Dear Mary | 3 October 2012

Q. My son is 22. He has left Cambridge with a good degree, but also a mullet hairstyle (short and sticking out at the front and sides but long at the back). These are the key years when he could be getting a job and a girlfriend and, without the mullet, he would be exceptionally good-looking. I have begged, and even tried to bribe — to no avail. Any suggestions?
— C.J., London SW3

A. The mullet is widely agreed to be the least flattering hairstyle available. No one suits it — but some of the young wear it for ironic reasons. Your son may be cannier than you think. Girls are excited, rather than put off, by men who could be so instantly transformed. Meanwhile the mullet is a useful camouflage. Very good-looking young men with Cambridge degrees and parents living in Chelsea may do well to make themselves unattractive while they look for work.