Dido flip
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The Dido flip was a female hairstyle 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.[citation needed]
Origin of the term
Although perhaps not the first use of the term, the words "Dido flip" were noted by The Sunday Times in a profile of the artist after she won two "BRIT" Awards in 2002. "Having a distinctive chopped hairstyle that has been widely copied as 'the Dido flip' attracts the paparazzi like hungry mosquitoes".[1] Stylist Steven Ward, of New York's Garren Salon, described the flip as a "short choppy shag".[2]
Reactions
The Dido flip started to be perceived as a distinguishing feature of the artist. Dido herself was quoted as saying that she "love[d] it when you turn up at gigs and the first few rows all have your haircut".[2] However, in 2005, she noted, "I've always tried to keep people focused on my music, not on me. So I don't parade around with a bra top and hot pants".[3] 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".[4] Interviewed in 2013, shortly before the release of her fourth album, Girl Who Got Away, she appeared puzzled,[where?] but amused, by the attention that her hair had attracted.[5]
A journalist who interviewed her shortly before the release of her second album, Life for Rent (2003), noted that "for a platinum-selling star she radiates normality .... She looks like any quietly stylish 31-year-old".[6] Similarly, in 2004, the Observer described Dido's style of dress on stage as "high-street chic".[7] However, in September 2007, the Daily Telegraph speculated as to whether "music's own Bridget Jones ... has, like her trademark boot-cut jeans and eponymous Dido-flip hair, fallen out of fashion".[8]
The flip was sported for a time by Chelsea Clinton, daughter of the former US President Bill Clinton,[2] 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 (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, "All You Want" (2001), and to a lesser extent on that of "Thank You" (2001). Photographs of Dido published in November 2008 with her third album, Safe Trip Home, showed a version of the flip that was slightly longer and shaggier than before.
Notes
- ^ Sunday Times, 24 February 2002
- ^ a b c Sunday Times magazine, 2002
- ^ Daily Mail, 24 June 2005
- ^ Metro, 5 September 2006
- ^ Interview with Tim Jonze, The Guardian, 15 February 2013; London Evening Standard, 1 February 2013
- ^ Dorian Lynskey in The Big Issue, 21–27 July 2003
- ^ Observer, 1 August 2004
- ^ The golden season: November - Telegraph