Sunday, May 10, 2026

Angels Wardrobe 2

screen caps of Shelley
from the Charlie's Angels
episode "Angels Go Truckin'"

1979 was a new era for the hit TV series Charlie's Angels. Supermodel Shelley Hack joined Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd to form Charlie's glamorous new Angel team. Nolan Miller, the wardrobe designer of the series, said, "I begged Aaron to hire Shelley. There was something about her I really liked; I was impressed with her Charlie perfume commercials and how she could create a look just by turning her collar up and putting her hands in her pockets." The wardrobe budget was increased to $20,000 per episode; and, according to People magazine, each Angel was to go through eight costume changes per episode (but it was more like three to five, with Farrah making the most - at eight changes - in "Fallen Angel"). For the episode "Angels Go Truckin'," Shelley went through seven outfit changes. For the opening scene, she wore a shirt dress with a jacket collar and finished her look with a belt and a pocket square. Later, she wore several western-style shirts with jeans and a belt with a western-style buckle (accessorizing one shirt with a bolo tie). For most of the episode, she wore a red checkered shirt with fitted khaki jeans and chic buckled boots... accessorizing it with a thin leather belt, matching driving gloves, a matching cap and a pair of sunglasses. For the epilogue, she wore a chic blouse with cap sleeves.

screen caps of Shelley
from the Charlie's Angels
episode "Angels Go Truckin'"

Vital Stats

Shelley in a promo pic
for Jack and Mike, 1986

Shelley transitioned from model to actress in the 1970s; and by the 1980s, she was a regular fixture in Hollywood. In 1986, she was cast in her third TV series Jack and Mike, and she did talk shows and interviews to publicize her new endeavor. One of them was an interview regarding her vital statistics at the time. Included was her birthplace (White Plains, New York), marital status (single) and current homes (Los Angeles and New York). Also mentioned were some trivia about her like:

She liked to pigout on Fritos.
She's a Chicago Bears Fan.
She was trying to quit smoking.
She drinks herbal tea and talks to her dog.
She hated it when her feet was shown onscreen
(She would rather wear sneakers than high heels.
She always preferred flat footwear.)

Shelley's vital statistics and more
from 1986

Hotpants 2

a closeup of Shelley in a pic
for The Hot Ones hotpants
by McCall's, 1971

Shelley appeared on many magazines and catalogs during her tenure as Supermodel in the 1970s. She appeared on many covers, fashion spreads, and sewing patterns for McCall's... for their magazines, catalogs, and pattern covers. In 1971, Shelley appeared on the package cover for The Hot Ones by McCall's which contained pattern number 2800, a pattern for three versions of hotpants or short shorts. Shorts A had a zippered front opening, buttoned waistband, belt loops and was self-cuffed. Shorts B had a zippered front opening, a button trim and buttoned waistband. Shorts C had a waist elastic and was self-cuffed. Shelley wore all three versions. She wore a multi-colored striped version of Shorts B with a yellow, short-sleeved fitted T-shirt that had a fun star appliqués on one shoulder.

Shelley in a pic wearing
The Hot Ones hotpants
by McCall's, 1971

The Angels and the Racer 7

Shelley Hack, Jaclyn Smith
and Cheryl Ladd in a promo pic
for Charlie's Angels, 1979

Look-In magazine was a kiddie/teen UK magazine that featured two-page comic/picture strips of the most popular television shows of the era. Subtitled as "The Junior TV Times," its first issue came out in 1971 and its final issue came out in 1994. Many popular American TV series were featured in the mag including Kung Fu, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, CHiPs, Battlestar Galactica, Mork and Mindy... and, of course Charlie's Angels.

From 1979 to 1980, during the airing of the 4th season of Charlie's Angels, Shelley's Tiffany Welles character was featured in the mag's Charlie's Angels comic/picture strip. Along with her co-Angels Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) and Kris Munroe (Cheryl Ladd), Tiffany solved cases for Charlie for several issues, two pages a week. Her first case debuted on November of 1979 and her final case ended on October of 1980. The mag also featured occasional writeups about Shelley as well as posters of her and the Angel team of that season.

Shelley as Tiffany Welles in Look-In mag's
Charlie's Angels comic/picture strip, 1980

The Face Case by Charlie

Shelley in promo pics for Charlie
perfume and cosmetics, 1982

Shelley was THE quintessential Charlie Girl and appeared on many, many ads for the brand around the world. In 1982, she appeared in an ad promoting The Charlie Face Case, a mirrored cosmetic case that contained 2 blushes, 2 lip glosses, 6 eye colors, a sponge eye shadow applicator and a blush brush. Valued at $56.50, it was available for just $11.50 for any $5.00 or more purchase from the Charlie Collection. It was also a promo for the Charlie's Cosmetic Collection by Revlon which included Charlie Blushiest Blush, Charlie Body Silk, Charlie Real Live Blush, Charlie Concentrated Cologne Spray, Charlie Fresh Fresh Eye Color, Charlie Extra Extra Shine Nail Color, Charlie Extra Extra Shine Lipstick and Charlie Extra Extra Shine Lip Gloss. An artwork of Shelley appeared on the ad, of course, and Shelley looked fab even in artwork.

an artwork of THE Charlie Girl Shelley
in a newspaper ad for Charlie
perfume and cosmetics, 1982

1980s Actress

a closeup of Shelley
from a paparazzi pic, 1986

Shelley was a busy working actress in the 1980s. After her career-boosting appearance on Charlie's Angels, she was determined to prove that she was more than just a pretty face. She immediately tackled stage a via the Jack Heifner play Vanities and gained critical praise for her work. Other stage roles soon followed. She was praised for her work in Elizabeth Diggs's play Close Ties and Garson Kanin’s Born Yesterday. At the same time, she was getting more serious feature film work. She appeared in Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy and much later in Joseph Ruben's horror classic The Stepfather. She also got to work in TV movies with seasoned actors such as George Segal, Dick Van Dyke, Sid Caesar and Paul Michael Glaser. She also starred in two TV series, Cutter to Houston and Jack and Mike.

a paparazzi pic of Shelley, 1986

Great Promise

Shelley with Alec Baldwin
and Jim Metzler in a promo pic
for Cutter to Houston, 1983

Cutter to Houston was a short-lived TV series that began airing in the fall of 1983. Although it received mixed reviews, it had great promise; plus, the cast had an easy rapport and had enough talent to carry an hour-long drama. Prior to the series, former Charlie's Angel Shelley Hack had already proven that she had acting chops, having received great reviews for her work on stage (Vanities, Close Ties, and Born Yesterday) as well as on the big screen (Annie Hall, The King of Comedy). Jim Metzler had a Golden Globe Award nomination under his belt for his supporting role in the 1982 feature film Tex. Alec Baldwin had come from his 1980-1982 stint in the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors. Cutter to Houston, which was aired Saturday nights, had a difficult time finding an audience. Aside from a bad time slot, it seemed to have lost network confidence early on... "sleeper hits" were still unheard of at the time. It was first aired on October 1, 1983; and after 4 original episodes, it was announced cancelled by October 29, 1983. Replays and three more original episodes were aired until December 31, 1983. There were two more completed episodes; but they weren't aired during the show's initial 1983 run.

a newspaper promo ad
for Cutter to Houston, 1983