A strain relief shell (10) is provided for relieving stress between an electrical connector (12) and an electrical cable (14). The shell includes a pair of complementarily interengageable shell halves (20, 22) defining an interior cavity. The shell halves are releaseably engageable with the electrical connector on a given center line (30). A pair of cable exit openings (32/34, 43) are provided through the shell at different orientations such that the cable can exit from one opening (43) in a direction generally parallel to the center line (30) and from the other opening (32/34) in one of two directions generally transverse to the center line. A pair of holding loops (46, 52) are formed integral with the shell, projecting into the interior cavity thereof, for holding a cable tie about the cable respectively in either of the directions thereof. Break-away plug portions (36, 38, 40, 42) are formed integrally with the respective shell halves for closing the cable exit openings. One or both of the plug portions in each opening is removable so that less than the entire respective cable exit opening can be exposed to accommodate different sized cables. A recessed portion (20f, 20g, 22f, 22g) is molded in each outer wall (20e, 22e) presenting an inclined gripping surface (20g, 22g) to allow the thumb access to both the release portion (61a) of the locking latch and the inclined gripping surface at the same time.