Movember Wrap: U.S. ' 'stache-thletes' raise record $2.6 million for charity

It's Dec. 1, which means "Movember" has drawn to a close, and the group mustache grow raising money and awareness for men's health issues (specifically prostate and testicular cancer research and treatment) has officially ended.

 You can see all the totals raised here, but in sum, Australia (where the Movember movement first sprouted in 2003) topped donations, raising $14.9 million (in U.S. dollars), with the United States' collective efforts earning it a fourth-place ranking with $2.6 million raised to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation -- far behind Canada ($6.27 million) and the U.K. ($6.06 million).  Canada? Really?

Despite the drubbing from our neighbors to the north and those across the pond, it's still more than double the $1.1 million raised stateside in 2008 -- and the 28,359 "mo bros" and "mo sistas" who signed on is a fourfold increase over the 7,000 from last year.

On a more local level, my ill-conceived mustache media throwdown against KNBC's Chris Schauble and his Mocasters team ended even more lopsided: They raked in $6,804 compared with Team Media 'Stache's anemic $885. To add insult to injury, at the same time Schauble also managed to squeeze in an Ironman triathlon and cultivate an envy-worthy lip hedge -- while showing his mug on the television the entire time.

So I salute you, worthy opponent, for accepting my good-natured challenge, and for your resounding win. Your prize -- a victory lap through the Los Angeles Times building (OK, the guided tour of the paper you requested if you won) awaits you.

In addition, for being such a class act (his first response to my challenge was to actually donate to the competition), I've decided that the kind of no-nonsense, stay within the lines, conservative corporate mustache we'd both been cultivating (and which both of us have since removed with no undue hesitation at the month's end) shall henceforth be known as "the Schauble."

I rest my lip.

-- Adam Tschorn

Photos: At top, "Today in LA" co-anchor, triathlete and, most recently, winner of the first annual Movember Media Mustache challenge, Chris Schauble sporting a mid-month "moutee" on Nov. 13 (although Schauble's circle beard pictured here technically violates the rules, he later explained that he grew it in this style prior to his Ironman effort in honor of his father who has worn his facial hair this way -- and is a prostate cancer survivor). Credit: KNBC screen grab by Rich Cruse for Chris Schauble. At bottom, Times staff writer Adam Tschorn with his Movember mustache pictured on Nov. 18. In honor of the lopsided victory, the pictured style of mustache will hencheforth be known around these parts as "the Schauble." Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times.

Follow the Image section on Twitter

More pursuit of the hirsute from Bearded & Tschorn

Digging through our closets: The world of competitive facial hair

Before heading out to the holiday sales, get some inspiration from some of our readers’ favorite features from 2009.

In May, Times staff writer Adam Tschorn braved the wilds of Alaska for the 2009 World Beard and Moustache Championships. The what? Here's Adam; "[It's] a testosterone-fueled mash-up that fell somewhere between bachelor party and beauty pageant. A handful at a time, contestants in 18 categories took to the T-shaped runway in the cavernous Dena'ina Convention Center in downtown Anchorage, flanked by photographers and friends, in front of a panel of judges and a streaming Web camera."

'Stache talking with George Parros

Anaheim Ducks  right wing George Parros is a lamb-barbecuing, punch-throwing, occasionally Times-blogging, professional-hockey-playing Princeton grad. And for a few months every year, the long-locked, massively mustachioed enforcer endures looking like a Yanni impersonator so he can donate his hair to a group that will use it to make wigs for children battling cancer.

This year’s George Parros Cut for the Kids is slated for Dec. 14, but before that, he's weaving a new strand into his particular brand of follicular fundraising: the launch of ‘Stache Gear, his very own apparel line, which goes on sale on Black Friday, exclusively at the Anaheim Ducks Team Store.

All proceeds from the two styles of mustache-festooned ball caps and four styles of T-shirts (two men's and two women's), all of which retail for $25 each, will benefit the Childhood Leukemia Foundation and Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation.

I caught up with Parros by phone before practice recently to discuss his charitable activities, his foray into fashion and to trace the history of the signature upper lip adornment he believes to be “the physical embodiment of all that is manly.”

How long have you had the mustache?
I’ve had one on and off for a long time, but this is probably my fourth straight year. I’ve had it since before I was with the [Anaheim] Ducks.

What first prompted you to grow one in the first place? Did your dad sport a ’stache?
He had one when I was born, I think. And when my sister was born. But he didn’t while we were growing up. But I was always a big hockey fan, and I remember being fascinated with the mustaches. It’s a rich

Bearded & Tschorn: Mustache merchandise

So far in the marathon of mustache musings, I've forgotten to point out that "Movember" has become a great way of sponsoring brands to reach the tonsorial tribe and support a charitable cause at the same time. As you prepare for your postprandial foray into the retail wilderness, you might want to be aware of the following for the mustache maven or friend of facial hair in your family:

The Urban Demistache: This thick, handsome handlebar looks like it was plucked fresh from a carnival barker. Basic versions of the 2-inch-long mustache are plated pewter available in rose gold, brass gold, gunmetal black or silver for $38, or you can kick it up a notch with topaz, crystals, amethysts or pave crystals for a bit more (up to $98). Order one here through Jan. 1 and the company will donate $8 from the sale to Movember. ($38 to $98).

Dermalogica Shave products: Through the end of Movember, the folks at Dermalogica have pledged a dollar from the sale of each shaving product to the Movember Foundation, which will split the funds between organizations battling prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

Arbitrage mustache cuff links: If you prefer to wear your support on your sleeve instead of your upper lip, check out the 'stache cufflinks. In gold, rose gold, gunmetal and silver ($65). For each pair sold, $20 goes to the Movember efforts.

Giles & Brother by Philip Crangi tiny mustache earrings: The sterling silver ($65) or 14-karat gold vermeil ($78) earrings I mentioned back in October don't benefit the Movember Foundation, but they're worth a mention if you're making a list and checking it twice.

OK, so these two mustache-themed items from Urban Outfitters aren't kicking any money toward charity either, but they could be the perfect stocking stuffers for the handlebar-hosting hipster in your office pool.

Mustache ornament: O tonsorial Tannenbaum! Give your Christmas tree the gift of facial hair with a faux leather handlebar mustache ornament ($8).

Mustache bandages: Cut yourself shaving that upper lip? Cover the carving with the appropriate bandage -- one bearing a mustache graphic design. ($7).

-- Adam Tschorn

Photos, from top: Urban Demistache necklaces ($38). Credit: Demitasse Jewelry. Arbitrage cuff links ($65, shown in gunmetal). Credit: Arbitrage Clothing

Follow the Image section on Twitter

More pursuit of the hirsute from Bearded & Tschorn

Bearded & Tschorn: Show us your charity 'stache

The Movember mustaches are now barely 3 weeks old, so we thought it was high time to provide some visual updates -- and encourage others to send in photographic evidence of their hirsute pursuits so we can all have a good chuckle over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Mine has finally emerged from its lip smudge dormancy and become something I find myself referring to in the third person (things like: "Adam's mustache wants to go to Palm Springs," or "Adam's mustache wants to buy the band a drink.")

At this point, the men behind the 3-week-old badges of follicular courage will find themselves having to make some serious decisions about what kind of mustache they want to cultivate. I've chosen a conservative, somewhat corporate Eric Holderesque bat-wing 'stache because it seems so against type. It's actually turned out creepier than I imagined.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that a few week back, the guys over at KTLA had a good-natured response to my earlier call to Southland celebs to let it grow, which I've embedded at the bottom of this post. (But I still expect real ones next year, guys!)

So submit photographic evidence of your facial forestry to our Your Scene site, or Tweet them to our attention @LATimesImage and we'll put together a gallery. 

-- Adam Tschorn

Follow the Image section on Twitter

More pursuit of the hirsute from Bearded & Tschorn

Photos (from top): The 3-week-old mustache belonging to Times staff writer Adam Tschorn is now prominent enough to refer to in the third person. (Example: "Adam's mustache was NOT happy with this photograph.") Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Bearded & Tschorn: Calling on Southland celebs to give lip service

The collective charity mustache farming effort known as Movember marked its first week on Saturday, and upper lips around the country are starting to fill out with the "hairy ribbons" being grown to raise money and awareness for men's health issues.

Early on, impressed with the facial forest being cultivated by KNBC's Chris Schauble, I threw down a challenge that my team (Media 'Stache) could triumph over him and his team (Mo Casters). Unfortunately, my zeal for competition outstripped my understanding of the finer points of my employer's guidelines for volunteerism and charitable activities -- which make it a bit of a sticky wicket to try and beat the bushes for donations to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

But then I remembered what the Movember Foundation's Adam Garone told me when we first spoke. "The money we raise is great, but what's far more important is the awareness," he said. "Men really don’t like to talk about their health, so the best thing guys could do is, when they go home for Thanksgiving with their mustache, is use it as a conversation starter to talk about the issue with their fathers and brothers.” 

There's plenty of 'stache growing time left between now and Turkey Day so I've decided that if I can't drum up the dollars, I can at least dedicate myself to amping up the awareness side of things. And the best way to do that is to get some high-profile folks to cultivate their cookie dusters. I won't rest until the TV screens, boardrooms and halls of power across the country are sporting lip spinach. A few from my Southland short list follow on the next page. If there's anyone else you think should make a dash for the 'stache between now and the end of the month, post your suggestions in the comments.

Bearded & Tschorn: A Movember battle of the media mustaches?

If the guys in your office are starting to look a bit like they've got a sprinkling of black pepper on their upper lip, chances are they're participating in Movember, a month-long charity mustache cultivation ("mo" is Australian slang for mustache) to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues -- specifically prostate and testicular cancer.

After writing about the Movember Foundation for last Sunday's Image section, I decided to get my own 'stache on for a good cause, coming up with a cool name (Media 'Stache) and trying to wheedle/cajole/beg and shame my compatriots here in The Times building to join me.

Despite a whole lot of verbal promises and bobbing of heads, to date the team of those supporting my cause consists of me, my father-in-law, my sister-in-law, and an awkward silence.

To make matters worse, as I was getting ready to leave the house Monday morning, KNBC's "Today in LA" weekday co-anchor Chris Schauble announced he’d gotten special dispensation from management to grow his mo – which at that point wasn't even visible to the naked eye.

This morning, as I awoke with what looks like coffee grounds affixed to my upper lip, Stubble - I mean Schauble -- seemed to be sporting a more definite line of hair right there. I don't know if he's tending it with "Miracle Mo" or what but I have to give the man props, since his team and donations page seem to be growing as rapidly as his mustache, and currently stands at four times the size of mine member-wise with donations at just over three times the dollar amount.

Did I mention the man has gone all mustache multimedia, too? He's also ginning up support via Twitter.

But it's still early in the month, and I'm not going down without a fight. Call me crazy, but I think there's a chance Media 'Stache can best the Mocasters, if not in donations to charity, at least in sheer numbers of supporters.

I think it's a fair matchup; he's a triathlete, marathon runner and the father of two sets of twin girls, and I'm a lazy couch potato who can drink St Pauli Girls until I see double.

So to you, Chris Schauble, I throw down the mustache comb of challenge. Care to wager?

To the rest of you, don't let me grow it alone.

-- Adam Tschorn

Photos: At top, a mustachioed file photo of "Today in LA" co-anchor Chris Schauble. Photo credit: KNBC. At bottom, a file photo of Times staff writer Adam Tschorn. Photo credit: Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times. Both began November clean shaven and are growing their mustaches for the next month to raise funds and awareness in the fight against prostate and testicular cancer.

Follow the Image section on Twitter

More Bearded & Tschorn

Halloween 'Hangover' style: Get your Alan on with beard and satchel

Back in the summer, I told you where you lone wolves could score Alan Garner's Human Tree T-shirt as proudly worn by actor Zach Galifianakas in "The Hangover"). Over the weekend, I received a post in the comments asking where one can get one's hands on the glorious leather man satchel -- which makes me think there's someone else out there with the same Halloween costume idea that I have.

The bag in question is Roots' Village Bag in Vintage Tribe Leather  ($124), which, according to Roots' website, is made in Canada from hand-distressed leather. 

For those of you without the "Fat Jesus" facial hair -- in my opinion, the key element such a costume requires -- I recently stumbled across a 2-month-old site, hangoverbeard.com, dedicated to selling a respectable facsimile of Galifianakis' "Hangover" beard.

It's the brainchild of a 24-year-old San Franciscan named J.D. Beebe (that's him in the above photo) whose day job is working at an advertising agency, and who describes himself as "facial hair impaired with latent beard envy."

Beebe said, based on the success of "Borat," he'd originally hoped to launch a site in the aftermath of "Bruno," (sequined lederhosen, perhaps?), but when that didn't do as well as he'd hoped, he shifted gears.

"I've been a fan of Zach Galifianakis' comedy for years," Beebe said. "And when I saw that beard on the big screen I knew the beard had landed."

Beebe thought he'd sell "maybe a few" of the beards but has sold about 160 to date, at $20 a clip (which includes shipping). The beards arrive "un-hemmed" and need to be modified into the full Garner glory on display in the photo above.

So that leaves you aspiring Alans a few key costume pieces: the trousers (if you're really dedicated you'll opt out of the pants altogether) and the sunglasses.

And trust me, don't even think about asking your friends if you can borrow their baby for the night.

-- Adam Tschorn

Follow the Image section on Twitter

Photo: J.D. Beebe before and after donning the "Hangover"-style beard, sunglasses and a strappy man satchel. Credit: hangoverbeard.com.

Bearded & Tschorn: Earrings for the mustache maven

Photographer Jonas Gustavsson, one of the two lensmen who regularly shoots the fashion weeks of the world for us, knows about my fascination with facial hair, so when he ran across a conversation with boldly bearded jewelry designer Philip Crangi on the Fashion Informer blog, he sent it straight away.

I recently became fascinated with Crangi's handiwork after seeing the bent railroad spike cuffs and cuff links (from the lower-priced Giles & Brother by Philip Crangi line) that accessorized Michael Bastian's Spring/Summer 2010 collection on the New York runways.

Apparently I'm not the only one, he was a runner-up (along with Phillip Lim -- Rogan Gregory took top honors) ) for the 2007 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award, and last year took home the CFDA Swarovski Award for accessories design.

While the Fashion Informer post is a fun read (and, true to its name, informative), what was even more delightful was the discovery of these Giles & Brother by Philip Crangi Tiny Mustache Earrings, available in sterling silver ($65) or 14-karat gold vermeil ($78).

I think they'd be the perfect gift for the 'stache groupie in your life (a sub-species I discovered during my embed with the World Beard & Moustache Championships crowd over Memorial Day Weekend).

Not to mention, it just may be the only permissible form of ear hair there is.

-- Adam Tschorn

Follow the Image section on Twitter

Read More Bearded & Tschorn

Photo: Giles & Brother by Philip Crangi gold vermeil Tiny Mustache earrings ($78). Credit: www.gilesandbrother.com.

Bearded & Tschorn: John Oates to flash the 'stache at hairy Halloween bash

Fresh off New York Fashion Week, where the only memorable mustache was the new upper lip accoutrement sported by Vogue magazine's Hamish Bowles, I've returned home to find two noteworthy mustache moments.

First was Sarah Silverman's "miss 'stache" from Sunday night's Emmys telecast, which apparently blossomed sometime between her walk down the red carpet and the moment Justin Timberlake read her name as a nominee for best actress in a comedy (the honor ended up going to Toni Collette). Yes, the Eric Holder-style batwing mustache was a silly sight gag, but it's my kind of silly.

The other hirsute happening was the announcement that John Oates (he of musical duo Hall & Oates) and his glorious lip fur would be headlining the American Mustache Institute's 'Stache Bash 2009. 

On its website, the AMI calls the annual event "a  ridiculous celebration of mustaches and music" -- with a charitable angle (it's a benefit for a St. Louis organization called Challenger Baseball). As you may know, I've spent some serious time with facial hair enthusiasts, and it's a pretty safe bet that if you end up finding yourself in St. Louis the day before Halloween, they'd show you a good time.

That same evening, the group will recognize the "Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year" -- submissions will be accepted until Oct. 2 if you know of a deserving 'stache holder (last year's was retired New York City police Det. Tim Galvin).

-- Adam Tschorn

Follow the Image section on Twitter

Read more Bearded & Tschorn: The World Beard and Moustache Championships

Photo: Vogue's Hamish Bowles performing a Noel Coward song at the Juicy Couture celebration for Fashion's Night Out on Sept. 10 in New York City. Credit: Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Juicy Couture