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Mullet (haircut)

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A man wearing a mullet.

The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back.[1]

Etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, use of the term mullet to describe this hairstyle was "apparently coined, and certainly popularized, by American hip-hop group the Beastie Boys",[1] who used "mullet" and "mullet head" as epithets in their 1994 song "Mullet Head".[2] The term "mullet head" had previously always or nearly always been used to refer to a person of dubious intelligence, e.g. as in the movie Cool Hand Luke, where defeated villains had been referred to as "mullet heads".

Fashion history

Early example of a "skullet" (long at the back and bald on top) worn by Benjamin Butler, 1870s.

Ancient mullets

In the sixth century, Byzantine scholar Procopius wrote that some factions of young males wore their hair long at the back and cut it short over the forehead. This non-Roman style was termed the 'Hunnic' look.[3][4]

1970s

Mullets were worn by rock stars Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Andy Mackay of Roxy Music, and Paul McCartney as far back as the early 1970s.[5][6]

1980s

The 1980s was the high point of the mullet's popularity in continental Europe.[citation needed]

In the United States of the 1980s, the mullet became popular within lesbian culture, where it came to be used as a way of identifying oneself as a member of that culture in public.[7][8][9][10]

1990s

In the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania, United States, the mullet was glamorized by several members of the Pittsburgh Penguins, including Jaromír Jágr. The mullet remains popular to this day, even mocked to much acclaim by WDVE radio hosts in particular.[citation needed]

After the much-publicized 1992 DC Comics storyline in which Superman apparently died, the character returned in the 1993 follow-up storyline "Reign of the Supermen", in which he was depicted with a mullet.[11] He remained with that hairstyle until 1997,[12] and this look was depicted in an action figure released by Mattel in 2009.[citation needed] The cancelled Superman film, Superman Lives, depicted Superman with a mullet.[13]

Punk rock band the Vandals sang of the mullets worn by country music singers and guests of The Jerry Springer Show and listed regional names for the style in the 1998 song "I've Got an Ape Drape".[14]

Country music singers Billy Ray Cyrus, Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson, Joe Diffie, Toby Keith, Tracy Lawrence, Aaron Tippin and Blake Shelton were also known for their mullets.

Vocalist Wesley Willis wrote and released the track "Cut the Mullet" in 1998 and frequently performed it at live shows.[15]

2000s

The mullet and its associated lifestyle have been central themes in movies such as Joe Dirt "business in the front, party in the back" (2001) and the television show The Mullets (2003–2004). Christian ska band Five Iron Frenzy sang about the mullet in "The Phantom Mullet", a song off of their 2000 album All the Hype That Money Can Buy, referencing Billy Ray Cyrus and REO Speedwagon in the lyrics. The 2001 film American Mullet documents the phenomenon of the mullet hairstyle and the people who wear it.[16]

In 2003, Legacy Recordings released Mullets Rock!, a 2 CD collection full of mullet-wearing classic rock bands from the 1970s and 1980s.

Indie rock duo Tegan and Sara sported mullets during their The Con album era. Tom O'Neill, famed hair stylist and underwriting thief, was also known to sport the mullet hairstyle in the early 2010s.[citation needed]

Between 2009 and 2012, the mullet was in fashion among individuals of Lebanese descent in Australia. The style had already been popular with the bogan subculture.[17][18] The fashion trend quickly waned by late 2009. This was the type of a mullet that had a crew cut at the front, top, and sides and long hair at the back.[citation needed]

2010s

The mullet has lost popularity over recent years but was recently brought back into the spotlight in 2015 by K-pop idol G-Dragon during his band BIGBANG's Made World Tour.[19] Byun Baekhyun of EXO also sported one in promotion for the group's 2017 song Ko Ko Bop. Other K-pop artists who have worn mullets include Block B's Zico, Song Min-ho, Nam Joo-hyuk, DEAN, Stray Kids' Chan and Han, VIXX's N,[20] B.A.P.'s Himchan,[21] Seventeen's Woozi and The8, BTS's V, [22] GOT7's JB and SF9’s Youngbin.

The mullet has also experienced a revival within American sports. After winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, Phil Kessel was spotted in Pittsburgh Penguins training camp in September 2017 bringing the mullet back to its native roots of Pittsburgh Hockey. Similarly, Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy wore a mullet starting in early 2017; the popularity of his mullet supposedly earned Oklahoma State millions of dollars in marketing revenue. In addition, from 2010 to 2015, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks popularized the "playoff mullet," an alternative to the traditional NHL playoff beard.[23]


References

  1. ^ a b ""mullet, n.9"". Oxford University Press. OED Online. September 2013.
  2. ^ "Mullet Head Lyrics". Metro Lyrics. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  3. ^ Toner, J. P. (2013). Popular Culture in Ancient Rome. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0745654908.
  4. ^ Heather, Peter (4 July 2013). The Restoration of Rome: Barbarian Popes & Imperial Pretenders. ISBN 0230772307.
  5. ^ Wilson, William (2011). Gobbledygook. p. 166. ISBN 1440529256. David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust rocked a mullet, and so did Wings-era Paul McCartney.
  6. ^ Andrew Grant Jackson (2012). Still the Greatest. ISBN 081088223X. he sported the mullet that Bowie would as Ziggy Stardust; cousin to the shag popularized by David Cassidy, Florence Henderson, and Rod Stewart. It almost looks cool in those early days, but when McCartney added the mustache ...
  7. ^ Bianco, Marcie (5 February 2015). "9 Ways Lesbians Have Given Straight Women A Fashion Edge". Curve.
  8. ^ Johnson, L. A. (7 October 2003). "For 'mulletheads,' it's not just a hairstyle, it's a lifestyle". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  9. ^ Weitz, Rose (12 January 2005). Rapunzel's Daughters: What Women's Hair Tells Us About Women's Lives. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Archived at Google Books.
  10. ^ Bennett, Conswella (6 June 2011). "Mullets, Flannel, and Hipster Jeans: Lesbian Fashion Now and Then". Edge Media Network.
  11. ^ Kesel, Karl (w), Grummett, Tom (p), Hazelwood, Doug (i). "Reign of the Superman!", The Adventures of Superman #505 (October 1993). DC Comics.
  12. ^ Kesel, Karl (w), Immonen, Stuart (p), Marzan, Jose Jr. (i). "Dead Man Walking", The Adventures of Superman #544 (March 1997). DC Comics.
  13. ^ "The Nicolas Cage Superman Documentary Reminds Us Of the Man Of Steel's Bad Hair Days". GQ. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  14. ^ "The Vandals: I've Got An Ape Drape lyrics". AllTheLyrics.com. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  15. ^ Loux, Brian (14 September 2001). "Wesley Willis Live". The Tech. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  16. ^ "American Mullet (2001)". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  17. ^ http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/bogans-of-today-evolved-beyond-stunned-mullets/story-e6frep2f-1225953040665
  18. ^ Stark, Jill (19 December 2015). "Bogan Bingo! Get your mullet and flannies ready, it's bogan time". The Age. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  19. ^ BIGBANG Official Facebook (11 October 2015), M.A.D.E Tour in Newark, NJ, retrieved 25 September 2017 {{citation}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ "Netizens are afraid the mullet hairstyle is becoming a trend due to idols - allkpop.com". allkpop.com. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Update: B.A.P Drops Another Beautiful Trailer For "Honeymoon" - Soompi". www.soompi.com. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  22. ^ https://twitter.com/btsfancafes/status/985904800276430848. Retrieved 16 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ^ "Gundy: Mullet worth 'millions' in OSU marketing". espn.com. Retrieved 27 March 2018.

Further reading

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