[familyop]

"Exactly. These aren’t what we could have called mullets back then."

Agreed. The hair (long enough to partially or completely cover the ears) was cut to various lengths on the sides. It looked "layered" or "feathered" and was combed towards the back dried with a blow dryer. It vaguely resembled scales from front to back on the sides. It was called a mullet later on, if I remember correctly, when it was going out of style ('80s and '90s).

On the distopian look with the hair cut very short with clippers on one or both sides, I first saw it in the '90s. Some of the women in the Midwest are still wearing it, more often those with drug problems. Some of the boys in those families also wear it.

[Bikkuri]

I used to do/cut my own hair (still do, actually.. what is left of it 😜). (I remember I had messed up once and had to cut most of it off though.. early teen) I would brush the side to the front and trim it.

I don't recall ever using a blow dryer though.. I would let the sides dry while it was brushed to the front, then brush back after it had dried (although, the top I would brush back while wet). It came out nicely feathered (I had very soft hair, which I learned later, isn't a good thing later in life 😝, unless you like very low maintenance hair (or lack of)).
Same with the back, which always wanted to be fluffy/bushy.. I would brush it up until it was dry, then brush it down after it was dry, which straightened it out.

The back was past my shoulders, but the sides barely covered my ears.

Went to Uni, and lost interest in the mullet, and had a 'business' like haircut until I went into the military. After the military, I could NEVER stand any hair touching my ears, so it's been buzzed ever since.