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Welcome to the Blade blog Culture Shock, a three-times-a-week riff by Pop Culture Editor Kirk Baird on pop culture news, events, and trends. The blog will appear Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings here, with the odd night or off-day posting if something is merited.

After a nice break from the blog, I'm back and well rested. For the most part.

During my absence, I was made aware of a sinister trend that seems to percolating in the cool cliques of the high-fashion mecca known as New York. The Mullet.

Take this for what it's worth, but I heard through an admittedly tenuous grapevine that the mullet is on the mend, as the classic short in front, long in back 'do atrocity from the '80s has gone from being shunned in most circles to a celebrated fashion statement.

And you know what that means? Once a classic style is adopted by a hipster scene, it's only a matter of time before that style reaches the masses. Dare I say it, the much-maligned mullet may be making a serious comeback.

Already, Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen talks about why he he proudly sports a mullet in this ESPN
clip. Allen calls the mullet more than a hairstyle, but "a lifestyle."

For many people — perhaps some of you reading this blog — the mullet "lifestyle" never went away. Congrats. Your hairstyle has survived virtual extinction, and can now call yourself cutting-edge. "Hey, I was mullet when mullet wasn't cool."

For the rest of us, we can go back to wondering if there's any look from the past too tragic to ever to be repeated.

I was sure bell bottoms would never return. The '90s taught me otherwise.

I was convinced mutton chops were a relic of our past. Yet, I still see the facial hair style today.

And I would have strongly considered swearing on the life of a distant cousin that mullets would never, ever become fashionable again. There's too much baggage associated with mullets, too many Websites and T-shirts and the like that mock the mullet. (I myself have a "Friends don't let friends wear mullets" T-shirt of which I'm quite fond.) And now it appears I was wrong. Mullets may be popular again.

With that startling pronouncement, I will sit quietly and wait for the other Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse to come blazing forth. For surely this is the end of days.

Agree or disagree with a posting? Lemme know. Have a topic or suggestion? Lemme know that, too. Send an e-mail to kbaird@theblade.com or call 419-724-6734.

LINK: For all of Kirk Baird's Culture Shock riffs

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