The Unexpected Hair Trend That Would Make Boomers Proud

What goes around comes around—and we’re not just talking about karma here. In this case, we’re referring to hair trends. Every few years, there’s a collective recycling of styles that occurs and looks we never thought we’d see again (ex: space buns and butterfly clips) are suddenly everywhere.

Now it appears we’ve gone even further back in time to the hair trends our mothers wore back in their day, as evidenced by the recent proliferation of shaggy, feathery cuts that are all over TikTok and Instagram. Taking the top spot as the most requested cut of 2022 so far is the octopus haircut.

Named for the way the cut is more round and bulbous up top and spreads out at the bottom (like an octopus head and its tentacles), the style is essentially a type of shag.

The cut is characterized by its visible layers with wispier pieces that blend in through the lengths, so you still get plenty of volume on top, but the overall effect is a little softer than a mullet or a wolf cut.

The octopus haircut offers a nice alternative to traditional layers and allows you to keep some length throughout. Though you can always tailor a cut to suit your hair, this style tends to work best on those with straight or naturally wavier hair (especially if you don’t want to be bothered with styling it too much).