David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust was copied from a girl and completely flopped first try

David Bowie’s iconic red Ziggy Stardust hair was a total “flop” first try. The late, legendary rock icon - renowned for his chameleon-like style and boundary-breaking glam - wore his fiery red hair during the groundbreaking Ziggy Stardust era, inspired by a girl’s red spiky haircut. But his hairstylist’s first attempt was a total flop.Suzi Ronson, Bowie’s trusted hairdresser, stylist, and close confidante, revealed the surprising backstory behind the glam rock masterpiece.Speaking at the inaugural ZIGGYFEST at Ziggy Green in London on Saturday (06.09.25), Suzi said: “He was a hippe kid, he finished that first album with his long wavy blonde hair, he finished Hunky Dory then he was working on Ziggy. He showed me this photograph of this girl with short red spiky hair and he said 'can you do that?' That’s a girls hairstyle, surprisingly, and I thought 'how am I gonna do that?' But I did it and it failed miserably, it flopped."Back then, hair dye options were limited and products almost non-existent. Desperate to make it work, Ronson improvised with whatever she could find. Undeterred, Suzi went back to the salon, grabbed Schwarzkopf Red Hot dye, and used Gard, an anti-dandruff treatment she had on hand, as a firm-hold solution.She said, 75: “I didn’t have the dye. No one had products in those days. I went away, found the colour, and used this anti-dandruff treatment that set the hair like stone.”When Bowie finally debuted the bright red hair, Suzi said, “He looked incredible. He looked like Ziggy Stardust -  like what he was. I didn’t even know he had makeup or costumes, I knew not much.”The Spiders from Mars band - featuring the late Trevor Bolder on bass, Mick Ronson on guitar, and Woody Woodmansey on drums - complemented Bowie’s striking look with their own glam style.Suzi laughed: “It takes a real man to wear pink. They were skinny as rails, had great hair, and were incredible musicians.”When Bowie and his band hit the streets in their flamboyant outfits, they quickly caught attention, often being called out and wolf-whistled by onlookers. She said: "David and their band could not be seen walking around in tight jeans and high heels. I was there to go get their shopping. The consequence if they were out, boys would wolf whistle at them ‘Hello Darling’…The ladies even more.”