The shag haircut appeared due to the fashion for rock ‘n’ roll culture in the first place. Today, it is worn not only by rock stars but also by famous models and actresses. Due to its originality, the shaggy haircut differs favorably from other popular and standard fashion trends for hairstyles.
In fact, what is a shag haircut? This is a messy and textured hairstyle with choppy layers along the entire length. But unlike the traditional layered haircut, shaggy hair allows you to create more complex and therefore individual hairdos.
Moreover, the shag haircuts look great on any hair texture and length, they suit any face shape, and can be a win-win option for ladies with naturally curly hair.
Besides, a modern shag hairstyle provides enough space for creativity. So, it’s up to you which option to choose: you may rock a wavy shag haircut with wispy bangs, stand out wearing a classic shag haircut, or shine bright like a diamond with a messy shag with shaggy layers of various colors.
We’ve rounded up a collection of awe-inspiring shag cuts for women who want to look bold & confident.
What Is A Shag Haircut?
Once you mention the short or medium shag haircut the thought of rockstars of the 70s immediately comes to mind! In the past, it was popular to wear short straight hair with jagged bangs.
In the 21st century, the situation has rapidly changed: now, we observe that a medium shag cut on shoulder-length hair is becoming more and more popular. Interestingly, modern women with curly or wavy locks opt for choppy layers.
Additionally, the shaggy hairstyles are universal and fit all face shapes and hair lengths. The medium shag (also called mid length shag haircut) and a long shag are the most frequently chosen among ladies. However, if the client’s intention is to lose some years, visually stylists make a razor cut shag with jagged bangs!
The principle of creating a shag cut resembles layers technically, according to the random color patterns and templates. Nevertheless, there are differences to take into account. For instance, barbers and hairdressers (this haircut is considered unisex) are slicing the layer tips at 50͒; for its part, the shag is cut at 35-45͒. What’s more, to get feathered layers, your stylist has to mow the tips strongly.
Shaggy hair with shaggy bangs
A shaggy haircut goes well with all kinds of bangs – straight thick bangs, side bangs, curtain long bangs, elongated bangs, etc. The main thing is not to make a too thick fringe, cos it can break the specific look of the whole haircut.
Shaggy bangs look very impressive and cool, and they can be wonderful additions to haircuts of any length. If you have a round face, then choose straight bangs or piece y bangs. Girls with a square face shape should better opt for the side bangs, as they will help smooth facial features.
Shaggy hair with shaggy bangs is also a great choice for girls whose hair isn’t full and thick enough. This hairstyle will visually add volume and make your look even more attractive!
Blonde Shag with Emphasized Layers
Feminine Feathered Shag for Medium Hair
Shoulder-Length Shag with Babylights
Short Shag with Curtain Bangs
Ideas of long shag haircut
The long shag haircut is ideal for bright, extravagant girls who don’t want to part with their long hair, but at the same time want to look as modern and fashionable as possible.
In addition, this hairstyle is a great option for owners of straight hair. A heavily layered haircut allows you to create an interesting choppy hairdo, which doesn’t require special styling.
If you want to wear long loose hair and at the same time look stylish and attractive, a soft shag or a medium shag hairstyle is just for you! Check out the cool ideas of shag haircuts for long hair.
Bouncy, Natural Curls
Long Shag With Soft Waves
Long Layered Shag for Thick Hair
Medium Razored Shag for Straight Hair
Best medium length shag haircuts
Don’t think that a shag haircut is suitable exclusively for owners of either delightful long or edgy short hair. On the contrary, it looks best on medium length hair, reaching the shoulders or shoulder blades.
This haircut is a wide field of fancy – you can create a great number of new styles with shaggy hair. For example, dry your damp hair with a hair dryer and comb them with a round brush for a more daring image or straighten them with a flat iron to get a very elegant look. The choice is up to you!
Modern Shaggy Angled Bob for Thick Hair
Short Shag Haircut
Two-Tone Shag Hairstyle
Shag with Statement Highlights
Modern shag haircut for women
The modern women’s shag haircut is effortless, and its styling allows you to save a lot of time. That is very useful to those who don’t want to spend extra minutes in front of the mirror getting ready for work or just like to sleep a little longer.
The shag hairstyle is practical and doesn’t require the special skills of a fashion stylist. Most importantly, don’t forget to regularly cut the ends of the strands, visiting the hairdresser at least once a month.
Take a look at the pictures with modern shaggy haircuts below!
Modern Shag
Shag Haircut for Thin Hair
Choppy Bright Blonde Bob
Wolf Cut
Shag hairstyles for thick hair
Thick hair is a gift of nature (and, of course, genetics). What is more, thick hair lets your imagination run wild to create completely different hairdos and styles.
If you want to bring something new to your look, try the shag hairstyle! It looks great on thick hair of almost any length, but keep in mind that thick shaggy hair requires additional cutting to remove the excess volume.
Make your image more natural, fresh, and, frankly, younger with shag hairstyles!
’70s Shag
Blunt Bangs with Shag Hairstyle
Voluminous Shag Haircut
Curly Shag Haircut
Layered shag haircuts for fine hair
If nature hasn’t endowed you with thick hair, don’t worry – a layered shag haircut will be an excellent hairstyle choice if you have fine hair since one of its “main goals” is to make thin hair visually thicker.
Blonde coloring or ombre will help to emphasize the interesting and unusual layered texture of hair, making it look more voluminous.
A layered shag haircut doesn’t require special efforts for its styling – and this is a very important advantage because all women want to look amazing, without making much effort for this. Check out more ideas of layered shag haircuts for fine hair!
Shag Haircut with Bangs
Shag with Middle Part
Shag Haircut for Women Over 60
The Gypsy Shag
70s shag haircut with bangs
When it comes to the shag haircut with bangs for women, you probably think about Lisa Rinna’s and Jane Fonda’s ’70s hairstyles.
Despite the fact that these hairstyles are definitely out of fashion, you can bring some creative elements of the 70’s shag haircuts into your image and get a modern interpretation. Take a look at cool ideas of the shaggy hairstyles with bangs inspired by the 70s!
The French Cut Shag
Classic Shag
Shaggy Bob with Bangs
Effortless Shag
Gypsy shag haircut
Want to make a creative, bold image, but don’t know what to choose from the abundance of similar hairstyles and how to stand out from the crowd?
The gypsy shag haircut just hits the mark! This rare and terrific haircut may be the option you have been looking for. It will give confidence and light boldness to your appearance, at the same time emphasizing your femininity.
The gypsy shag haircut is also suitable for those who don’t like compromises: sticking, seemingly disorderly strands, creating the illusion of slight negligence; short front strands properly frame the face.
It allows you to correct the shape of the face – the main thing is to choose the right hair length. This textured shag will look great on natural texture (especially if you have short wavy hair), so a shaggy bob haircut or a pixie shag with choppy bangs are definitely your win-win options.
Collarbone Bronde Shag
Shag Haircut with Balayage
Chestnut Brown Choppy Lob
Medium Choppy Shag with Bangs
Awesome curly shag haircut styles
Curly hair is probably the most suitable type for the shag haircut. If you have curly hair, then safely experiment with shaggy styles! After all, lightness and naturalness are fundamental principles of the latest fashion seasons.
Due to the “ragged”, multi-layered structure, the awesome shag hairstyle can make any look bright and eye-catching. There are both messy variations, inspired by stirring rock’n’roll, and more modern hairstyles versions that look neater – choose what you like more.
What is more – thin strands will look more voluminous and thick hair will be properly highlighted.
We offer you a collection of the best curly shag hairstyles – get inspired and change your image!
Brunette Wavy Razored Shag
Perfect Bangs and Wild Layers
Medium-to-Long Feathered Cut
Black Hair Shag Haircut
FAQ
Should I Get a Shag Haircut?
If you want to change your look and make it more feminine, you definitely should! A shag cut looks more uncommon than just dyed layers and suits absolutely everybody! Speaking about the hair’s natural structure, stylists assure everybody that shag is the most beneficial and win-win hairdo for the owners of fuzzy or wavy hair.
However, it fits various hair textures. What’s more, this is a superb decision for all face shapes! Shag is about layering your hair, so be aware that it will make your hair thinner.
Instead, you will get an additional root volume and a new hair texture! So no weak spots – only winning points for your fashionable appearance with a soft, short, or messy shag.
Are Shags in Style?
The shag hair cut was originally invented in the middle of the last by Paul McGregor. Nevertheless, it is still up to date! Nowadays, such red-carpet personalities and renowned celebrities as Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston, Stevie Nicks, Zendaya, etc. wear this cut.
The world-famous actress Jane Fonda is brilliant proof of the attractiveness of a shag cut on all hair lengths: both long and short! The mid length chevelure will be optimal for this hairdo as well (for example, a medium shag or other variations of mid-cute shags are possible).
Are you still thinking about changing your look to this style? It is more likely that ladies who read about shags rush to their hairdressers to change their look due to attractive wavy locks as soon as possible.
Are Shags Low-Maintenance?
Except for vintage wavy locks, there is another benefit – the low maintenance of a shoulder length or short shag. To be precise, you don’t have to visit your hairdresser regularly and style your hair all the time. Additionally, it’s unnecessary to update and cut your shaggy layers with tips regularly.
But it is worth noting that only a professional hairdresser (or a barber for men with long hair) can provide you with a haircut that is appropriate to both above-mentioned criteria, so it may strike your budget! Remember, if you pay for quality, a long period of wearing shaggy and healthy hair is 100% guaranteed!
How to Style a Shag Haircut?
You already know that missing the step of styling the shag is possible, and it looks good, especially on natural curls or waves. However, it doesn’t mean that an unstyled haircut will be analogical to the ones which celebrities have.
Hence, in order to achieve the salon result, you must style it all the time, but it’s not as hard as it sounds. There are different ways to form it:
| Harm-free stylers: | Temperature stylers: |
| Rollers | Hairdryers and brushes. |
| Folk methods (for hair’s natural texture) | Curling iron, hair straightener, etc. |
Remember about using a thermal spray, oil, and other protectors! Do not risk your chevelure when it comes to any experiments.
Even a soft shag with long bangs (almost untreated ones without too choppy bangs) can be dangerous for the health of your hair if you use low-quality care cosmetics and do not protect your feathered layers with the help of premium thermal products.
What Is a Modern Shag Haircut?
There are differences between shags before and nowadays. Now, this variant of styling seems more choppy and messy – all the layers look like a crown.
Thus, a popular cropped shag is likely to turn out to be more structured than before. During the last decade, women started to wear such types of shaggy looks:
- Pretty;
- Wolf;
- Soft;
- Cute;
- Cropped, etc.
The conception of cutting and styling had also revolutionized. The evolution takes place in the context of visible transformations of all the ladies’ expectations and looks.
For example, more and more women consider this hairdo more feminine than others. At the same time, some men ask their barbers about rockers’ long bangs for a curly or wavy hair type with a shaggy flavor.
Accordingly, we see how many types of shags we have today. All the variations are possible for various female and male looks. Moreover, shaggy hairstyles are able to highlight the most beautiful features of the human appearance (big eyes, a perfect oval face, etc.).
How Do You Ask for a Shag Haircut?
Not all hairdressers know what a shag haircut is and usually confuse it with mid or shorter layers. That’s why 50% of all the clients are disappointed with the shaggy experiments.
If the typical shag can take place with no risks and unpleasant final results, be ready that extraordinary versions like an extremely short shag or a hairdo with feathered layers can fail.
According to this fact, it’s vital to choose a professional stylist that is aware of all the features and differences among the shaggy hairstyles. It is recommended to schedule your first experiment when you have hair of mid-length (shoulder length). Even if something goes wrong, you can count on shaggy short hair.
Here are some tips on how to request the shag of your dream:
- Prepare the photos of the shag hairstyle you want.
- Show the shag cut of your interest to your hairdresser or barber.
- Inform your styling specialist about your hair texture (hair type).
- Enquire about the textured shag, heavily layered cut, and sliced tips.
- Discuss your shag cut during the styling process.
- Be sure that the specialist is ready to meet your expectations.
It will be useful to search for the different aces and require examples of their work and assure in their professionality. Note that straight shag haircuts will vary from the concept for a wavy shag haircut with choppy bangs.
How Do You Style a Short Shag Haircut?
There are various ways to wear a short shaggy hairdo: from a shoulder length shag with curtain bangs to cropped bob and curls. However, the wrinkle is contained in length: it’s easier to style medium (a shoulder-length shag haircut) or long (a long-length shag haircut) than short (styling versions with shorter layers).
Here is a list of helpful tips and tricks for ones who are interested in a home-based and handmade short shag hairstyle with attractive wispy bangs:
- Draw on the texturizing compound.
- Twist the soggy hair.
- Dry it.
- Fix the hairdo with a spray.
You should also look for the different ideas and tutorials for styling a short shaggy haircut on the Internet. For instance, surf YouTube videos to find life hacks for your short-length shag cut. Note that thicker hair is difficult to style. The curtain bangs and a wavy shag with shorter layers are impossible without stylers and supplementary care cosmetics.
Bottom Line
Shag is an optional cut for all hair textures, for all face shape types, and for ladies of all ages. The story of this hairdo started in 1971 with Paul McGregor.
He discovered a new haircut and majored in the number of inventions in the beauty industry (for example, all the shaggy variations like a wavy shag, a shaggy haircut with choppy layers, a shaggy bob for straight hair, etc.).
The first lady who tried this flagman styling was an American actress Jane Seymour Fonda. After the release of the film “Klute”, the shoulder-length shag with bangs became so much appreciated among women around the world.
Despite the past years, this hairdo is still on-trend nowadays. There is a pick of modern interpretations:
- The soft shag (optimal for thick hair textures with curtain bangs);
- The cute shag (usually, a mid-length shag haircut);
- The cropped shag (a shaggy bob with choppy layers for thin hair), etc.
As there are so many variations of the short and medium shag haircut, it is not surprising that we don’t recognize a shaggy bob or a wavy shag among other cuts. Can you believe that Merline Monroe and Jane Fonda both wore wavy shags?
Hence, you observe that a shag ‘do is really diverse, and you can choose an appropriate style for any hair textures and other parameters!
