'Is that your hair?' Tennessee woman sets Guinness World Record for longest mullet
Started with a rattail, now we're here.
A Tennessee woman who began growing a mullet decades ago has earned recognition from Guinness World Records.
Tami Manis of Knoxville was recently crowned winner in the Guinness Book of World Records’ longest competitive mullet female category.
Manis' hair is longer than she is. She’s 5-foot-4, or 64 inches tall. Her mullet has a good 4 inches on her, she told USA TODAY on Wednesday.
"When it's completely stretched out and measured ... it's 68 inches," she said.
Growing her hair out since 1990
Manis first started growing her impressive mane in 1985 when she saw a music video by new wave band ‘Til Tuesday called “Voices Carry," she told USA TODAY. In the video, lead singer Aimee Mann rocks a rattail.
“I want one of those," Manis recalled saying at the time. "I grew up in a small town, overweight teenager. I was like 'Sure, that's going to go over well.'"
In November 1989, Manis cut off her mullet after someone she was close to told her they felt the rattail was more important to her than them.
"I snipped it off and immediately felt like 'Oh, I regret that,'" she recalled. "I still get that feeling of nausea at the thought of cutting (my hair) off now."
She started growing her hair out again on Feb. 9, 1990. That’s her mullet’s official birthdate, she told Guinness.
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'Is that real?'
Manis said that people don't usually realize how long her hair is until she turns around.
"Oh my God ... is that your hair?" she said people often ask her. "Is that real?"
While her hair gets a lot of attention, it's not always a breeze to care for it.
On wash day, she uses Hask shampoo and conditioner, products with argan oil, as well as leave-in conditioner that makes her hair easier to braid. She then dries her hair using paper towels.
Her friend, Sherry Bushong, has been braiding her hair for the past 20 years. The weekly process takes about an hour and 20 minutes.
"She does a nice French braid at the top," Manis said. "I'm standing up. She starts braiding it. I sit down on the edge of my couch and she goes down a little farther. Then I stand back up and she's actually sitting on the floor with me standing when she gets done."
Manis keeps the braid in until her next wash day.
"It does not frolick freely during the week and very seldom is it down for any long period of time because I step on it," said Manis, a public health nurse at the Knox County Health Department who also works with the Tennessee State Guard.
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'Amazing'
Manis’ recent record is not her first time competing. Last year, she vied in the “Femullet” division of the 2022 U.S. Mullet Championships and finished in second place, winning $300, Guinness said. It’s the largest competition of its kind and garners at least 1,000 participants yearly.
Soon after the second-place win, Guinness World Records opened its longest mullet category.
Manis entered and found out she won the Guinness prize when a package was delivered on her front porch.
“This is amazing,” she thought at the time.
What would Mom think?
Manis has talked about her win on Facebook, noting that some people have been mean following her win. One person made a pretty crass remark about how her mother must be proud of her with a vomiting emoji.
"My mom's up in heaven looking down, laughing her behind off," Manis replied.
Another person told her: "Anybody can have long hair."
But that's not true, said Manis, who attributes her long locks to good genes.
"Everybody has a set point," a hairstylist once told her. "It just doesn't grow any farther. I'm lucky mine still grows."
Manis said she isn’t letting any negativity get to her. She even poked fun at herself by sharing a throwback photo of from nine years ago on her Facebook page, adding:
“Let the laughter commence."