50 Medium Shag Haircuts You’ll Want To Try in 2024

Are you ready to shake up your look with a fabulous shaggy haircut? If you prefer your hair not too short and not too long, you’ll love these medium-length shag haircuts, striking the perfect balance of versatility and edginess. Whether you’re craving a subtle change or a dramatic transformation, these shag cuts are your ticket to a fresh, modern look.

1. Choppy Shag

This style is all about layering and texture, making it a perfect choice if you’re looking for something that’s easy to style but still trendy. The choppy layers add a funky touch and work well to give your hair some body and movement.

2. Blonde Shag With Dark Roots

Embrace a bit of rock ‘n’ roll flair with this blonde shag cut. The contrast between the dark roots and blonde strands adds depth and makes this style easier to maintain as it grows out. This haircut is particularly effective at adding volume and dimension.

3. Wavy Mid-Length Shag

If you have natural waves, this cut will enhance them beautifully, making it seem like you’ve put more effort into your look than you actually have. The layers are designed to reduce weight, allowing your waves to bounce freely. It’s perfect for anyone wanting a shag hairstyle that enhances natural texture and maximizes movement.

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4. Wispy Silver Shag With Bangs

This shag is all about softness and subtlety, featuring light, airy layers that create a youthful look. The bangs frame your eyes and soften your facial features. It’s perfect for creating a fresh look that’s flattering and low-key.

5. Medium Length Copper Shag

This cut is tailored to bring out the best in medium-length hair, providing shape and structure with expert layering. The style allows for flexibility in how you wear it, whether you choose to air dry for a casual look or blow-dry for a bit more polish. And the copper shade is simply stunning.

6. Straight Feathered Shag

Feathered layering makes your hair appear thicker and fuller, which is ideal if you have fine hair or want to boost volume without excessive styling. It’s THE shag that combines texture with a sleek appeal. 

7. Wavy Shaggy Cut With Piecey Bangs

This shag hairstyle enhances your natural waves with strategically placed layers that create a textured appearance. The piecey bangs add a playful touch, drawing attention to your eyes and balancing the volume throughout your hair. It’s perfect for a new look that’s effortlessly stylish.

8. Textured Shag

Tap into the textured trend with this voluminous shag. This style is all about creating depth and movement with layers that invite your natural texture to come alive. It’s a fantastic choice if you’re aiming for a vibrant look that stands out while maintaining a laid-back look.

9. Tousled Brown Shag With Bangs

Go for a tousled look if you want a style that combines playful texture with casual elegance. The bangs frame the face beautifully, softening your features and enhancing your eyes. Perfect for everyday wear, it’s a style that keeps on giving, looking just as good messy as it does fresh.

10. Wispy Shag With Long Bangs

Think of the wispy shag with long bangs as your go-to for a trendsetting yet easy-to-manage look. The layers here do wonders for thin hair, adding volume and movement that bring out the best in any hair type. And those long bangs? They soften your features and can be styled to suit your mood or the occasion.

11. Blonde Bob With Shaggy Layers

Play up your hair texture with shaggy layers. These voluminous layers add a lively dimension to the classic bob, making it ideal for a modern look. You can let it air dry for a carefree, tousled look or add a bit of styling cream for a more polished appearance.

12. Tapered Wavy Shag

The tapered wavy shag enhances your natural curls or waves, giving a light, bouncy feel to your hair. If you’re someone who values a balance between style and convenience, this wavy shag offers the freedom to shake things up with minimal styling time. Whether you scrunch in some product for added texture or just let it air dry, you’ll be good to go in no time.

13. Shag With Side Swept Bangs

Featuring side-swept bangs that blend seamlessly into layered waves, this shag is all about creating a soft, romantic vibe. It’s an excellent choice for adding volume to finer hair, while the layering minimizes bulk for thicker hair types. This hairstyle delivers a modern look with just a quick brush and minimal styling products.

14. Straight Shag For Thick Hair

This is the ultimate cut for managing thick hair while keeping it stylish. The strategic layers help distribute your hair’s weight, making it feel lighter and more manageable. It’s a wonderful choice if you want a shag haircut that simplifies styling but still looks full and healthy.

15. Medium Length Tousled Shag

If you’re looking for a shag haircut that provides volume and texture with minimal effort, the medium-length tousled shag is a go-to. The light layers and wispy ends create a beautifully textured look that enhances volume. The added depth from the layering allows for different styling options, whether you’re curling it for more bounce or straightening it for a sleek, edgy look.

16. Ombre Shag

This hairstyle merges the soft gradient of ombre with the edgy texture of a shag cut, making it perfect for adding a little boost to your style without too much commitment. The layers enhance the color transition, adding a dimension that really makes the colors pop.

17. Straight Blonde Shag Cut

Straight, sharp layers deliver a clean, polished look you’ll love. This style is especially great if you have fine or limp hair, as the layers help to create an illusion of thickness and volume without heavy styling. It’s an adaptable look that allows you to experiment with different partings and styles, ensuring you never get bored.

18. Voluminous Wispy Shag

This look is about creating maximum volume with wispy, feathered layers that flow effortlessly. It’s ideal for injecting life into fine hair, giving you a bouncy, full-bodied look that feels as light as it looks. This style is incredibly forgiving on a variety of face shapes, thanks to its soft lines and textured ends, which work to soften features.

19. Vivid Copper Shag

Inject some color into your shag cut! Catch everyone’s eye with this vivid copper shag that combines rich color with textured shaggy layers. The layers work wonderfully to accentuate the copper tones, offering a warm, vibrant look that stands out.

20. Loose Curly Shag

Show off your hair’s natural texture and volume with this shoulder-length shag hairstyle. The layers are cut to enhance your natural curl so that you can skip the extensive styling. A little mousse or curl cream, and you’re ready to go, which is fantastic for those busy days.

21. Mid-Length Soft Shag With Bangs

Soft layers meld into the bangs to enhance your facial features, and the gentle waves create a voluminous appearance, making your hair look fuller. This cut isn’t just about good looks; it’s incredibly practical, too. The length is long enough to pull back when you need a more polished look yet short enough to avoid the fuss of extensive styling.

22. Choppy Highlighted Shag

Highlights accentuate the shaggy layers, creating a vibrant, multidimensional look that is easy to style. The versatility of this cut allows you to easily switch up your look from casual and laid-back to glamorous and edgy. Once you experience the compliments that come with this jaw-dropping shaggy cut, you’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch sooner!

23. Curly Shag

Shaggy layers work wonderfully to reduce bulk, making your curls light and defined. The natural, tousled finish means you can say goodbye to meticulous styling. And the choppy layers give your hair a fuller look and add movement, making each strand appear energized and voluminous.

24. Thick Textured Shag

This shag is a must-have for women with thick hair looking to manage their tresses while keeping style in check. The layers in this cut are crafted to remove weight and enhance texture, allowing for a natural, buoyant look. This is particularly beneficial if your hair tends to feel heavy or unmanageable, as the layering promotes bounce and ease of movement.

25. Blonde Shag With Rounded Bangs

Flaunt a classic with a twist with the blonde shag featuring rounded bangs that soften and frame your face. This style combines the lift and lightness of a shag cut with the elegance of smoothly curved bangs. Plus, it works brilliantly with minimal styling effort.

26. Shag With Curtain Bangs

Want a gorgeous blend of modern and retro? Try this shag cut with its curtain bangs that frame the face beautifully. The shag layers add texture, and the bangs softly frame your face, drawing attention to your eyes.

27. White Shag with Bangs

This shag hairstyle is striking in color and cut, with layers that add volume and a breezy feel. The feather-light layers offer an airy feel, while the bangs soften your features and shine a spotlight on your eyes.

28. Tousled Beachy Shag

Capture the essence of the beach with this tousled shag. Intentionally messy, this cut’s perfectly disheveled layers create a truly carefree look. With every strand seeming to fall just right, the cut enhances your natural features and works wonderfully on any hair texture.

29. Shag With Highlighted Tips

Add a subtle sparkle to your hair with a shag enhanced by subtle highlights. This style adds a touch of radiance without overwhelming your look, perfect for boosting your look with a hint of vibrancy. It’s great for an understated style refresh.

30. Soft Wavy Shag

For a gentle, feminine look, the soft wavy shag is a go-to. The waves are perfectly defined by the layered cuts, offering a charming style that’s easy to love and even easier to maintain.

Bonus 20 Medium Shag Haircut Ideas to Copy

Ahead, find twenty medium shag haircut ideas just in time for your autumn hair transformation.

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Wavy Medium Shag

Jennifer Aniston may be best known for her Rachel haircut from Friends, but before the iconic Rachel, she rocked a wavy medium shag on the show. “To achieve this natural curly look, the hair needs [definition],” Lambertucci says. His suggestion? Use mousse to combat frizz and create effortless curls. “Just apply it to damp, towel-dried hair after showering and comb it with a wide-tooth comb, then scrunch,” he instructs.

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Curly Shag

Shags work on curls and coils across the texture spectrum, too. “For curlier hair, I always work with the curl pattern to make sure the layers fall correctly, says celebrity hairstylist Sally Hershberger. “I love adding shorter bangs to really make the curls pop.”

17 Curly Hairstyles For Every Hair Type

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Beach Wave Shag

Hailey Bieber’s beach blonde hair looks effortlessly chic in a medium shag cut. “To achieve this look, it’s important to use products that enhance thickness,” Lambertucci says. “Products from the Milbon Scalp Collection can help clarify the scalp and make the hair appear fuller. Once dried, use a curling iron to leave the waves defined, and then use flexible hair spray. After two minutes, comb the hair to leave the strands separated and voluminous.”

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Medium Shag Blowout

Billie Eilish rocked a quintessential hag cut for the promotion of her studio album, Happier Than Ever. To get the look, Lambertucci says to use a heat spray, such as the Kérastase Genesis Défense Thermique Blow-Dry Primer ($45), on freshly washed hair. Then, apply a volumizing mousse before blowing it out. If you’re worried about frizz, smoothing hair with a boar bristle brush, such as the Emi Jay Mini Boar Bristle Brush ($42), can work wonders.

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Shag With Grown Out Roots

Rihanna is another great example of a curly shag, not to mention a wolfier silhouette. The voluminous, top heavy style looks effortless, especially with the grown-out root.

The Wolf Cut Is a Fan-Favorite Hairstyle Among Celebrities

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’80s Shag

Debbie Harry may be equally as renowned for her vocals as she is her iconic shag haircut. “For this look, I suggest washing your hair only with shampoo, as using conditioner will leave hair too silky, to create this volume,” Lumbertucci says. With that in mind, he recommends using the Kérastase Chronologiste Shampoo ($45) to nourish hair pre-blow dry. Then, use a large round brush to blow out your hair, followed by a misting of the Schwarzkopf Osis Session Extreme Hold Hairspray ($20) to lock in the lift.

If you struggle with volume, consider adding a body-boosting mousse or treatment.

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Medium Shag With Wispy Bangs

Halle Berry makes a perfect case for a medium shag with wispy bangs. “For this finish, which I love, the hair should be washed and conditioned with Oribe Brilliance & Shine Shampoo ($49) and Conditioner ($52)—this will leave your hair beautiful, shiny, and loose,” Lambertucci says. “To create this look, blow dry hair with a wide, flat brush. Touch up lightly with a curling iron as needed.”

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Wolf Shag

The wolf cut is a mix between a mullet and a shag. That said, if you’re looking to rock a bolder tress silhouette, you might want to take a page out of Natasha Lyonne’s book.

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Blunt Bangs Shag

Taylor Swift is an icon—for her vocals, her style, and, of course, her hair. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, she debuted a tousled medium shag with a blunt bang that’s undoubtedly been recreated by many, many fans. “Fine hair, like Taylor Swift’s, requires washing every day,” Lambertucci says, noting that this can take a toll on volume. “To maintain volume from the roots, I recommend the Big Sexy Hair Powder Play Volumizing & Texturizing Powder ($20). Then, curl with a curling iron and finish with L’Oréal’s Infinium Hair Spray ($30).”

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Side Part Shag

Alexa Chung is practically synonymous with her sleek lob haircut but has been known to switch it up every now and again. “I love giving clients with straight, finer hair a shag since it gives so much volume,” Hershberger says. “By keeping the layers a bit longer, it gives the cut a ‘70s, boho chic vibe.”

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Shag With Side-Swept Bangs

Kathryn Morris was an early adopter of the side-swept shag, helping to popularize the look back in the early ’00s. The trick to recreating her look is to achieve long-lasting volume and body. Using the Dyson Airwrap Multistyler ($600) with the Round Volumizing Brush can help perfect the look. Meanwhile, for a high-shine, frizz-free finish, prep your hair with the Color Wow Dream Coat Supernatural Spray Anti-Frizz Treatment ($28) prior to drying.

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Tousled, Textured Shag

“Since shags are so versatile, they can be worn in many ways, such as with a side part, longer layers, or curtain bangs,” Hershberger says. “It all depends on the style you’re going for.” Here, Kerry Washington is rocking a shag cut with a deep side part for a tousled, textured take on the trend.

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Ombré Shag

Color has the ability to totally transform a shag. Where brunette colors give a shag a modest everyday look, a bright blonde shade or blonde ombré, like Chloë Grace Moretz’s hair above, offers a more rocker chic appeal.

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Fine Hair Shag

Shag haircuts don’t have to be super edgy. Here, Ellen Pompeo (our beloved Meredith Grey) dons a subtle shag with sun-kissed balayage highlights. All in all, the color and cut work together to make her fine hair look full.

12 Haircuts That Make Thin Hair Look So Much Thicker

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Chestnut Shag

Jasmine Tookes’s shag looks extra full thanks to some expert styling. Hershberger’s trick for getting this level of texture and lift is to reach for dry shampoo—not a texturizing spray. “To add extra texture and volume, I always use Sally Hershberger 24K Supreme Stylist Voluminous Dry Shampoo ($32),” she reveals.

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Shag With Highlights

If you like the idea of a shag haircut but don’t actually want to cut a bunch of layers into your hair, you can use styling to your advantage for a similar look. Here, Chrissy Metz shows off gently waved tresses that take on shag-like movement and texture.

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Spiraled Shag

Tight spirals work beautifully with shag cuts. Case in point: Gabrielle Union’s side-parted shag with spiraled bangs. To pump up the shine, try using the Living Proof Curl Moisturizing Shine Oil ($34)—over 7,000 Sephora shoppers swear by it.

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Curtain Bangs Shag

If you’re worried that a highly-layered haircut will be difficult to style, think again. Here, Hilary Duff proves that you can easily pull back face-framing layers while letting curtain bangs stand out.

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High-Shine Shag

How stunning is Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s subtle shag cut? With long layers, it’s a less choppy rendition of the shag trend.

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Feathered Shag

Last but not least, we have Mariska Hargitay (or as we know and love her: Olivia Benson). Hargitay’s shag has transformed over the years but it always maintains a series of layers and face-framing snips to accentuate her strong jawline.