What is the origin of the hairstyle known as the “mullet,” and why is it called that?

Answer 1

http://www.brownielocks.com/mullet.html

This website even has pictures on it

Answer 2

I've been around for 50 + years and it's only in recent times that I've heard this hairstyle called that. I fact I had to ask my daughter a few years ago what exactly was a "mullet"?!!

Answer 3

The mullet became popular in the 1970s (in part due to the influence of English pop star David Bowie), but is known to have been worn long before then. David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust hairstyle was considered glamorous among devotees of glam rock and glitter rock. Urban legends have it dating back to 19th Century fishermen, who wore their hair long in the back to keep warm - hence the term mullet. The Notes section of the Viking edition of Lydia Davis's translation of Swann's Way by Proust states "Jean Baptiste Prosper Bressant was a well-known actor who introduced a new hairstyle, which consisted of wearing the hair in a crew cut in front and longer in the back."

In the 1970s, the mullet was a short, square affair. The hairstyle became particularly popular in the late 70s and 80s among entertainers with receding hairlines such as Anthony Geary of "Luke and Laura" fame from the soap opera General Hospital and the singer Michael Bolton.

In the 1980s, the mullet became big and bouffant, and bemulleted men often indulged in other 1980s hair crazes such as spiked hair and blonde highlights. In the early 1990s, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus's "Achy Breaky" mullet fostered both imitation and ridicule.

The Beastie Boys 1994 song "Mullet Head" made fun of the hairstyle, and a year later band member Mike D discussed the mullet at length in issue 2 of the band's Grand Royal magazine:

There's nothing quite as bad as a bad haircut. And perhaps the worst of all is the cut we call The Mullet.

It goes on to lampoon the hairstyle over several pages, including many photographs of celebrities sporting mullets. Soon after the article was published, it became popular for fans of the band, and for youth culture in general, to mock the hairstyle. This gradually led to the mullet being widely ridiculed.

The Oxford English Dictionary cites that 1995 article as the first published use of the term, along with the lyrics from "Mullet Head". The OED says that the term was "apparently coined, and certainly popularized, by U.S. hip hop group the Beastie Boys."[1]

In the 2000s, a number of web sites sprung up with photographs of people with mullets, often accompanied by mocking comments based on stereotypes of mullet-wearers. The mullet and its associated lifestyle were central themes in movies such as Joe Dirt (2001) and television shows such as The Mullets (2003-2004). The term was even added to the OED in 2001. [2]

Despite its reputation, the mullet remains a moderately popular hairstyle among certain social groups in various Western countries. In the U.S. and Canada, the mullet is particularly associated with blue collar men, fans of country and heavy metal music, American football and ice hockey players. Many homosexual women of the "butch" variety also sport this hairstyle, so much so, many see this as a social identifier. In the United Kingdom the mullet is most commonly associated with thugs, or with Central and Eastern Europeans, particularly professional footballers. In Australia the haircut is associated with Bogans and Australian rules football players, particarly those from the 1980s. In recent years, the mullet has enjoyed resurgent popularity among the hip set, in particular the emo sub-culture, probably due to its association with 1980s retro kitsch. During some light hearted research on his show Johnny Vaughan declared that 'Germans, Americans, Australians, these are the real mullet men'.

Answer 4

Was going to answer this, but checked out previous answers.

Give the 10 points to Mrs F without any undue delay.
Fan-bloomin-tastic website!!!!

She deserves 10 times that for coming up with such a corker.
Go girl!!!
;-)

Answer 5

Glen hoddle first sported this and as he was nicknamed hoddle the mullet run along the gullet by spurs fans the name stuck

Answer 6

dont know...............