Thanks to all, and glad you enjoyed the pics.
I also wanted to echo and augment upon some of the sentiments made here regarding the National Beard and Moustache Championship. This is the first tournament I'd ever been to, and I definitely had a lot of fun! I don't really think I have competition worthy facial hair, but entered anyway because I definitely wanted to go, and thought it would be more fun to go as a contestant.
Being that this is the first contest I've attended, I'm not quite sure what to compare it to. I don't know much about standards, rules, and guidelines other than what I've read about other tournaments online. I'm not sure what judges are looking for, and don't know what sort of credentials judges normally have. I do know that they purposefully generalized the categories quite a bit for the Nats as compared to the stricter formatting of the World Championships. I certainly can appreciate this to an extent. I've looked through the World categories several times, and I'm still not sure which of them I could compete in if I wanted to. At the Nats it was pretty easy for me, I've got a handlebar and an anchor beard... so 'partial beard' it was. That said, I do think their rules/ categories could use a little tweaking.
Quote:
Moustache – The moustache is the hair that grows on the upper lip but can also include hairs growing from elsewhere on the face that are a natural extension of the shape of the moustache. Therefore Fu Manchus, walruses, and horseshoe styles are all considered mustaches. A person with a beard accompanying his moustache may compete in this category, but he will only by judged on the moustache.
Partial beard – This category includes all styles of facial hair that are neither full beards nor solely moustaches. Examples are sideburns, van dykes, goatees, soul patches, mutton chops, Amish style or Alaskan whalers, and imperials.
Full beard – Cheeks can be partially shaved as can the neck, but there must be an unbroken line of unshaved face from the temple to the chin to the other temple. A person with a shaved upper lip will compete in the partial beard category.
Freestyle – Anything goes.
Judging criteria:
In the first three categories the judges will be instructed to chose the facial hair that best enhances the contestant’s overall appearance and personality. The judges will consider the overall condition and health of the facial hair, detail in styling if applicable, uniformity of color, thickness, symmetry,size including but not limited to length, and presentation.
In the freestyle category, the judges will be asked to determine which contestant’s facial hair is the
most creative and artistic.
Of course I saw some beard and 'taches that I thought more trophy worthy than some winners. But that's the nature of a judged contest, and is to be expected. As beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, we all appreciate things a little differently . But, a little more organization could benefit the contest. I saw partial beards judged as moustaches, partial beards judged as full beards, free styled facial hair judged in the traditional categories, contestants were judged with non facial hair elements, and in some cases contestants competed with out facial hair.
I don't want to come down hard on the event. I saw some really amazing moustache and beard specimens. Met some really great people. Had some wonderful conversations. Gathered some useful tips and such from fellow contestants. And generally had a fantastic time! As a facial hair convention it was perfect; a huge success, and exceptionally fun. But as a competition I think it could use some fine tuning. Or perhaps just do away with the competition element altogether. -- BPM
PS - did anyone else on the forum attend?
