More Than a Mullet

MORE THAN A MULLET

By: Abby Fritz Photography by Isabella Abitboul

Once a taboo trend, the hairstyle remerges as a genderqueer statement.

Billy Ray Cyrus was the king of the country mullet, the updo that merged a clean buzzcut with long waves. Pair that with his skimpy tank-tops and boyish charm, you have the Cyrus who wore the trend long after it had gone out of style in the ‘90s. Thanks to Lil Nas X, who featured the country singer on his hit track “Old Town Road” in April 2019, Cyrus found his way onto a new, younger generation’s radar. They, in turn, have also rediscovered the mullet Cyrus is famous for.

With Cyrus’ return to the public eye, there is now a plethora of videos featuring people showing off their new mullets and awkwardly large pickup trucks on the popular short-form video-sharing app TikTok. Some have even gone viral, meaning the mullets in these videos are seen extensively by younger generations. Now with its regained popularity, everyone from country music stars to the high fashion runways have taken back the look.

The mullet hasn’t seen much of the spotlight in the past few decades. Not since the iconic, choppy David Bowie mullet of the ‘70s, and the more natural football-jock mullet donned by every ‘80s movie star. After its quick rise to fame, the mullet quickly became stigmatized as “unpolished.” By the ‘90s, the style was in steady decline.

With its newfound popularity today, the mullet is now a go-to gender neutral style of the times. The queer community has taken the mullet back as a push against gender norms, functioning as a hairstyle that gives gender non-conforming people the space to express themselves. It has removed the confines of a hairstyle that unrightfully genders people and validates many different gender expressions.“The mullet definitely gives me confidence and

reinforces my androgynous style,” says Olivia Salamy, a SUNY-ESF sophomore, on why she decided to get a mullet.

We can track the rise of the androgynous mullet in Western culture back to the queer DIY scene in New York City. The upsurge of the “Bushwick Mullet,” referencing the cluster of mullets that has become popular over the past few years for millennials in Brooklyn, seems to be the style’s origin. Unlike the “Country Mullet,” the Bushwick Mullet references the 80’s rock scene with its choppy edges and dramatic colors.

The queer mullet has also popped up in the East Village of NYC. After moving from Tokyo in 2016, queer stylist Masami Hosono brought this look to Manhattan with the opening of “Vacancy Project,” a gender neutral hair salon. The salon has perfected a new genre of mullets called the “step mullet,” a cut with clean chops on the side and left longer in the back. Its popularity has grown exponentially with the mullet’s reappearance; even Euphoria star Barbie Ferreira rocked a subtle step mullet during New York Fashion Week at the Coach show. If Ferreira loves the look, what other stamp of approval do you need?

Notably, both brands’ shows had models of all genders and the mullet was seen on people of various gender identities. This look is further solidifying the mullet’s place as an androgynous hairstyle in today’s world. This representation of gender fluidity on runways serves to further validify the life of gender queer individuals, much like the spirit of the mullet. Even Chanel and Celine featured the hairdo this season, making the mullet not only fashion for country boys and subculture followers, but also for fashion’s key players.

No matter the type of mullet, the biggest difference between the mullet of today and the mullet at its peak is that it is not for everyone. When you get this style, you have to wear it with the confidence that this bold look deserves. You must rep the mullet for its rocky past and recognize the power it has to make a new future in the realm of genderless fashion and queer culture. Queue Billy Ray Cyrus’ “I Want My Mullet Back,” because so do we, surprisingly.

While there have been some sporadic appearances of the mullet over the years, like Rihanna at the 2013 NYFW, it has taken a long time for this hairstyle to shake the bad wrap its had the past twenty years (even Rihanna got backlash).

During NYFW this past spring, many brands featured mullets on their runway collections. More experimental brands like Balenciaga and Gucci styled their collections with mullets. The Balenciaga show featured models in business wear, complemented with the hairdo, normalizing the look for everyday people.