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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Ladies Sport Fake Mustaches for Charity Photo Exhibit

By Andrea Swalec | August 29, 2012 11:17am

MANHATTAN — Mustaches never looked this good.

New photographs of women donning fake 'staches — all in the name of prostate cancer awareness and research — will soon go on display in the West Village. 

Photographer Stephanie Navatto said her photo series "Stache Envy" — a portion of which will be shown at the Perry Street restaurant Left Bank starting Sept. 1 — was a way to get women involved in the festivities and give them a chance to see themselves with handlebar 'staches. 

“Of course women … typically can’t grow mustaches to support this cause, but they do within my images," Navatto, 37, said in a statement. "We want a cure for our fathers, brothers and husbands. That’s what these photos say to the world.”

"Mo Bros" commit to growing mustaches for the entire month of November and register with the website Movember.com to donate funds to men's health charities. 

Navatto, an Astoria native who lives in Long Island City, shot her series of more than 25 photos on the streets of New York using artificial mustaches made of human hair, she said in a statement.

Passersby got a kick out of the photo shoots, but the project is no laughing matter, she said. 

“This project is serious, but it’s also joyful and whimsical," she said. "'Stache Envy' is about visible solidarity and hope.”

The photos on display at Left Bank at 117 Perry St. will be for sale from $300 to $600, with all proceeds going to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. 

There's good reason to believe that New Yorkers are handlebar happy. According to the American Mustache Institute, New York is the eighth-most mustache-friendly city in America. The first-place prize goes to Chicago, according to the site.

"Stache Envy" will be on display at Left Bank, at 117 Perry St., September 1 through November 30.