For posterity:
In this household, we declared the start of beard season.
@jabel Hah! True for most conservative anabaptists. In my community, we still have a few folks who do the traditional beard-with-no-mustache full time, but not many.
(also my spouse doesn't like the "no mustache" version very much on me)
@Munish hah, no. But I do have photos of with and without. I usually switch every year. Shave around Easter.
@toddgrotenhuis haha. I have not had a beard in a long time. I grew one for my wedding and then shaved it off.
@jabel I like the fact that it's sported by plain people and Salafists. It's a small world after all...
@JohnBrady @toddgrotenhuis Do either of you know why the mustache is omitted? Is there significance to that, or just a traditional style?
@jabel @JohnBrady The way I've heard is it's another inversion of "the world" and military practices. (similar story around buttons-wearing)
example: to be able to wear a mask (e.g. gas mask) you could only have a mustache, or you wouldn't get a good fit. Thus, anabaptist beard is reverse.
@jabel There's a very good book, Why Do They Dress That Way?, on the history and meaning of plain dress.