North Korea has taken the bold step to ban skinny jeans, mullet hairstyles and lip piercings.
Dictator Kim Jong-un has unveiled the country’s latest crackdown on fashion and trends and hopes citizens will avoid replicating exotic and decadent’ western lifestyles.
He’s also banned ripped jeans, slogan T-shirts and nose rings because he feels they are all representations of a capitalist society.
According to South Korean media, the ruling was laid bare in the North Korean newspaper Rondong Sinmun.
It wrote: “History teaches us a crucial lesson that a country can become vulnerable and eventually collapse like a damp wall regardless of its economic and defence power if we do not hold on to our own lifestyle.
“We must be wary of even the slightest sign of the capitalistic lifestyle and fight to get rid of them.”
North Korea has been able to control what its citizens look like for years thanks to a series of measures designed to keep the status quo.
There are 15 ‘socialist approved’ haircuts that everyone must pick from when they go to the salon or barber.
Don’t even think about trying to get a mohawk or rainbow coloured highlights put in because it will be refused by the hairdresser.
Also recently, North Koreans have been told they can’t consume Western magazines or videos.
The mullet ban must be due to the rising popularity of the hairstyle in the last few years.
Celebrities, fictional characters on TV shows and movies, as well as the general population have been absolutely lapping up the ’80s hairdo with gusto.
Just before we entered 2021, a barber predicted it was going to be the year of the mullet and he’s not entirely wrong.
Tony Copeland, the co-founder of the British Master Barbers Alliance, told the Daily Star: “The modern mullet is only going to get bigger in 2021.
“We will see more men up and down the country walking around with this style. Long hair will be big news in 2021 and hair products to give control to longer styles will explode next year.”
Clearly, North Korean wants to buck the trend and stick to their iconic and timeless 15 haircuts.
