IT is one of the iconic hairstyles of all time.

The bubble perm sported by Saints and England star Kevin Keegan was much imitated by fellow footballers and fans alike.

Now the woman who behind that famous haircut is marking her 40th year in the trade.

Angela Everett, director of famed Southampton hair stylists Trevor Mitchell International, has cut, coloured, trimmed, permed or styled more than 80,000 customers.

Yet she was not to know her styling of Keegan’s hair would be responsible for thousands of men nationwide summoning up the courage to step into salons and subject themselves to the ordeal of curlers and perm lotion.

“I used to go to his house near Romsey because he was so famous. The salon would have been swamped if he’d have come in,” recalls Angela who, having built up her own successful business, returned to Trevor Mitchell in 1988 as a director and partner.

Her career began as a 16-year-old, although her passion for hairdressing existed long before that, and came at the expense of some of her treasured toys, which made the ultimate sacrifice.

Angela says: “I can remember when I was seven years old, I used to cut all of my dolls’ hair, including a Tressy doll, which had a button on the back which let you alter the length of her hair.”

A Saturday job at 14 in a salon in Hythe called Beyond the Fringe mostly involved sweeping up and washing hair, but only whetted Angela’s appetite to break into the profession.

She grabbed that first break in the rarefied, formal and even stuffy surroundings of the salon in Tyrrell & Green’s old Southampton store in Above Bar Street where the head stylist was always addressed as ‘Miss Charles’ by the apprentices including the 16-year-old Angela who was always called ‘Miss Heath’.

After serving her three-year apprenticeship she was talent-spotted by renowned Southampton stylist Trevor Mitchell. Angela joined his salon in July 1980 and spent an initial six years there, before starting up her own business in Bedford Place.

During her first spell with Trevor Mitchell, Angela coiffed numerous famous heads, but none more so than Keegan who during the early 1980s was famed as much for his bubble perm as for the footballing abilities which saw him crowned European Footballer of the Year before he became subject of the transfer of the century when he joined Southampton in 1980.

Angela became part of the Bedford Place furniture in 1986 and her proud boast is that many of her customers have been with her since her first days at Trevor Mitchell, 37 years ago.

Angela explains how the famous ‘Keegan Kut’ came about: “Kevin Keegan needed a hairstyle that would be easy for him while he was playing football for Southampton,” she says.

“He wanted volume, he wanted his hair always looking good on the pitch and then others started following suit.”

Angela’s handiwork is also behind the haircuts of many famous stars of that time.

“Lesley Joseph, Niall McNamee, Dave Armstrong, Joe Jordan, Alan Shearer, and the cricketers as well because Trevor Mitchell was so involved in the sports scene’ she stays.

“We would do a lot of colours, perms, creations and whatever else they wanted – and whatever their wives wanted too.

“I’ve also done pantomime staff that used to come in, BBC staff, the head of the BBC and lots of competitions.

“Trevor Mitchell is famous for competitions, so I’ve always done lots of competitions and in the competition world it’s very avant-garde it is really very different to commercial hairdressing.

“I’ve been to the national hairdresser’s federation every single year of my career, all 40 of them and have travelled all round the country doing competitions.”

Angela has seen some changes to hairdressing over the decades.

“I would be asked to do far more challenging haircuts that were in fashion at the time so there was a real sense of exhilaration in getting it right,” she recalls. “People would follow the stars more and ask for more popular haircuts such as Princess Diana’s.”

But naturally Angela has also had to deal with her fair share of tears from upset customers.

“Years ago, you could buy 60 volume peroxide before they banned it,” she says. “It was the strongest peroxide going and if you put it on you would often see someone’s hair steaming away... there were tears. It was the shock of it more than anything.”

So how long will she keep going?

“I suppose until I physically can’t anymore. I still get a buzz out of hairdressing,” she says.

“I average out about seven or eight appointments a day. For a long time I used to work six days a week. I still work Saturday, it’s our bread and butter day.”

She will celebrate her 40th anniversary by taking her colleagues out to Shrimp and Burger across the road in Bedford Place.

“Bedford Place has changed beyond anything now,” she says. “I’ve been working here for 31 years and it’s so different round here. It’s all geared up for students now, there used to be some lovely shops around here.

“A lot of our clients are very loyal Trevor Mitchell clients. I’ve got a lady that I’ve done for 37 years and she’s still coming to me.”

A testament to her skill is that her customers just keep coming back.

Local flower arranger Marion Catt says: “I used to live in London and I’ve got really curly hair which is a real problem and my neighbour actually said, ‘Don’t keep driving up to London, use a hairdresser at Trevor Mitchell – she’s got curly hair’ and that was 30 years ago, and I’ve been coming every time.

“It’s lovely because she has the confidence. Angela will ask ‘what are we doing?’ and I say whatever you feel like and she’s never let me down. It’s good because sometimes she does things that I would usually try but I know it’s not going to be outrageous, so you do feel very confident and very much at home. It’s good otherwise you don’t trust people with your hair and you never forgive it really, I know it will grow back but it’s going to take some time.”

Angela’s top hair care tips:

• Have your hair cut regularly, depending on what hairstyle you’ve got, every five to six weeks.

• Use a good shampoo and conditioner.

• Treat your hair to a treatment every now and again.

• Don’t go swimming too much in chlorine.

• Don’t expose your hair to the sun.

• Treat your hair like you would your skin - look after it.