Well 80's "Olympias Best Mustache Contest" 2018

My kids are offended with my mustache! They get irritated with random people chatting me up over my ‘stache in the grocery store, picking them up from school, or even walking around downtown Olympia. One of the things they are always saying is why do people keep asking you if you compete? I never really thought about competing, my ‘stache was requested by my fiancé and also I had no idea about how competing works. Luckily for me a local spot, Well 80, in Olympia decided to put on “Olympias Best Mustache Contest”, November 30, 2018.

               I decided to enter! I take meticulous care of my moustache, it was looking pretty great that night. Upon arriving about an hour and half before the competition and the spot was packed. Butterflies were in full effect, good thing they have great drinks. I was handed a piece of paper to fill out with questions like, “What’s your mustaches name”, “what’s its super power”, “who is your idol” and “what do your family/friends say”. The ‘stache has been referred to as many things and called many names. Super powers? Yeah, um I was out of my mind trying to figure all this out. I just came up with some on the fly answers and wrote them down. I handed in the paper and received my number and went and sat down to enjoy the atmosphere.

               There were four different categories for the competition that evening, the Leopold, Unique, Free Style and DIY. I entered the Leopold and Shaina entered the DYI (if you don’t know here, she has a moustache finger tattoo and has long before I entered her life). Chatting at our community style table in the bar with other contestants, it became clear that I was wayyyyy under prepared! While I felt presentable, dressed in a nice button down and jeans, some of the contestants came with a whole ‘stache persona. It was very cool. The vibe was exciting, fun, and family friendly. Parading through the bar and restaurant seeing all the people on the way to the stage was wonderful and nerve racking.

               Standing on stage listening to the announcer read off the other contestant’s info sheets and looking around at the contestants, I realized that I was boring! A learning experience for sure. At the end of the night, we both had a blast! The winner had a full Leopold ‘stache with Christmas festive blazer and slacks. A few guidelines for any looking to compete: make sure the stache is on point, have a story or persona, use an alter ego, dress up, and have fun! Whether you want to be a pirate, cowboy, or 1920’s gentleman have fun. Why else go through the work of maintaining such a beautiful thing! Next time your out and about and come across a moustache or beard competition, stop in, have some fun, have a pour and enjoy!