An unlikely bit-player in one of the summer’s cinematic dramas has been the humble moustache. Or, to be more precise, the face-furniture attached to actor Henry Cavil. This became an issue because extensive reshoots for Justice League overlapped with the filming of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, for which Cavill had been required to grow a moustache (which he was then contractually prohibited from shaving). The realities of stunt-work meant that Cavill couldn’t wear a falsie for M:I, so Warner Bros took the hit and removed the offending ‘stache from his reshoot scenes using CGI (the results of which have not entirely impressed fans). But if we’re going to reclaim the muzzy from 1980s footballers, Latin American dictators, and retired Northern Irish paramilitaries, which moustache style should you be going for? In descending order, these are the moustache styles you should try this year.

1. The Chevron Moustache

The closest to a naturally grown-out shape, the chevron moustache style is a deceptively tricky style to pull off unless your name is Tom Selleck or Ron Swanson/Nick Offerman. (We simply love Ron Swanson’s moustache; it’s truly flawless.) It can balance out big facial features and conveys a certain old-school, ‘eighties dad’, anti-fashion power, but you need a decent thickness of hair and growth on your upper lip to avoid looking like a schoolboy who’s trying to buy a pint.

It works best as part of a generally macho look, so try and put some gym-bulk on before growing this, and perhaps pair it with a heavy, unreconstructed scent for maximum alpha-male impact.

Key Styles

2. The Beardstache

The least showy, but the most easily executed of these styles, the beardstache is a classic workman-like moustache paired with a lightly developing beard. A look that suggests you did have a well kept Chevron, but a week or so of fighting crime, defending your property and generally being rugged has let it slip a little. Less eye-catching than a clean-shaven face as there’s a reduced contrast in the skin-and-hair tones, but you do need a decently even stubble growth to make this work. This moustache style suits dark colouring better as lighter hair can make you look a just scruffy rather than ‘relaxed.’ This is Henry Cavill’s moustache in Mission: Impossible, so expect to see it appearing on your high street imminently (albeit on men who don’t look quite as heroic as Cavill).

Key Styles

3. The Pencil Moustache

The pencil moustache style was originally conceived as an elegant, minimalist reaction to the overbearing facial hair of the Victorians. Popularized by Hollywood idols, it only later became shorthand for the more furtive gentleman – and to this day, it does conjure up images of chaps conning lonely widows out of their savings or selling hooky nylons to London’s women during World War II.