FXSave this storySave this story
Ryan Murphy’s fever dream adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ The Shards is packed with requisite ’80s signifiers: absent parents, early-MTV bangers, Satanic Panic-fueled serial killers, and, of course, a homecoming queen makeover.
“She’s a fall not a spring—she’ll need warmer undertones. But I do like what you’ve done with the hair,” says former Indiana beauty queen Liz (Evan Rachel Wood), offering backhanded approval to her lookalike daughter Debbie (Hayes Warner) and her styling skills ahead of a pivotal—and shocking—homecoming court coronation in episode six. Liz’s straight bangs and blonde lob feel severely glam—and nod to Michelle Pfeiffer’s Elvira Hancock in the 1983 crime epic Scarface, a Murphy request.
“That hair is also very iconic from the ’80s,” says hair department head Valerie Jackson. “It was really fun to give Evan Rachel Wood something that she hasn't really had before, style-wise. She was very into it as well. Every time we put that wig on, she instantly would be like, ‘There she is, ready to go.’”
Liz Schaffer (Evan Rachel Wood) and Rhonda (Ivy Wolk) after Rhonda’s homecoming queen makeover.
FX
In the episode titled “Homecoming Part One,” aspiring actress Debbie and her high-achieving best friend Susan (Kaia Gerber)—the presumed homecoming queen—have conspired to divert the prestigious title to Rhonda (Ivy Wolk), a well-liked classmate and recently escaped kidnap victim (seriously, this show has everything). The first step in their master plan is transforming the free-spirited Rhonda with a quintessential ’80s teen-movie homecoming queen look. “Your beauty is maybe more… severe… maybe even feral,” says Debbie, to a tentative Rhonda. “Like in a European way.”
For the series in general, Jackson explains that Murphy wanted to avoid stereotypical ’80s looks, like shellacked claw bangs and aggressive perms, which also skew later in the decade. They did make an exception for Debbie, in a flashback, and Rhonda, who both sport still-polarizing crimped hair in earlier scenes. “But when [Rhonda] has her makeover and is going to be homecoming queen, that's when you get to see more of a softer curl and a feathered bang.”
To the dulcet tones of Lionel Richie’s “Lady” and armed with Miss Breck and Rave hairsprays and an array of curling irons from Debbie’s ornate pink vanity, the best friends reassuringly soften Rhonda’s straight-as-a-board bangs and long dark hair into a tumble of bouncy curls, twisted up on one side and tucked behind the other ear. “Since Debbie and Susan are doing the makeover, her new style is a little more reminiscent of something that they would have worn,” says Jackson.
Rhonda (Ivy Wolk) before her homecoming queen makeover.
Valerie Jackson
Wolk in the hair and makeup trailer, having her hair curled with Conair Hot Sticks.
Valerie Jackson
While Gerber and Warner mimed curling iron techniques on Rhonda, Jackson clarifies that no hot curling irons were used in the makeover scene. “[That type of heat] closes the cuticle and doesn't allow the more natural, fluffier textures of this time to shine,” says Jackson. “I made sure that we definitely used the tools from the ’80s, so every hairstyle on the show is either a blow dry with a hairbrush or with Hot Sticks [flexible electric rollers from Conair that were big in the ’80s and '90s]. Rhonda got her little makeover with Hot Sticks.”
But did Jackson use Aquanet super-hold hairspray, which is prominently featured on Debbie’s well-stocked vanity? “Absolutely not,” the nine-time Emmy nominee says, with a laugh. Jackson did, however, consult with props on Debbie’s ’80s-specific products and tools.
Ahead, Jackson breaks down the key hairstyles and character evolution of the core group of wealthy Los Angeles teenagers in 1981 throughout the season.
Susan: The Golden Girl
Kaia Gerber as Susan in episode 3 of “The Shards.”
FX
Self-assured valedictorian and class president, Susan, barely has to try. She even orders a Reuben sandwich and fries for an after-school snack at Hamburger Hamlet, while Debbie—conditioned by the damaging body-image attitudes so integral to the ’80s—resigns herself to another dressing-free wedge salad. So, of course, Susan’s long, lush, and side-parted waves are always precise and perfect as she walks the halls of Buckley Prep.
“I loved being able to create a nice, natural, fluffy texture that was very reminiscent of that time frame, although I still needed to make sure that she looked like a student because [Kaia] is a model,” says Jackson, who didn’t have to look far for hairstyle inspiration. Gerber did not fall far from the supermodel family tree because she’s the hair apparent—sorry—of her mother, Cindy Crawford.
“Her mom was definitely an inspiration [for Susan’s hairstyle] because she's got beautiful hair. Kaia and I would talk about this often,” continues Jackson. “If I was curious if a certain style would look good on her, I would look at some references of her mom [in the same style]. I'm like, ‘OK, that looks good on her mom…’ And she loved that because they're so close.”
Jackson styling Kaia Gerber’s hair on set.
Valerie Jackson
Jackson also credits Hot Sticks for Susan’s ’80s-authentic, “silky” waves. “I wanted the audience to be able to look at her hair and feel like that is her natural texture—does she have a perm?— and then just get lost in how beautiful it looked,” says Jackson, who, again, drew from Crawford to style and maintain Susan’s flawless side-swept and pinned back waves.
“Kaia shared with me that her mom was very much into Stephen Knoll, the New York City salon [Crawford] had been going to since the ’90s for haircuts. Kaia said that she used his products and hairsprays, too,” says Jackson. “She connected us, and then it ended up being the perfect product for the show—and what I ended up using on everyone.”
Debbie: The Blonde Bombshell
Hayes Warner as Debbie Schaffer, Evan Rachel Wood as Liz Schaffer in episode 2.
FX
“Debbie always broke all the rules. By senior year, her hair was a shade of platinum, inspired by Blondie,” intones her boyfriend, the budding author Bret (Igby Rigney), in voice-over, over a flashback of Debbie fluffing her tightly crimped ’80s hair while smoking in the high school bathroom.
Debbie inherited her film-star looks from her pageant-queen mother and her ruthless, cutthroat nature from her movie-producer father, Terry (Wes Bentley); her sharp tongue and innate defiance, however, probably come from both. Debbie’s bleached-blonde shoulder length cut—and sometimes visible dark roots—also signal her privilege and status.
“Her hair is not supposed to appear to be natural. She is coming from a wealthy family, so it is supposed to at least appear like it's healthy,” says Jackson, who made sure Warner’s already-bleached hair to the specific blonde tones of the era. She also cut Warner’s front layers to naturally feather out with an easy blowout and setting. “Most of the hair was not super challenging to get to where we needed to go.”
Beyond the scripted Debbie Harry reference, Jackson looked again to Pfeiffer. “Some of the styles when Hayes wore her hair up were reminiscent of her [in the 1980s],” says Jackson. “It was really fun to look to icons who are still icons today and apply those looks to our young cast.”
Debbie (Hayes Warner) in a flashback scene with her hair crimped.
Valerie Jackson
Debbie’s hair blow-dried and her bangs feathered.
Valerie Jackson
Best Friends Playing Their Parts
Debbie and Susan’s hairstyles remain consistent throughout the nine-episode season, but they switch up their signature parts at meaningful times. In episode four, when Debbie feels neglected by Bret, insecure about an upcoming televised dance-off, and threatened during a serial killer’s reign of terror across L.A., she pivots to a side part. “It usually showed a softer side of her—maybe more of a vulnerability,” says Jackson.
Debbie’s hellbent on winning a Dance Party USA-esque competition to kickstart her fame, so she sports a more voluminous version of her trademark hair. “I’m going to rule the world,” she declares in her intro at the start. Susan takes the opportunity to explore her future outside of her regimented high school world. “I’d like to pursue a career in the legal arts,” she proclaims, with her glossy, defined curls styled with an unexpected middle-part.
“[Her side part] is just a very polished version of her—maybe even part of her uniform. Then when she's kind of letting her hair down, so to speak, and going to dance-off, it's a little more of a mature look in her eyes. It's different. You can see more of her dreams and desires, and it's not just school related.”
Susan not only steals Debbie’s defining hairstyle, but also her thunder—by winning the competition. “She does want to win dance-off,” says Jackson. “When she's in school, she doesn't necessarily want to be homecoming queen, but she does have other aspirations outside of just being class president.”
Robert: The Enigma
Homer Gere as Robert Mallory in episode 2 of “The Shards.”
FX
As Debbie and Susan enter senior year, they welcome a mysterious, handsome new classmate, Robert (Homer Gere). He immediately attracts the attention of Susan—threatening her relationship with her jock boyfriend, Thom (Graham Campbell)—and Bret, who increasingly suspects he’s the serial killer.
“Hi, I’m Robert. I like trying new products, like gel and mousse… and studying the philosophies of Khalil Gibran,” he says, with a wide, guileless smile in his dance-off intro. In short, Robert’s an enigma, as reflected in his ever-evolving hairstyles, which evoke the heartthrobs and teen-movie villains of the era.
“Homer's really got the silkiest hair ever,” says Jackson. Like Gerber, Gere can probably thank the genetics of his ’80s icon parent, in his case, Richard, whose American Gigolo curly mullet still inspires haircuts to this day. “We start off with the quintessential, slicked-back look, which almost has that mysterious villain quality to it.”
Robert first appears—and intrigues Bret—at a showing of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining before the start of senior year. For this moment of foreshadowing, Murphy had set his sights on a “slicked” style for Robert. So Jackson dove into research of relevant styles from the ’80s, citing groups like A-ha for inspiration.
“His school look is a feathery, side part. You see it blowing in the wind, showing a little more of his vulnerable side,” she says. “Then, as he starts to become more immersed into the group, his slicked back hair looks like he's taking a little more time. It's feathered. It's got the volume.”
Jackson credits contemporary versions of an ’80s staple—mousse—with giving Robert’s resplendent mullet its foundation. “I would do a round brush blowout into the shape, and then I would lock it in with hairspray,” says Jackson. “Everyone was hairsprayed to high heaven. A lot of times, I did not need to redo anybody because their hair would stay because of so much hairspray.” And there's nothing more period-accurate to the 1980s than that.
