Business In The Front, Party At The Back: A Short History Of The Mullet
No haircut splits a room quite like the mullet. Some people see a fashion crime. Some people see a statement. Nobody sees nothing.
Short at the front, long at the back, and permanently at war with good taste — the mullet has been mocked, banned, revived and celebrated more times than any other style. And after decades in the wilderness, it's back on the heads of footballers, festival-goers and half the teenagers on your street.
So how did we get here?
It's older than you think
The idea of cropping the front and letting the back run wild isn't an 80s invention. Homer described Abantes warriors in the Iliad wearing their hair long at the back, on the theory that an enemy couldn't grab a fringe that wasn't there. Practical, aggressive, and slightly ridiculous — the mullet had its personality sorted from day one.
Fast-forward a few thousand years and it turns up everywhere: on Roman charioteers, Native American warriors, and eventually on a pale bloke from Brixton called David Bowie.
Bowie lights the fuse
In 1972, Bowie introduced the world to Ziggy Stardust — flame-red, spiked at the front, feathered down the neck. It was alien, glam and completely unlike anything else on Top of the Pops. Within a year, teenagers up and down Britain were asking barbers for something they couldn't quite name yet.
That's the thing about the mullet. For most of its life, it didn't even have a name.
The 80s: peak mullet
The 1980s took Bowie's idea and let it off the lead entirely. Rock stars, action heroes, wrestlers, country singers — everyone had one, and everyone thought theirs was the good one.
British football was arguably the worst offender. Chris Waddle's flowing back end became as famous as his left foot. Glenn Hoddle, Barry Venison, Kevin Keegan and half the old First Division treated the barber's chair as optional. Then there were the Sunday-night TV presenters, the pop stars, the local pub darts team. For roughly ten years, the mullet wasn't a look — it was just what hair did.
The name arrives (surprisingly late)
Here's the odd bit: the haircut is credited with getting its modern name in 1994, when the Beastie Boys released a track called "Mullet Head" and mercilessly took the mickey out of it. The word stuck, the joke stuck, and the haircut promptly went into hiding for the best part of twenty years.
The phrase that defined it — business in the front, party at the back — came out of the same era of ribbing. It's the perfect description because it's honest. It's a haircut that can't decide, so it commits to both.
The comeback nobody predicted
Then, somewhere around 2020, it happened. Lockdown haircuts got weird. Barbers reopened to a queue of people asking for the exact thing their dad had been apologising for since 1991.
Australia now has an actual festival for it — Mulletfest in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales. The USA runs national mullet championships with categories for kids. Premier League players have brought it back to the pitch. What was once a punchline is now a genuine style choice, worn with total confidence and just enough irony to be fun.
That's the whole appeal, really. The mullet has never pretended to be cool. It just refuses to be embarrassed.
Wear the legend
You don't have to grow one to appreciate one.
Our Business In The Front Mullet tee is a tribute to the most defiantly unbothered haircut in history — a clean, bold design on a premium white cotton tee that does the talking for you. Ideal for festivals, the pub, birthdays for mates who genuinely had one, and anyone who thinks a haircut should have a sense of humour.
https://www.farq.co.uk/products/mullet-hair