So I guess I'm into mullets?
Jen Ceballos, aka @endlesslyloveclub, is one of the only big influencers I follow closely. As I scrolled her recent Italy content of twiggy limbs in string bikinis and a glittering UNICEF Gala in Capri, I realized I wasn’t just following for Jen.
Jen’s boyfriend Cory is one of my favorite sources for menswear inspo. His style is fearlessly 80s in unbuttoned vintage Versace shirts, cropped trousers, chunky gold rings… and a shaggy, sun-streaked mullet.
From its major resurgence last year to today's omnipresence, it’s safe to say the mullet has a damn good publicist. I saw frat boys with mullets in Dewey Beach. Androgynous skateboarders zipping down Fairmount Ave with business steady up front, party windswept in the back. What once evoked Joe Dirt now reads intimidatingly cool. He’s giving Uncle Jesse from Full House, watching old tennis clips, and listening to Blood Orange b2b Duke Ellington. He’s 27, but he’s been “ready for his 40s” since he was 16. There are all the trappings of another insufferable aesthetic turned personality, and yet somehow, it works.
In a recent piece for GQ, Jason Diamond introduced Bistro Vibes, “a throwback lifestyle for the happily washed.” There’s a reason there’s a national shortage of gray New Balance 990s years after they emerged as trendy. It’s the Porsche 911SC à la Aimé Leon Dore. It’s reading a physical newspaper while Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” bangs from the radio, sipping espresso and eating lox. It’s Richard Gere and Billy Crystal and how the f*ck did you score that ‘91 double breasted Armani blazer?
It’s the perfect backdrop for a mullet.
Ever since I was little, digging through my parents’ Styx albums, thrifting suit coats and dad jeans before it was trendy, I knew my taste was distinctly dated. Comfy and practical, yet thoughtful and loud. I’ve been on Bistro Vibes and generally Old Things for so long, it’s only natural I love yesteryear’s haircut. One of my first crushes was Blane from Pretty in Pink, after all.
The mullet is versatile. It somehow makes men look older and younger at the same time and anything that defies the space-time continuum is bound to be hot. Mullets elevate country boys and city boys alike to vintage dad appeal. Paired with a mustache, it’s game over, my friends. Let’s see if I can talk Andrew into one.
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