancouver’s Another Fine Cut, and G&G in Montreal. The idea is a moustache that conveys confidence and self-awareness, a masculinity that is thoughtful and reserved, not explosive or dominant, that’s gentlemanly. We’re talking about a moustache here, but it’s a moustache that becomes a cipher for personal care and kempt-ness, for consideration.
There’s two ways you can think about Movember. 1) A lark. A chance to leave your face unshaven and make beard/lumberjack/manly man/bear arms jokes for a month. 2) A serious moment to engage in serious conversation about what it means to be a man, and an attempt to raise awareness about the risks and requisite negotiations of manhood, both physical and cultural. Think of the moustache part of Movember as the outlet, the button, on a much larger opportunity to shape and consider one’s self as a man, a care-taking and consideration of manhood itself. So being a gentleman means shaving.
The GentleMo is the gentleman’s moustache, and it’s a very specific look, posed against the kind of man that lets his facial hair run uncut and unkept for a month. “The difference between having a moustache and wearing one” Trepanier says. The difference between thoughful- and thoughtlessness.
Inspired by the handlebar moustache, but possible in a month, the GentleMo is all about clean lines: a staight bottom abutting the top lip, a bell shape coming down from the nose, and a soul patch underneath for balance. It’s a look that displays care and character, exactly what a gentleman wants to give off.
To style this moustache Gillette offers a single, versatile product— see the trend? It’s the Fusion ProGlide Styler. The ProGlide is an all in one package including a trimmer, an attachable razor head, and three combs. Gillette also recommends you use the Fusion ProGlide Clear Shave Gel so you can see what you’re doing and avoid messing up a week’s worth of intense moustache work.
There’s a lot of joking that goes on around Movember and moustaches in general. The very names Movember and GentleMo don’t help in this respect. But both are serious undertakings for serious causes. The team behind the GentleMo harken back to a time when the moustache was a completely sincere and in no way ironic style choice. They attempt to resurrect such an attitude. Gentlemanliness is a lifestyle, not a style. The difference between having and wearing, and then wearing and being. Being a gentleman is about consideration, versatility, “fusion,” fittedness. That’s what this simple, stylish moustache —without irony— moves towards.
