I need some quick, simple, yet elegant hairstyles for summer.

[heyshortyhey]

Since I am being stubborn and not cutting my hair when I originally planned to (it's not the length I thought it would be by now), I've decided to just toss it up for the summer and try again in the winter. Plus, it needs to be recolored, and I really just don't have time for that lol! Seems like the first time I had long hair, I had all these great ideas! Now all I do is one of those big claw clips, or a bun. I want to be one of those girls who wears cute, retro/vintagey styles, even if I have a fat face. Just something simple, yet elegant. You know? Something I can wear with a teeshirt, but something I don't have to chance much, or at all, if I toss on a nice shirt and we go to dinner.

Without the photo albums (did they bring them back and I simply haven't found them yet?This place looks different than the last time I was here), I'm kind of at a loss. I've been searching youtube, too, and favoring the ones I like best...but I could be doing that for hours (and probably will). Are there any basic, simple, elegant updos in the long hair community I've overlooked? I'm trying to figure out how to use my hairsticks correctly...but I think that's another story. :shrug:

I also have bangs that I'm letting grow out, and sometimes wear down, and sometimes up. If it matters.



Thanks all

[lunalocks]

Go to the hairstyle of the month threads, the archived forums and back through the mane forum (for bun and braid and half up etc threads). Lots of ideas!

[akuamoonmaui]

How long is your hair? That may help with suggestions. Also, I think there is a benign neglect thread for moral support! OH, and Hide.The.Scissors. Good luck! I don't have any imaginative ideas. I just bun-it....

[heyshortyhey]

Many thanks!

My hair is mid-back. I generally have enough to work with, but 4 or 5 more inches would definitely help haha!

[dulce]

Try full updos or half ups or ponys with the FABULOUS African butterfly clips!! So fast,easy and elegant.

[longNred]

A few of my quick easy faves for warm weather... Crown braid, low double or triple buns, headband tuck. Spin pins work great for the low double or triple buns.

[blondie9912]

One of my favourites that seems to fit the style of what you've got in mind is done by parting my hair slightly to one side, French braiding each half of my head into pigtail braids (you don't have to braid all the way down, just a couple of inches from the nape of your neck), securing the braids, then putting it into a low pony and taking out the ties that held the ends of the braids together after the ponytail is secured! You could also bun the length, but I really like the style for keeping hair out of my face completely while still looking presentable.

[jacqueline101]

I like a claw clip twist.

[Laralyn]

I usually put my hair up with a pencil (or for more elegance, with a hair stick), and then sometimes braid the leftovers that hang out. I made this tutorial yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSxWYWlv9lQ

[lydiajo]

Thank you for the video. I followed it and did a sort of presentable job.

[torrilin]

A lot of a retro/vintage look is not so much what updo you do as how you do it. Heidi braids (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ljaYb7i6iw) are a totally appropriate look if you're doing 40s or 50s vintage, and they're very easy. LaDollyVita33 on youtube has scads of video tutorials for various long hair and vintage vibe looks. I particularly like her "little black dress (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNcEt-mTVKM)" tutorial, but my hair is pretty straight and a lot of the victory roll/pin curl styles that are vintage appropriate don't really work for me and the rolls in that tutorial do. Depending on how you part your hair and the exact way you bun it in back, that particular vid can work for anywhere from about 1915 on up to the 1930s. My version usually winds up fairly teens or 20s in feel since my hair tends towards a center part and I have mad love for knot buns. The video version is more 1930s or 1940s in feel.

The oval bun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysyq-w96AWg) and a lot of other twin braid based buns can look very vintagey too, depending on how you do your hair in front. Torrin Paige has a tutorial called Bweeta's Buns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq0QSgCdeKU) that's based on twin braids. Casey's Romantic Braided Updo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HKWx47RD20) is a simpler version.

French twists and peacock twists are also a classic vintage look.