The Sacred Mullet

When I was growing up I witnessed quite a few different kinds of hair-styles, which were quite trendy for a while. There were also some styles that should have been left back in their own eras:

Unfortunately, I've discovered that my hair has a tendency to look very much like the above, when I try to straighten my crazy curls.

Other looks from the 1960s and 1970s included:

For the boys there was always the Beetles to emulate:

In the 1980s I can remember getting my curly hair cut into a bob, which was very trendy at the time. It's rather interesting to discover that the bob was popular even back in the 1920s:

When the mullet hair-do was in its prime in the 1980s, we all came to look upon it as an acceptable look for men, especially for those in the media. Sure, there were some badly cut exceptions, but on the whole it gave the guys a chance to have longer hair, while at the same time, keeping it neat and trim. 
But now, we look back on the mullet as a bit of embarrassment:

Surprisingly, I've spotted some truly tragic mullets even in the past decade, long past the time I thought the mullet look was over. Just check out the following:

I've even seen what looks like a "wannabe" mullet in recent years:

I've also seen several women wearing very tragic mullets, including one in a flannel shirt. I'm not sure who she was trying to appeal to, but I felt like telling her that we don't have any lumberjacks in this part of Australia. Her hair-style was something like this:

I've also seen the following look on a local man just recently which almost made me spit up my drink through my nose:

The mullet came after some rather revolting long or shaggy or crazy looks for men in the 1960s and 70s. Many classic examples of these can be found on record covers of rock groups at the time. 

So when the 1980s came around, it was almost with a sigh of relief that we came to appreciate the more sedate mullet for men, while still managing to embrace the long-haired look.

The punk movement also brought about some radical changes in hair-styles including the much-hyped mohawk. At the time, I didn't mind the mohawk or its variations - not for myself personally. When not maintained though, the mohawk and other punk dos can look a bit pathetic somehow. Surely these two friends below could have neatened things up and shaved their friend's head before they went out.

But probably one of the most memorable hair-styles of all time was the rather unusual one sported by the character Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie in the 1970s. While nobody thought it was a particularly attractive look, most people thought it was extremely radical and certainly unheard of. I've since discovered that the style has been around since at least the 1920s:

And just when you thought the Princess Leia look was gone forever, here is a recent photo with a modern twist: