The Few, the Proud and the Mullet

Many times fashionably acceptable doesn't necessarily coincide with comfort. We find this case in most of society today where heels reign over flats or a business suit defeats the good old baggy sweats. Fashion refuses to welcome too much comfort in not only our every day apparels but many times in our haircuts. Wishing to remain comfortable, the mullet wearer proudly presents a haircut that allows ease and a trendy hair length without having to cut all of the hair short; however, fashion experts openly deny that there is anything fashionable about the mullet.

The mullet is a haircut that snips the front of the hair very short and leaves the remaining hair, from the crown of the head on down, significantly longer. The mullet gives the wearer freedom to wear it really long or just long enough to classify it as a mullet. They can be permed or straight, teased or flat ironed, covered in a bandana or worn free. They can be blonde, brown, gray, purple, green, or dye number 52. The point is that a mullet can come in many different sizes, colors, and lengths while its wearer practices his/her basic freedoms to not only have a mullet but wear it as he/she chooses. Even though the mullet wearer possesses a brave and noble quality, people still find a way to tease the hairstyle.

Magazines, TV shows, movies, and fashion apparel openly tease and chastise the mullet head in an attempt to market their product through comedy. Much of media questions why anyone would want such a ridiculous hair cut, but I am left wondering what would the media do if the mullet ever left or had never existed. Vogue would have lost pages and pages of "don'ts" of fashion. Clothing industries would never have profited from their comical t-shirts adorned with mullet gags. Most importantly of all, I question where the world would be if we had never known Joe Dirt.

Though society jokes about the bad decisions of the 1980's, there are many 80's trends finding their way back into society today where not only are they socially acceptable, but they are the season's new must haves. So far crimping irons, leg warmers, bangle bracelets, and mini skirts over tights have found their way back into many closets of the millennium. We can only wonder when the mullet will make its fashionable debut back into the new decade.

I regrettably conclude that though the mullet may seem ridiculous and unusual now, in five years Angelina Jolie will probably have a mullet with a trail of teenage girls following her to the barbershop. Don't be so hard on the mullet. It is a bold expression that allows comfort, freedom, and ease. Besides, you might have a mullet some day.