Modern Mullet

The modern mullet rescues a haircut that spent forty years as a punchline. Short and textured on top and at the crown, with intentional length kept long at the nape — but unlike the 1980s Joe Dirt version, the modern mullet has disconnected face-framing pieces, a strong fringe of some kind, and is point-cut so nothing reads as 'business in the front, party in the back.' It's a sharp, considered cut that happens to have long bits at the back.

It flatters oval, heart, and diamond faces — the volume on top and the face-framing pieces do work around the cheekbone and temple. Straight and wavy hair holds the shape cleanest; curly hair wears a softer version where the layers move with the curl pattern. The trick is the disconnection: top, sides, and nape are deliberately different lengths with no smooth transitions.

Medium maintenance — five minutes of styling (rough-dry, scrunch in texturizing spray) and a trim every six to eight weeks to maintain the disconnection. The modern revival began around 2020 (Miley Cyrus, Rita Ora, Barry Keoghan, half of TikTok by 2022) and is now firmly mainstream, especially in non-binary and queer styling — partly because it reads as gender-neutral without being aggressively androgynous. Ask for 'short top and crown, long nape, with disconnected face-framing pieces and a strong fringe.' Generic 'mullet' is what you don't want.