The Toothbrush

“A small, dense square under the nose. Charlie Chaplin made it famous. History made it complicated.”

Difficulty: Easy Maintenance: Medium Best on: Round, Square, Oval

The Toothbrush is a short, thick, rectangular mustache confined to the center of the upper lip, roughly the width of the nose, with sharply shaved vertical sides. Viewed head-on it looks like the bristle head of a toothbrush — hence the name. It is among the s…

About History Famous Wearers How to Grow It How to Trim It Grooming Routine

⬆ I Wear This Stach ✂ Stach Care Guide 📖 Read the full How-To Guide →

📌 The Toothbrush at a Glance

Style: The Toothbrush mustache
Difficulty: Easy
Maintenance: Medium
Best face shapes: Round, Square, Oval
Famous wearers: Charlie Chaplin, Oliver Hardy, Ron Mael, Michael Jordan

About the Toothbrush

The Toothbrush is a short, thick, rectangular mustache confined to the center of the upper lip, roughly the width of the nose, with sharply shaved vertical sides. Viewed head-on it looks like the bristle head of a toothbrush — hence the name. It is among the simplest mustaches to grow and shape, requiring only a few weeks of growth and two straight lines.

It is also the most historically loaded style in existence. For the first third of the 20th century it was the mustache of comedians and everymen; after the 1930s and 40s it became inseparable from Adolf Hitler, and it has been essentially unwearable in public ever since. MrStach documents it because you cannot tell the story of the mustache without it — not because we recommend it. Our honest advice: admire Chaplin, and grow a Chevron.

History of the Toothbrush

The Toothbrush emerged in the United States around the turn of the 20th century as a modern, no-fuss reaction to the enormous Imperial and Walrus styles of the Victorian era. It was practical, quick to maintain, and fit neatly into the clean-cut look of the new century. Charlie Chaplin adopted it for his Little Tramp character in 1914 — he said it was small enough not to hide his expressions — and by the 1920s it was everywhere, from Oliver Hardy of Laurel and Hardy to ordinary men on both sides of the Atlantic.

It spread to Germany in the same era, where it was seen as modern and American. Hitler wore it from the 1920s onward, and as his regime's crimes became known, the style became permanently associated with him. After 1945 it disappeared from mainstream fashion almost completely.

Since then the Toothbrush has appeared only in deliberate reference — Chaplin homages, satire like Mel Brooks's work, Ron Mael of the band Sparks, who wore it on stage for decades as an intentional provocation, and a 2010 Michael Jordan underwear commercial that earned Jordan a week of headlines. It remains a museum piece: historically important, practically retired.

Famous Toothbrush Wearers

Charlie Chaplin →
Oliver Hardy
Ron Mael (Sparks)
Michael Jordan (briefly, 2010)

Face Shapes That Suit the Toothbrush

RoundSquareOval

Face-shape guidance is general. Every face is the right face for a mustache if you commit hard enough.

🌱 How to Grow the Toothbrush

Growing a Toothbrush

We include this for completeness and historical context. Read the description before you commit; most wearers today adopt it only for stage, film, or costume purposes.

Grow the full lip for 3 to 4 weeks. You need dense, even growth in the center of the lip, because the Toothbrush is small and any patchiness is obvious.
Measure the width. The classic Toothbrush is about the width of the nose — roughly 2.5 to 4 cm. Some historical versions were slightly wider, but it never reached the corners of the mouth.
Shave the sides. Using a precision trimmer, shave two clean vertical lines on either side of the central block, straight down from the edges of the nostrils to the lip. The sides are the style; they must be straight and perfectly parallel.
Keep the height natural. The block runs from just beneath the nose to the top of the lip. Do not carve the top or bottom edges; let them follow the natural lines.
Trim to length. Run a trimmer with a 3 mm to 5 mm guard over the block. It should be short and bristly — upright, not combed flat.

You can have a finished Toothbrush in under a month. Whether you should is a different question, and we have given you our answer.

Read the full How-To Guide →

✂ How to Trim the Toothbrush

Trimming a Toothbrush

Sides every 2 days. The vertical edges are the entire look. Stubble on either side of the block blurs it into a short Chevron. Shave or detail-trim the sides clean, keeping the lines straight and the same distance from center on each side.
Length every 4 to 5 days. Trim the block with a 3 mm to 5 mm guard. It should stand up like a brush; if it lies flat and looks soft, it is too long.
Top and bottom. Tidy strays under the nose and along the lip with scissors; do not shave hard horizontal edges.
Symmetry. Use the nostrils as your reference. Each side line should drop straight from the outer edge of the nostril. Check with a ruler held vertically against the mirror.
Density. If the center shows gaps, allow more growth before the next length trim; a sparse Toothbrush reads as a patch, not a mustache.

As with the Pencil, a steady hand and a magnifying mirror do most of the work. Given the style's history, we would gently suggest letting those sides grow out and heading toward a Chevron or Painter's Brush.

🧴 Recommended Grooming Routine

Toothbrush Care Routine

Daily

Cleanse and moisturize the shaved areas on either side of the block; frequent shaving of small areas invites razor bumps.
A tiny amount of balm brushed upward helps the bristles stand.

Every 2 days

Re-shave the vertical sides with a fresh blade and a post-shave balm.

Every 4 to 5 days

Length trim.

Weekly

Exfoliate around the block. Review the shape in a photo to confirm the sides are truly parallel.

A word from the editors The Toothbrush is low-maintenance in the grooming sense and extremely high-maintenance in the social sense. Most men who try it keep it for a costume or a Chaplin tribute, then let it grow out. We respect the history and recommend the Chevron for everyday life.

Grooming content is educational and not medical advice.