'80s Hair is Back, And You Have ‘Stranger Things’ Hairstylist Sarah Hindsgaul to Thank
Beauty
TSS Talent
Sarah Hindsgaul
Beauty
TSS Talent
Sarah Hindsgaul
Hindsgaul has been meticulously designing and creating ’80s hairstyles on the set of “Stranger Things” since 2016, returning the extravagance and the mousse-infused volume of the era onto our screens… and, ultimately, back in fashion.
Anyone who experienced the 1980s—even those elder millennials who grew up in the decade’s shoulder-padded shadow—cringe a little remembering all the crimping, teasing, and over-processed perms. But a strange thing’s been happening lately; we’ve seen more and more people playing around with ’80s-inspired cuts and elements of popular ’80s styles, to the point where it’s no longer surprising to see an A-lister sporting mall bangs or a mullet on the red carpet (see: Miley Cyrus at the Grammys and Paul Mescal at literally any movie premiere).
Like any trend, there isn't just one reason why we're seeing this fascination with the excess of the 1980s. It might have something to do with politics, global affairs, or the fact that a good portion of Gen Z was raised by Eighties babies. It could be a reaction to years of quiet luxury and clean beauty, but I'd argue a lot of it is a result of what we're seeing on our film and television screens, from "Atomic Blonde" and "The Americans," to "The Carrie Diaries" and "Cobra Kai." No show, however, has done more for the ’80s revival than “Stranger Things,” and no person has done more for making ’80s coifs cool again than Sarah Hindsgaul, opens in new tab. Together, the sci-fi series and Danish-born hairstylist have got millions of Gen Xers and millennials feeling pangs of nostalgia for their childhoods, and shown a new generation what life was like before cell phones, social media, and the Dyson Airwrap.
Hindsgaul has been the lead hairstylist on “Stranger Things” since the show first aired in 2016, tasked with recreating hairstyles from the 1980s as accurately as possible—a feat that required a lot of research, a ton of mousse, and buying every vintage hot tool she could find. Hindsgaul’s meticulousness hasn’t just earned her two Emmy nominations. Her designs have us swooning over Steve’s voluminous mullet, turning into mush at the sight of Eddie’s metal-head curls, and even contemplating a perm after Nancy’s hair transformation in season three. Ultimately, she got people to see '80s hairstyles in a whole new light.
The reason Hindsgaul’s work has been so impactful on current beauty trends is that she made ’80s hairstyles feel touchable, wearable, and relatable versus what we’re used to seeing in the films, shows, and hyperstylized salon imagery from the era. “What I think people don’t realize is that a lot of what we see from the ’80s are [two-dimensional] images, and if people were getting their photos taken, they were really styling their hair, so they were spraying a lot of product in it; the same for movies,” Hindsgaul tells The Set Set. “In real life, most people weren’t overly spraying their hair. It was still moveable and light—much more touchable and airier than people tend to think it is.”
We’ve all seen those unflattering photos from the ’80s where people did overdo it with too much hairspray or too many layers. Heck, for some reading this, you're the one in those photos (and hopefully having a good laugh about it now). But according to Hindsgaul, that shouldn’t scare us away from revisiting some of the hairdos from the decade, “because if you take the good bits, they can be very flattering," she says. Speaking to us about some of the series’s most memorable hair moments below, Hindsgaul shows us all how (with a little help from some runway and red carpet inspiration, too).
Vickie’s Bixie
Vickie (Amybeth McNulty) rocks a classic ’80s cut, similar to Princess Diana’s hairstyle when she was still "Lady Di," says Hindsgaul. “It’s layered all around the front so that it flows back away from the face. In the back, it’s cut in a pointed, diamond shape, very much like a classic Vidal Sassoon haircut.” To give Vickie’s hair a cool factor, Hindsgaul styled McNulty’s hair less like Diana’s very polished blow-dry and more like Molly Ringwald’s tousled look in “16 Candles.” Hindsgaul and her team used mousse and a big hot blow-dryer from the ’80s to give it a voluminous, airy quality, followed by a smaller-sized hot blow-dryer around the face to give it shape.
Vickie’s cut has become immensely popular lately, better known as a "bixie." One part bob, one part pixie cut, the style is all over the runways, red carpets, and beloved by Gen Zers. No one wanted it more than McNulty’s “Stranger Things" costar, Maya Hawke, who plays Robin. “Maya begged Matt and Ross [Duffer] to be able to get Vickie's cut, but we actually ended up giving it to Nancy at the very end of season four for some of the end scenes,” says Hindsgaul.
Max’s Long, One-Length Cut
Max’s long hair is cut exactly how hairdressers would have done it in the ’80s, says Hindsgaul. “I instructed my team to cut hair the way they did back then, which is taking their scissors and cutting straight across [the ends of the hair], versus with the tips of their scissors, which wasn't popular at the time.” This technique leaves the bottom of the hair looking heavy, which more and more hairstylists say they’re doing in the salon these days.
To add movement, the team gave Sadie Sink a few light layers and face-framing pieces, but otherwise her hair is left untouched. “No curling, no smoothing, no over-brushing, just her natural texture," says Hindsgaul. "It’s meant to feel like she doesn’t put any effort in—like she doesn’t care.”
Robin’s Rounded Bob
Robin’s classic Vidal Sassoon bob is meant to feel the opposite of Vicki’s more fashionable style. Cut straight across with a short fringe, “her hair is meant to feel rounded and big,” says Hindsgaul, who blow-dries mousse into Hawke’s hair to add volume and ensure any waves added afterwards stay all day. “Then, we added texture with curling irons and a little texturizing spray, like Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray, opens in new tab—anything that doesn’t weigh the hair down.”
The short bob might feel basic, but the style has never been more popular. All types of bobs are trending at the moment, but the one-length version most of all. Just look at the red carpet, your neighborhood coffee shop, or your TV screens—Lily Collins in “Emily and Paris,” Leslie Bibb in “The White Lotus,” Emily Ratajkowski in “Too Much,”, opens in new tab and Greta Lee in “The Morning Show”, opens in new tab all have bluntly-cut bobs.
Nancy's Perm
Not counting Eleven, Nancy—played by Natalia Dyer—is the character whose hair has changed the most on the show. There was her long, half-up look in season one, the wavy bob in season two, and her attempt at more adult-like, permed styles in season three. But it was the fluffy evolution of her perm in season four that really got people talking. Inspired by Kelly McGillis in “Top Gun,” Hindsgaul wanted the perm to look as realistic to the decade as possible, which required over-processing Dyer’s hair. "I let the solution sit a little too long so the curls became extra crisp, and then we brushed it out to have that cloud-like bounce. That tiny adjustment made it feel alive on screen.”
While Hindsgaul absolutely does not advise purposely frying your hair with chemicals, she does love a well-done perm IRL, even in 2025. “I just gave my younger brother a perm, and I loosened up the curl and didn’t overprocess it. So the modern way to do it is to do a looser curl … and obviously, don’t burn your hair.”
Billy's Bad-Boy Mullet
Billy’s hairstyle—very much inspired by a young Rob Lowe—is the most fashion-forward and stylish of all the mullets on the show, according to Hindsgaul. It’s also the most extreme, with lots of short layers on top and the hair at the nape of the neck cut extremely thin. “You have a lot of transparency in the cut because we wanted to be able to see the shape; there’s really only two or three ringlets at the back.” The curly texture and “extreme-ness” of the shape helped give actor Dacre Montgomery the edge he needed to play Hawkins’ resident villain.
Billy is just one of the many characters with a mullet on the show, and like everyone (except actor Joe Keery), he wore a wig. “When we started the series, the trend for men was that very cropped cut, like David Beckham,” says Hindsgaul. “No one wanted to grow their hair into a mullet, so it’s funny now to see people all over Williamsburg, Brooklyn with one.” But according to Hindsgaul, it really isn’t all that surprising since the mullet has appeared again and again throughout history, from the royal courts of Europe to the American hair bands of the '80s.
Steve's Voluminous Mullet
As the stereotypical jock in season one, Steve’s mullet starts off coiffed, but then gets grittier and cooler throughout the series, as people realize there's more to him than meets the eye, explains Hindsgaul. “In the first series, there was no texture, just hairspray, but now we use a dry wax, Kevin Murphy Night Rider, opens in new tab, to give it this gritty, rockstar texture. I like it because it’s smooth enough to get into the hair but textured enough to give it hold.”
Keery's hairstyle caused a sensation on social media when the series first aired, with everyone wanting to know A) if that's his real hair (yes, except for some extensions added to the nape of his neck) and B) how Hindsgaul pulls it off. The answer: she preps his hair with lots of Rene Furterer mousse and blow-dries it with a round brush. Then, she applies the Kevin Murphy wax in the back and on the sides, followed by a little Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray for more grit, and then finishes with a ton of R+Co Outer Space hairspray, opens in new tab to keep his thick hair in place.
Eddie's Rock 'n Roll Shag
The longest of all the mullets, Eddie’s heavily-layered cut could also be classified as a shag or a wolf cut, both immensely popular styles at the moment. “He’s the rocker, so his references are really rock bands from the ’80s,” says Hindsgaul, who looked to artists like Eddie Van Halen and bands such as Venom and Iron Maiden for inspiration.
The most challenging of all the mullets on set, it took five wig sets on actor Joseph Quinn to get right because Hindsgaul didn’t realise at first how hard it would be to get both the length and the volume on top. “The wig is cut short all along the top of the hair to get that movement,” she explains. “What people don’t realize with a mullet is you really can’t be afraid; you have to go all in on cutting around the top of the hair to get that shape you want.”
The Boy's Bowl Cuts
The bowl cut was pretty much unavoidable if you grew up in the ’80s (especially if your parents cut your hair). “Both me and the Duffers were set on having the bowl cut featured in the series,” says Hindsgaul. Go back to season one, and Mike (,), Dusty (Gaten Matarazzo), and Will (Noah Schapp) all have them (Jonathan, played by Charlie Heaton, has hair that's bowl-ish).
As they get older and the series progresses, however, their bowl cuts start to change. Wolfhard’s hair got naturally curlier in real life, so Hindsgaul played into the actor’s natural texture for Mike, adding layers to bring out even more texture and curl. Dusty rocks his curls in a Steve-esque mullet, while Will's continues to feel bowl-like, a visual reflection of the fact he's still struggling to grow up and leave childhood behind.
Lucas' High-Top Fade
Hindsgaul has shared in the past that Caleb McLaughlin's dad cut his hair during the first season, when the actor wore his natural curls cropped short. It made sense, not just to save time (the kids were only allowed 10 minutes in hair and makeup), and since Hindsgaul wanted the kids to literally look like their mom cut their hair in the kitchen before school. "He’d cut it at home before filming, which saved time on those early call mornings," Hindsgaul wrote on her Instagram, opens in new tab. In season four, Lucas has joined the basketball team and now has a hi-top fade, an era-appropriate expression of his eagerness to fit in with the popular crowd and break away from his old group of friends, according to the hairstylist. McLaughlin hasn't kept the style IRL—preferring braids, twist outs, and a small fro—but Lucas certainly has by the looks of the season five promos material.
Hindsgaul's '80s Hair Must-Haves
"Everyone thinks we use so much hairspray [on set], but I didn’t," says Hindsgaul." Instead, we use lots and lots of mousse. That's because when you’re filming, you don’t want hair that looks stiff, you want it to look real because you want these characters to feel relatable. You also don’t want to use a lot of hairspray on wigs because it will make them look dirty and stringy. Mousse adds volume and natural flexibility but lasts for 16-hour shoot days."
