Shaggy Rugs, the history and styles of - A Rug's Life

Introducing the Shaggy Rug

Shag Rugs (or Shaggy Rugs) are fibre based rugs that have much longer fibre strands than regular rugs. They're also less dense, allowing for a more 'grassy' natural look.

These rugs are not quite as common as your usual type of short haired rug, but can do amazingly well in the right settings. In fact, we would say they’re underutilized as they’re perfectly suited for balancing stray textures in a space. On top of this, they’re fun to walk on, look at, and can add that extra dimension of liveliness you didn't even know you needed in your home.

History of the Shag Rug

Although difficult to pinpoint, some people say they probably originated in the Middle East and Central Asia hundreds of years ago. The alternative origin is all the way back to Ancient Greece, whereby some speculate that Shag Rugs were made from goat hair. Unfortunately a consensus has yet to be found on this particular topic.

Shaggy Rugs are here to stay!

Some people consider Shag Rugs a relic of the past, as they were thought of as an essential part of 1960’s and 70’s contemporary living. However like most trends of the past, they've come back in a big way as of late and never really did go out of style to begin with. And rightly so! They fulfill a need that no other rug can.

Some styles and designs are probably best left in the 70’s, but the Shaggy Rug really is something that can survive the test of time due to its simple, yet unique composition.

Why are they special?

There are two things that make a Shag Rug stand out.

The first being as previously mentioned, the length of the strands. The other is that the strands are also twisted, which helps the fibre stay in place. If these strands were not twisted, that rug would no longer be very ‘shaggy’ and become more of a ‘messy fluffy’ rug. Each long piece would lose its individuality!

The different breeds of a Shag Rug

These days, a Shag Rug can come in three different types.

Those three types are ‘long’, ‘short’ and ‘mini’. The longest type are quite reminiscent of the style one would remember from the 60’s.

The short shag has around half the strand length of the long shag. Perhaps the medium shag would suit better for a name! This type of rug is great if you don’t want to go full shag, but still want those interesting textures in your space.

The mini shag is only slightly longer than that of a regular rug. Perfect if you’re wanting to add just a hint of texture, but still want something much closer to a regular rug than a Shag Rug.

To suit Modern design, Shag Rugs these days will mainly come in singular or more plain colours rather than vibrant multi-colour which would have worked quite well in the 60’s, but alas not so much today.

What do we make Shaggy Rugs with?

One other main difference between the Shag Rugs of today and our funky relatives of the past is that due to changes in technology and production techniques, they now come in different materials.

These include Cotton, Nylon, Synthetic, Polypropylene, and Acrylic. This gives the Shag Rug a lot more variety in their look and feel, and are now becoming more popular as a choice for school-age students, teens, playrooms and game rooms. Their fun and soft feel makes them ideal for these types of settings and we’re glad to see whole new worlds of possibilities for the Shag rug opening up again.