Are you ballsy enough to rock the modern mullet the indie-girls are wearing?
The mullet has undergone a metamorphosis. Just ask Miley Cyrus, Zendaya, Rihanna, Billie Eilish, Barbie Ferreira and all the cool-girl influencers who have helped give the cut a major glow-up over the past few years.
If you'd have told us in 2020 that the mullet would be back on the map as a go-to chop among some of our favourite tastemakers, we'd never have believed you. But where once you'd be forgiven for associating the cut with ex-rockers and achy breaky hearts (looking at you, Billy Ray Cyrus), it's been refreshed by a whole new generation, which includes his own daughter, Miley.
Now, it's become synonymous with rebelliousness, liberation and the kind of gutsy DGAF energy that we could all do with a little more of. So... should we be doing it?
It's not for everyone, which may explain why one private school in Australia banned its students from getting a “bogan mullet” (rude). The head teacher at Waverley College explained, "the mullet haircut trending at present is not acceptable," before adding that students will be directed to "their preferred hair stylist to rectify any issues." Psssh. Live a little.
But, if chat like this makes you want to grab the scissors even more, you're exactly the type of person the nonconformist cut is aimed at. “The mullet is the anti-fashion hair cut,” says top LA hair stylist Harry Josh. It’s the ideal alternative for ballsy girls who have grown bored of beachy hair. And, it turns out, there are a lot of them...
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
“For those wanting to break away from that long, ‘pretty-girl’ look – this is the haircut for them,” says Josh. “This is the cut that says, ‘I don’t care what people think about me.' It takes a certain amount of courage and attitude to carry off a haircut like that,” he adds.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
But, obviously, we had to give it our own 2024 spin. Instead of the short fringe, short sides and longer, wispier length at the back, the modern version is a departure from its traditional counterpart. This time, it's a bit more relaxed and gradiated.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
The short, full, choppy fringe remains, but the sides are shaggier and less dramatic, making it infinitely more wearable. The styling, too, is low-key according to Josh. "The haircut is so layered that it does a lot on its own. A texturiser or wax pomade would make hair piecey," he says.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Even, during the short time the cut has come to our attention, it's already undergone endless renditions, with people personalising the style to make it individual to them, so we'll continue to see the chop remixed. “Clients are starting to put haircuts together, such as people's own takes on mullets and wolf cuts," says top London hair stylist, Paul Percival. The wolf cut in itself is a mullet-shag hybrid. “People are almost having a DIY version of a haircut,” he says, adding “there is a real trend of mixing and matching different hair cuts.” It's why we've seen spin-offs like the “mixie” (a mullet mixed with a pixie cut) taking off.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Going forward, the mullet and radical styles like it are going nowhere. “We’re only seeing more of this because people are trying to break away from the pack,” says Josh. But, if you’re not ready to commit fully, you can always go for the looser shag style that’s popular amongst the likes of Suki Waterhouse. “She doesn’t have a mullet, but she does have a haircut that sets her apart from everyone else,” says Josh. We like the sound of that...
Here's some of our favourite ways to wear the modern mullet…
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Dramatic and choppy
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.