What is a shaggy haircut? Styles & tips (2024)

A shaggy haircut is a great option for anyone looking for a stylish, low-maintenance style to rock this year. Shaggy cuts have been popular since the 1970s, and with many people keen to rock vintage vibes, this style is making a comeback this year.

From bangs to curtain fringes, there are so many styles to go for if you want to achieve a stunning, head-turning shaggy cut. Read on to learn more about this superb style and find some styling tips from our Laifen experts to achieve your chosen style this year.

What is a shaggy haircut?

A shaggy haircut is similar to a shag haircut. It is a layered style that was popularized by rock stars in the 1970s, and it's a great style for men and women.

If you're a fan of the hit sitcom Friends, you can think back to the styles that Rachel favored in the show's early seasons. Monica even opted for a shaggy style in later seasons, such has been the enduring popularity of the shag.

Simply, to achieve a shaggy layered haircut, you need to texturize your hair and ensure volume in all the right places. It's a relatively low-maintenance style that is perfect for short, medium, and long hair types.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at some of the best shaggy haircuts for women that you can rock in 2024.

5 best women's shaggy haircuts for women of 2024

From shaggy bangs to a curtain-fringe shag, here are five stunning shaggy haircuts for women that you can rock in 2024:

1. Shaggy bangs - The best shaggy haircut with bangs

Taylor Swift has shown us all how to wear bangs in recent times, but a shaggy haircut is all about the bangs, too! When you style your shag with bangs, you can bring out the best features of your face, most notably your luscious cheekbones. This style is perfect for women with medium-length hair.

2. Shaggy pixie cut - The best fine hair shaggy pixie cut

Kaley Cuoco's shaggy pixie cut took many Big Bang Theory fans by surprise, but it's a look that she's very much made her own. This cropped shaggy haircut is perfect for women with shorter hair.

To style a shaggy pixie cut for thin hair, focus on a wispy texture around the bangs and ask your stylist to add volume to the fringe for a style that is tousled to perfection.

3. Messy shag with waves - Our favorite shaggy cut for wavy hair

One of the reasons that shaggy haircuts became so popular in the 1970s and 1980s was because they gave off messy, devil-may-care vibes. The look allowed women with stunning wavy hair to wear it pretty much au-natural.

Today thanks to better styling products, you can rock a messy shag with waves that are more polished. It will hold in place throughout the day, making it a good style for any occasion.

4. Rock-star shag - The perfect shaggy cut for long hair

Similar in some respects to the messy shag, the rockstar shag was popularized by Mick Jagger and his contemporaries. This style features layered, voluminous hair that is shoulder-length or longer.

We think it works better for women with dark brown or black hair, so expect to turn heads for all the right reasons if you catapult your friends back to the heady seventies with this timeless look.

5. Curtain fringe shag - A stylish option for shaggy short hair

If you're looking for a style that works wonders for your short hair, opt for a shaggy haircut with a curtain fringe. Base your style on a classic French-girl fringe and stay away from bangs that cover your forehead to add space and flair to your cut. This is a great option for women with short to medium-length hair.

Tips for maintaining your shaggy haircut

After going to all the effort of rocking a shaggy haircut in the first instance, you need to maintain your style to perfection. With that in mind, we asked our expert stylists for their shaggy haircut tips, and this is what they recommend:

Tip 1. Learn how to cut shaggy hair

Texture and layers are key to achieving shaggy hair. So, you need to know how to cut shaggy hair to get the style right, or you risk making your hair look clumsy and messy. Given that this style can be difficult for beginners, our experts recommend hiring a stylist to cut your shaggy hair to perfection.

Tip 2. Consider different styling options

Our experts also recommend knowing how to style a shaggy haircut. As mentioned, this style gained popularity because it was super low-maintenance and free-flowing.

But as there are so many brilliant styling products available today, a holding wax or spray can make a big difference to the style of your shaggy cut. Knowing your products and styling options can make it much easier to maintain your shag cut long into the future.

Tip 3. Use the best blow dryer

Like all haircuts, you need to wash and blow dry your shaggy haircut to keep it in good shape. Our experts caution against using low-quality dryers for shaggy styles, as they can lead to significant frizz, which will ruin this cut.

Using a leading ionic dryer like the Laifen Swift Premium is a great way to eliminate frizz, and you can also dry your hair on multiple heat settings. Trusting the best dryer will help you maintain your shaggy haircut throughout the year.

Final thoughts

Shaggy haircuts are a stellar option in 2024. They're daring, retro, and low-maintenance, offering you a stunning style with minimal fuss. Use our styles above as your starting point and bear in mind our styling tips as you maintain your stunning shaggy haircut throughout the year.

HAIRCUT

What is a shaggy haircut? Styles & tips (2024)

FAQs

What is a shaggy haircut? ›

A shag cut is a hairstyle that has been layered to various lengths. It was created by the barber Paul McGregor. The layers are often feathered at the top and sides.

What is the best haircut for a 70 year old woman? ›

A shag haircut offers choppy ends and tousled layers that flatter fine, thin strands- making it ideal for women in their 70s. The typical features that make up a shag hairstyle include choppy layers around the crown and lots of texture.

Are shags good for fine hair? ›

The shag haircut works on all density levels. However, a lot of people tend to mix up fine hair and thin hair. "I will never recommend a shag for thin hair because it is such a layered cut that it will take out too much weight and look like a mullet," says Rachel.

Is shaggy hair layered? ›

By definition, a shag haircut is a choppy, layered cut with a fringe, says Pok, and as you can see with this style worn by Katerina Tannenbaum, the natural curl in her hair makes these short layers on top really pop.

What hairstyle makes an older woman look younger? ›

Shoulder-length hair (or longer) with layers

Forget what you thought about long hair past the age of 40—thick hair actually looks more youthful and polished when it falls shoulder-length or longer. Shorter hair has a tendency to expand at the ends, leaving you with an unflattering triangle effect.

What is the best haircut for a 65 year old woman over? ›

What is the most popular haircut for women over 60? We find it hard to choose between the pixie cut and the bob, both of which are very popular with women over 60. Pixie cuts have lots of sass, while the bob is incredibly versatile and can be smooth, feathered, side-parted, or flicked out at the ends.

Do you look older with longer or shorter hair? ›

Long hair can enhance facial features by diverting attention away from wrinkles or age spots and adding volume to your hair. Short hair does not need to age you, though, as the style and texture of shorter hairstyles can add a youthful appearance.

How do you describe shaggy hair? ›

Textured Layers: Shag haircuts are characterized by their textured and tousled layers.

Do you have to style shaggy hair? ›

"For the shag, you have to let go of conventional styling techniques that we have all been doing for the last decade," Devin Toth, hairstylist at Salon SCK in NYC, tells PS. "You wouldn't do a perfect, bouncy, round-brush blowout, styled section by section, and then create loose waves, set by a large curling iron."

What is a wolf cut haircut? ›

Wolf cut hairstyles are a mix of two popular current haircut trends, aka the shag haircut and the mullet. Both these trending hairstyles feature a mix of layers and bangs. While the mullet is a short haircut, the shag haircut can be short, long, or mid length. When put together, it results in unique wolf haircut looks.

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