hairstyle
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal groomi ...
of the early 21st century in imitation of the singer and songwriter Dido Armstrong. It was a "chopped" style with hair flipped to one or both sides and often strands not cut evenly. Dido noted in a number of interviews that she was surprised and uninterested by the attention she received over her hairstyle.
Etymology
The first notable use of the term "Dido flip", was by ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' in a profile of the artist after she won two
BRIT awards
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
in 2002. "Having a distinctive chopped hairstyle that has been widely copied as 'the Dido flip' attracts the paparazzi like hungry mosquitoes". Stylist Steven Ward, of New York's
Garren
Garren is an American hairstylist. He has worked in the fashion industry since the 1970s.
Early life
Garren was born in Niagara Falls, New York in 1949. As a teenager, he became interested in fashion and hair after being exposed to ''Vogue'' and ...
Salon, described the flip as a "short choppy
shag
Shag, or Shagged, or Shagger, or Shagging, or Shags may refer to:
Animals
* Shag or cormorant, a bird family
** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family
** Great cormorant another species of the family
People Pseudonym
...
".''Sunday Times magazine'', 2002
Reactions
The Dido flip started to be perceived as a distinguishing feature of the artist. Dido herself was quoted as saying that she "love it when heturn dup at gigs and the first few rows all ad herhaircut". In 2006, in response to a question about fans focused on her looks, she elaborated, "I just make music and don't pay much attention to all that". Interviewed in 2013, shortly before the release of her fourth album, ''
Girl Who Got Away
''Girl Who Got Away'' is the fourth studio album by English recording artist Dido, released in Europe on 4 March 2013, and in North America on 26 March 2013 by RCA Records. The album serves as the follow-up to 2008's ''Safe Trip Home''. Recording ...
'', she referenced the excess attention her hair had received over the years.
A journalist who interviewed her shortly before the release of her second album, ''
Life for Rent
''Life for Rent'' is the second studio album by English singer Dido, released by Arista Records on 29 September 2003. The album was produced by her brother Rollo Armstrong and American songwriter Rick Nowels. Work on the album began in mid-20 ...
'' (2003), noted that "for a
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Pla ...
-selling star she radiates normality .... She looks like any quietly stylish 31-year-old". Similarly, in 2004, ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' described Dido's style of dress on stage as " high-street chic". However, in September 2007, the '' Daily Telegraph'' speculated as to whether "music's own
Bridget Jones
Bridget Rose Jones is a fictional character created by British writer Helen Fielding. Jones first appeared in Fielding's '' Bridget Jones's Diary'' column in ''The Independent'' in 1995, which did not carry any byline. Thus, it seemed to be an act ...
... has, like her trademark boot-cut jeans and eponymous Dido-flip hair, fallen out of fashion".The golden season: November – Telegraph /ref>
The flip was sported for a time by
Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Victoria Clinton (born February 27, 1980) is an American writer and global health advocate. She is the only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinto ...
, daughter of the former US President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, at the time of Dido's rise to fame.
CD covers and materials
The Dido flip was not discernible on the cover of the artist's first album, ''
No Angel
''No Angel'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Dido. Originally released on 1 June 1999 in the United States, the album found a mass audience when it was released worldwide in February 2001. By 2003, the album had sold mo ...
'' (1999), on which her hair was combed back, and by the time of ''Life for Rent'', her hair was longer. It could, however, be seen clearly on the cover of the
CD single
A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...
, " All You Want" (2001), and to a lesser extent on that of "
Thank You
"''Thank you''" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of ...
" (2001). Photographs of Dido published in November 2008 with her third album, ''