Ogly's Cutest Hairdos - Shaggy Hairstyle

        




In the beginning, there was Cousin Itt, a character created by Charles Addams. This creature was basically all hair. We didn't know whether it was male or female. Even knowing up from down was difficult, but we were helped by the fact that Itt sometimes wore glasses and a beret.

     


Like a shaggy dog, the style disguised both eyes, and for the most part, the face. A second character created by Addams who is significant in this style was Wednesday Addams. The television and movie versions liked to display her as a cute, pigtailed, sado-masochist. In reality she was a pale little girl with a flat, almost pie-plate head, whose hair covered the sides of her face.

The nearest to this style was in the mid 1800s. Ancient versions of beauty often showed too much forehead and face (Elizabeth I of England). Shaving and baring the forehead had to do with exposing the sole to the heavens, and was considered desirable. In more recent history, young girls who want to disguise their burgeoning femininity because they are not accustomed to the attention, hide behind their tresses. It wasn't just bangs covering their eyes, but the entire mop of hair which could shut down like a clam or like an automatic door on Star Trek.

This impression of hiding caused a sense of secrecy that was extremely appealing to the male. The best example from Hollywood was Elizabeth Tipton Walker (Tippy Walker). She first appeared as Val, in the 1964 Peter Sellers vehicle, "The World of Henry Orient." With her hair cut short and hanging all over, she would tilt her head forward and hide. To speak to anyone, she constantly had to brush her hair out of her face. The movie was supposed to highlight the talents of Peter Sellers and Paula Prentiss, with an excellent supporting role from Angela Lansbury as the nasty mother. But Tippy Walker stole the movie in the role of an awkward teen growing up, who found refuge in her fantasy worship of pianist Henry Orient. Time magazine reported: "Tippy wears a decaying fur coat that all but sweeps the sidewalk behind her, and her hair hangs down so thoroughly over her eyes that she appears to be the youngest daughter of a woolly mammoth."

        


When Elizabeth Tipton Walker later appeared on the late night talk shows to promote her movie, she was that same endearing shy girl with the drapery of hair which had to be constantly swept aside when she leaned forward to speak.

The key, to anyone studying the effect of the shaggy hairstyle, is to fashion a cut which allows the hair to shut down at will, hiding the face, thereby creating the impression of a secretive existence. This is absolutely guaranteed to drive the boys to distraction. It cannot be effectively initiated by older women. Below are variations on the theme. Note that the variations are shorter and less natural. The natural form is softer and bouncier, and moves under the control of the wearer.

[Here's a video of Val in Love (Tippy Walker) from "The World of Henry Orient", so that you can see how the hair hangs and moves when her head is inclined forward.]




Variations of Hiding the Eyes


     



Home



Article 1   Article 2   Elven   Emo   Freaky   Hot   Pageboy   Peek-a-boo   Shaggy   Wild  





Free counters provided by Vendio.