In the ’70s, long before neon-splashed plaits and glitter-dusted roots were crafted for the theater of Instagram, summer hair was something entirely different. The decade’s rock ’n’ roll musicians and showgoers alike were letting their manes run wild and free. And at the forefront of this devil-may-care hair attitude was none other than witchy goddess Stevie Nicks, who turns 75 today. For Fleetwood Mac’s frontwoman, there was no such thing as a bad hair day.
As evidenced in a famed 1977 clip of Nicks getting ready with best friend and confidant Robin Snyder, she always took her cascade of dirty blonde waves into her own hands backstage, brushing and teasing them to the heavens, sometimes blithely twisting them, whichever way the proverbial wind blew, into a loose-at-the-nape knot. The queen of bohemia, her fanned-out, eyelash-grazing fringe and lived-in waves—worn up or down, alone, or accessorized with a top hat or crocheted headpiece—were as effortless and insouciantly sexy as her billowy capes and low-slung peasant skirts.
With temperatures starting to soar, it’s worth recognizing that Nicks’s perpetually tousled tresses not only make the case for a directional, wash-and-go shag cut, but also for embracing frizz with help from a fine-toothed comb, well-placed chapeau, or the take-no-prisoners humidity. Below, more examples of how to take laissez-faire lengths to the next level this summer—the Stevie Nicks way.
