The Observer - 25.08.2019

The Observer

News 25.08.19 23

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Michael and Ian Botham,” said Tom

Watson, 20, who regards the look as

classic. “A lot of my social group have

them. It started off as a joke but it

won’t die.”

Idalina Domingos, a 24-year-old

hairdresser who works at a salon in

London, got her shaggy version a year

ago. “I cut at least one or two a week,”

she said. “There are these modern

mullets , people are coming round to

the idea. It’s a fun haircut to have and

it’s only going to get more popular.”

Peckham-based hairdresser

Jackson Acton added : “You can’t go

wrong with a mullet. I’ve done a lot

of them in the last year for both girls

and guys.”

Mullets have been big on catwalks

and the red carpet for a while and the

trend is now hitting the high street.

Tina Outen , a stylist used by Vogue

and i-D magazine, believes the cut

can be cool and also political; a state-

ment of androgyny. “There is a sense

of freedom in the fashion industry

and we are in an era of playfulness,”

she said. “People can be who they

want to be.”

Celebrity hairdresser Charlie Le

Mindu agreed. “It works for every

gender. We are seeing it a lot on the

streets,” he said. Domingos added: “It

allows scope for all genders, non-gen-

ders and binaries.”

Dominic Johnson, reader in perfor-

mance and visual culture at Queen

Mary University of London , said

the reasons for the hair do’s revival

was in part political. “It sounds silly

but it’s tied to a longer tradition of

using whatever means are available,

whether that’s a haircut or wearing

lipstick, or changing the way you use

language, in order to attach to a par-

ticular identity,” he said.

Another explanation is that the

mullet, mocked by many, is a pro-

test against conventional beauty.

According to Caryn Franklin , fash-

ion commentator and professor at

Kingston School of Art , the new-wave

mullet is a backlash against the high-

maintenance, long-haired looks that

have dominated portrayals of fem-

ininity in mainstream advertising.

“Hair styling has always allowed for

non-conformist statements,” she said.

Social media has also helped spread

the word. Hair salons and infl uenc-

ers with big online followings, such

as Vacancy Project in New York and

Portland’s Bree Ritter , even have their

own signature cuts.

So how should you style it?

According to Teen Vogue, the step

mullet is the trendiest version.

Like staircase steps, the style

• featuring hair cut at different
  tiers – stems from the DIY idea
  of cutting your hair with kitchen
  scissors.
  It can also be worn in a prac-
  tical way. “You can wear
  it tied back and you’ve a
  short, choppy haircut,”
  said Outen. Le Mindu
  recommends wearing
  it straight at the back.
  “I like it geometric
  and crazy,” he said.

Here’s the long and

the short of it –

mullets are back

Wit h a l it t le help f rom

Stranger Things, the

80s style is cool again

Then and now:

Andre Agassi’s

classic 80s

mullet and

the revival

in Netfl ix’s

Stranger Things,

above. The

modern ‘step’

mullet from

Vacancy Studio,

New York, right.

Shutterstock

David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust wore
his cascading down his neck, Andre
Agassi kept his in check with a head-
band. Patti Smith’s, meanwhile, was
pure “business in the front, party in
the back”.
Mullets were everywhere in the
1970s and 80s, and now – perhaps
to the surprise and consternation of
many – they are back.
Partly inspired by the hit TV series
Stranger Things and the “1980s foot-
baller” look showcased to perfec-
tion in the recent documentary Diego
Maradona , the hairdo has been rein-
vented for the 21st century as a state-
ment of gender fl uidity and cool.
“Mine’s a combination of George

Tess Reidy

as Vacancy Pro

Portland’s Bree

own signature c

So how sh

According to

mullet is th

Like stairc

• featuring
  tiers – stem
  of cuttingy
  scissors.
  It can a
  tical
  it t
  sh
  sa
  r

and

gs,

o,

t.