70s Hairstyles: 10 Iconic Looks and How to Get Them Now

The defining 70s hairstyles were the Farrah flip, the shag, the afro, long straight hair with a center part, the wedge and big disco curls, plus the feathered cut and the shag on men. What ties them together is not a length or a shape. It is movement: every one of them was built to swing, bounce or flick, and almost none of them was ironed flat.

That is the thing most 70s hair guides miss. The cut only gets you halfway. The other half is the tool, and it is usually a round brush, a set of rollers or plain air drying. Use a flat iron or a modern curling wand on a 70s cut and you get a 2020s look with a 70s haircut underneath. Below are the ten looks worth copying, which one suits your hair type, how to do the feathered blowout at home, and the mistakes that turn it into a costume.

What Were the Most Popular 70s Hairstyles?

The most popular 70s hairstyles were feathered layers (made famous by Farrah Fawcett), the shag, the afro, long center-parted hair, the Dorothy Hamill wedge and roller-set disco curls. Men wore the same ideas: feathered cuts over the ears, shaggy layers to the collar, and big natural afros.

The decade split roughly in two. The early 70s carried over the hippie look from the late 60s: long, straight or loosely wavy, parted in the middle and left alone. By the middle of the decade, blow-dried volume took over. Farrah Fawcett's red swimsuit photo from 1976 became what the Smithsonian calls the bestselling poster of all time, and the feathered hair in it became the look half the country asked for. Dorothy Hamill won Olympic gold the same year and put the short wedge in every salon.

The Farrah Flip

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The Farrah flip is long hair with face-framing layers that start around the cheekbone, blow-dried back and away from the face in rounded wings. It has curtain bangs split at a center part, a lot of lift at the roots and ends that flick outward.

Here is the part that matters: the flip is not in the cut. A stylist can give you the exact layers and you will still walk out with ordinary long layers if nobody blows them back. The shape is made each morning with a round brush, rolling each front section away from your face. If you are not willing to spend ten minutes on that, pick a different look on this list.

Ask for it in plain terms. "Feathered" means different things to different stylists, so name the landmarks.

The Shag

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The 70s shag is short, choppy layers at the crown that get longer toward thin, wispy ends, usually with bangs. It sits around the collarbone and relies on natural texture rather than heat. That is why it has come back so hard: it is the one 70s look that gets better the less you do to it.

It suits wavy hair best, because the layers give the wave room to move. On very straight, fine hair it can go flat and stringy by lunch. If you are still deciding between a true shag and its softer modern cousins, our shag haircut guide breaks down the medium, long and curly versions.

The Afro

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The 70s afro is natural coily hair picked out into a full, rounded shape. It was as much a statement as a style, and it is still the best way to show off the volume of type 4 hair without heat.

The shape comes from the pick and from shaping cuts, not from length alone. Ask for the afro to be cut dry and in its natural state, so the stylist can see where it wants to sit. For wash day and moisture routines that keep a picked-out shape soft, see our 4c hair guide.

Long, Straight and Center-Parted

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The early 70s look was long, straight hair with a sharp center part and no layers at all. Think of it as the anti-haircut. It was grown, not styled, and it was often worn past the chest.

The only real demand is healthy ends. One-length hair shows every split end because there are no layers to hide them, so trim a quarter inch every eight to ten weeks and nothing more. If your hair is long already, this is the cheapest 70s look on the list. Our long hair guide covers the layered alternatives if one length feels too heavy.

The Wedge

The wedge is a short cut with the back stacked in graduated layers, so the volume sits in a rounded shelf above a close, tapered nape. Dorothy Hamill wore it at the 1976 Winter Olympics and a generation of girls started asking for "the Dorothy Hamill".

It is a precision cut, so the growing-out phase is unforgiving. Book trims every five to six weeks or the stacked shape collapses into a shapeless bob. It works best on straight to slightly wavy hair with medium density.

Disco Curls

Disco curls are big, soft curls set on hot rollers and then brushed out, so they merge into volume rather than separate ringlets. That brushing step is the whole difference. Unbrushed roller curls look like the 40s. Brushed-out ones look like the dance floor in 1977.

Use large rollers of about 1.5 inches, set on dry hair, leave them until they cool completely, then break them up with your fingers or a wide paddle brush. On naturally curly hair you can get the same shape with a diffuser and a lot less effort.

The Pageboy

The pageboy is a chin-length, one-length cut with the ends turned under all the way around and full bangs to the eyebrows. It is the tidiest look on this list and the one that has aged least.

It needs thick, straight hair to hold the rounded shape. On fine hair it can look thin at the ends, and a layered bob is the more forgiving choice.

Boho Waves With a Headband

Boho waves are long, loosely waved hair with a center part, often worn with a thin headband across the forehead. It is the hippie look from the early part of the decade, and it is mostly air drying.

Scrunch in a light mousse on damp hair, part it in the center and let it dry. The headband is optional. The center part is not.

The Men's Feathered Cut

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The 70s men's feathered cut has a center part, hair covering the tops of the ears and touching the collar, and side layers blown back in soft wings. Full sideburns finish it. No fade, no clippers.

It is the same technique as the Farrah flip on shorter hair, so it needs the same daily blow-dry. Grow the sides past the ears before you ask for it. The awkward stage is covered in our guide to growing out long hair as a man.

The Men's Shag

The men's shag is shoulder-length hair with choppy layers on top and at the crown and wispy bangs to the eyebrows. It was the rock musician's cut of the decade, and it still works best with some natural wave.

Ask for the layers to be point-cut rather than razor-cut on fine hair, so the ends do not go thin and see-through.

Which 70s Hairstyle Suits Your Hair Type?

Your hair type decides which 70s look will hold its shape past lunchtime. Blow-dried looks need hair that holds a bend. Air-dried looks need hair with its own movement.

Fine, Straight Hair

Pick shapes that rely on a clean line, not lift. The long center part and the pageboy look fuller than they are because every strand ends in the same place. A Farrah flip on fine hair will look great at 8am and flat by noon.

Wavy Hair

You are the natural 70s type. A shag or boho waves need almost no heat on 2a hair and up. Cut the layers dry if you can, so the stylist sees where each wave actually falls.

Curly and Coily Hair

Lean into volume. Disco curls, a curly shag and the afro all reward curl. On 3c hair and tighter, feathered looks only work after a silk press, and the flip drops out the first humid day.

The Mistakes That Make 70s Hair Look Like a Costume

Most bad 70s hair is not a bad haircut. It is a modern tool, or a missing step, on a good one.

• Using a flat iron or a curling wand. A flat iron kills the flick and a wand gives tubular modern curls. The 70s shapes are made with round brushes, rollers and air. Swap the tool and the same cut suddenly reads right.
• Skipping the brush-out. Roller curls left as they come out look 1940s. Brush them out and they look 1977.
• Cutting the face-framing layers too short. Feathered layers that start above the cheekbone flip up into a helmet. Start at the cheekbone or below; you can always go shorter next visit.
• Asking for "feathered" and nothing else. It means six different things to six stylists. Name the landmark where the shortest layer starts and where the length should stop.
• Going all in on costume details. A 70s cut with modern clothes reads current. Add the flared jeans, the headband and the blue eyeshadow and it becomes a party look.

The mistake that costs the most is the third one, because layers are the part you cannot undo. Hair grows about half an inch a month, so a feathered layer cut two inches too short is a four-month wait. That is the wall with any 70s cut: you cannot see the shape on your own face until it is already cut.

70s Hairstyles Gallery: 10 Looks Side by Side

Same salon, same light, same framing. The only thing that changes from tile to tile is the hairstyle, so you are comparing the shapes and nothing else. Tap any tile to try it on.

Gallery10 photos · tap to enlarge

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If you want one 70s hairstyle that works today with the least daily effort, get the shag. If you want the one everyone recognizes, get the Farrah flip, but only if you will blow-dry it every morning. And whatever you choose, put the flat iron away: the decade was made with brushes, rollers and air.

Not sure the layers will suit your face? Before you book, read up on messy bangs, since the curtain bangs on most of these looks start the same way.