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1984ButBlair remembers...My first haircut was a short shag. When I was in first grade, I wanted to get my long hair ... More »
Posted on 09/02/08
It was once the look of David Bowie, Rod Stewart, the Rolling Stones and Mrs. Brady, but it’s made a big comeback in recent years. What is this look? Oh, why it’s the shag!
The shorter shag hairstyle was created in 1965 by stylist Paul McGregor, who took the mod, close-to-the-head look and flipped it out, leaving longer, more whimsical pieces at the sides and the nape of the neck. Not unlike the carpeting of the same name, the look was funky and fun. What made it better than the carpet was that it was much easier to manage, but that’s a topic for another day. The name of the cut appealed to a youthful generation in the most simple and easy way possible.
Shag represented the sexy, androgynous look that was loved by glam rockers and just about anyone who wanted to look “edgy.” It could be shorter with spikes, or longer with lilting tips; any way it was worn, you just had to turn your head to see the face that came with it. It was a demanding look that was perfect for a nice oval face. Once Jane Fonda wowed audiences with the cut she sported in Klute, women everywhere took to their hair with hairdressers and scissors to try and get the look for themselves. Who wouldn’t want to crawl out of bed and look that gorgeous?
As 70s glam came in, the shag would take a backseat to the high maintenance styles of the time, like Farrah Fawcett wings, only to resurface in the 1980s. Of course, the 80s rocker look was more mullet than shag, but hey we took what we could get! The look came back, apparently to stay, in the 1990s and we haven’t looked back since.
