The late, great, WW2 ace Robin Olds sported such a great mustache while in Vietnam that members of the USAF emulate it to this day as a “good natured protest” every March. Though for Olds, it wasn’t just an epic accessory, but a “… middle finger I couldn’t raise in the PR photographs. The mustache became my silent last word in the verbal battles…with higher headquarters on rules, targets, and fighting the war.”
For facial hair, I don’t think the Victorians can be beaten. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Empire started to go into decline as beards began to diminish.