Braiding and Plaits

Braids and plaits are a necessity for any hair stylist, they are timeless and versatile and can instantly change up a look. Braids can be used to add a touch of glamour to a wedding or red carpet look, but they can also be alternative and give off a totally grungey feel.

Braids and plaits were all over the Sping/Summer 2015 catwalks. From fishtail to french, milkmaid to herringbone. Here are just a few of many:

This is a great example of how braids don't always have to be super clean and neat and can look grunge. Paul Hanlon wanted to create a hairstyle that similarly matched the darkness of Vera Wang predominantly black SS15 collection. He created two messy plaits down at the nape of each model's neck. These were then pulled forward and the rest of the hair was textured and worn very loose

At Suno, models wore a chunky herringbone braid designed by Odile Gilbert. They put a spin on the classic making it supersized and wetlook.

This messy braid was worn by Michael Kors models. The whole look of the models was sunkissed and holiday fresh so this loose plait worn against tanned shoulders was perfect.

The Giorgio Armani show for SS15 was sea themed, to go with this theme Roberta Bellazzi created braided up dos incorporating extentions which were either lighter or darker then the model's actual hair

At the Giamba show, hair stylist Orlando Pita created messy waves with a super thin neat plaited parting. Simple yet effective!

Labelled by Vogue as 'The Victoriana Briad' this braid was sleek and super neat for Erdem. Stylist Anthony Turner used extensions to match the model's hair to ensure the plaits were super long

This rope braid was created by Eugene Souleiman who wanted to put a different spin on the classic plait at the Donna Karan show

Kim Kardashian's braids have recently made headlines...

As you can see from above, there are endless versions of different braids however in this lesson we focused on the basics. As it is difficult to explain in words how these braids are done, I decided to include some tutorial videos instead.

How to French Braid:

How to do a Fish Tail:

How to do a dutch braid:

How do a waterfall braid:

Inspiration of how you can use the above braids to create a variety of looks:

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Here is how I did...

I mainly concentrated on attempting a fishtail braid. I felt it was quite successful, it was quite a time consuming braid to do but once complete it gives a great effect. Having been used to only doing french and dutch braids on myself, I felt it was very different when attempting to do it on the doll's head as you were having to hold your hands in a different position.

References:

http://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/2015/06/15/spring-summer-2015-hair-trend-plait-parade/gallery/1417840

http://hollywoodlife.com/2016/03/08/khloe-kardashian-braids-boxer-braid-hair-kim-kardashian-instagram/