a Bed Head by TIGI cut I was practicing a few years back.
I got to do a particularly interesting hairstyle today. It was a mullet. Cue the groaning, but in fact, it was really fun. Sometimes, as I told my client "Janet", who was trying hard not to use the word mullet, you have to think about things differently. Instead of thinking of it as a "mullet" in the horrible cliche sense,
think of it as a Mullet, a retro style that has been trying to come back, and go mainstream, for years.
think of it as a Mullet, a retro style that has been trying to come back, and go mainstream, for years.
Janet was having trouble finding a stylist that would do it. From the previous cut she'd had 6 months ago, I could tell she didn't get what she asked for. We talked, and after a while I introduced the concept of the disconnected cut. It's a style that has been championed by the well known celebrity stylist Sam Villa, and it's popping up in mainstream fashion in such places as Miley's "undercut" pixie, and last years Project Runway winner, Anya Ayoung-Chee's fashion forward style.
These are really just modern examples of the disconnected "mullet".
These are really just modern examples of the disconnected "mullet".
These were the looks I was channeling.
We cut Janet's hair with a side-swept bang, tapered down at the temples to ear so her earrings would show, cut piece-y, and totally disconnected (not blended) from the significantly longer back.
She was reluctant to tell me what she wanted, it seemed to me that she had shut down with stylists because they had made it hard for her by talking her out of what she wanted, or just not doing it. Sometimes we forget that our client, and their perspective, is the most important part of our job.
She was reluctant to tell me what she wanted, it seemed to me that she had shut down with stylists because they had made it hard for her by talking her out of what she wanted, or just not doing it. Sometimes we forget that our client, and their perspective, is the most important part of our job.
This is surprisingly close to what we ended with.
Once I had her convinced that I was willing to do what she wanted, provided I could make sure it was edgy and flattering, we managed to work out a funky, stylish and modern, Mullet.
She totally rocked it, and I hope I get to see her again soon, I've got some ideas to shake it up a bit ;)