Braid length question

[Himesama]

Apologies if this has been posted previously. If so, I would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction.

I have a question about braid length compared to hair length. It seems as though thicker hair produces a relatively shorter braid, and that each person's hair is different. Taking all of this into consideration, how long do you think medium thickness hair has to be to make a braid that is tied off at waist length?

Also, do you think a waist length braid is long enough to wrap all the way around one's head like a crown braid?

Thanks.
v

[mira-chan]

Apologies if this has been posted previously. If so, I would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction.

I have a question about braid length compared to hair length. It seems as though thicker hair produces a relatively shorter braid, and that each person's hair is different. Taking all of this into consideration, how long do you think medium thickness hair has to be to make a braid that is tied off at waist length?

Possibly hip length or so I would guess. It depends on how tight you braid too.



Also, do you think a waist length braid is long enough to wrap all the way around one's head like a crown braid?

Thanks.
v

No, a waist length braid is too short. You may be able to do the coronette bun though (style in my avatar and current signature, there is an article with instructions.) The shortest length at which I've heard some one wrap a single coronette braid is a longish tailbone. In general though classic length is needed.

[freznow]

My hair is just past classic (circumference 2.9") and the tie for the braid (with a few inches for tassel left over) is just past hip, nearing TB. That means I lose about as much length as the distance from my wrist to the tip of the longest finger. For a waist length braid, the length eaten will be a little less, so the TB estimate mira-chan mentioned would be about right, and it also does matter how loose/tight you braid.

As for the coronet/crown/whatever you like to call it - I can barely just do that now. You might want to look into using two braids (heidi braids...) or something like mira-chan mentioned.

[Chromis]

I've been able to do a false crown braid since mid-waist/tailbone like the one in my album (friends only, but I'm liberal about adding people). I'm able to get a better one as I approach classic though.

[Poppy Seed]

My hair is classic length now, and is fine and medium thin. I plait about average to tight I reckon, and it ties off about tailbone I guess (haven't really checked that - but I will tonight!). I can only barely just get it once round my head. That does not include the tassle - I mean I get one wrap round from start to tie.

How long you need your hair (and plait) to be depends also on the circumference of your head - I have a pretty small head by average standards. Another point to consider is where abouts you want to wrap the plait: I like mine to go almost round the hairline - which will be a greater distance than other positions...

[ladyshannonanne]

If you want the effect of a braid all the way around your head with waist length hair, you can make two low pigtail braids at the very back and wrap them (the left one toward your right ear and the right one toward your left ear) up to the top of your head. I actually think it works better than a single braid because you get even thickness on both sides.

I wore my hair like this a lot in high school, trying to *ahem* look like *mumbles* Princess Leia in Empire Strikes Back. I'm going to go kiss my photo of Harrison Ford now.

[Little_Bird]

My braid is like 1 year oof growth away from my actual lenght... My circumference is about 4 inches, i've got thick hair. So yeah, this theory is right. The thicker the hair is, the shorter the braid will be. And I so want a long long braid... oh well. I do prefer my thick hair anyways...

Then I'm not the only one to notice this then :)

[Slug Yoga]

My hair is 25 inches down, and 23 inches in an English braid, so that's a difference of 2 inches. (My hair is on the thick side of ii, about 3.5 inches circumference.) I was wondering, would the difference between hair down and in a braid tend to be the same, regardless of hair length (i.e. the difference between my hair down and in a braid will always be about 2 inches), or is it more complicated than that?

[Anje]

My hair's a bit on the thin side of average (circumference ~2.5") and just reaches the top of the "vertical smile." My braids tie off about 3 inches from the end, and the tie (well, tonight, a mini jaw clip) is right about at my waist.

I can't quite pull off the braid-around-the head yet. The ends almost reach if I start with a high braid, but the full braid doesn't make it yet. It's also unbalanced, because I need to grow out some serious taper.

(On a positive note, if you can do a dutch braid, a real crown braid isn't terribly hard, with a few evenings' practice. I have better luck doing them as "lace braids" -- adding hair only from the hairline side, and not from the middle.)

[spidermom]

I am 5'7". My hip+ length hair produces a single braid that ties off at just below waist. I can't get two braids wrapped all the way around my head unless I make them in the back, cross them in the back, and bring them up and around to finish on the top of my head.

[Himesama]

Thanks for all of the information. It looks like I have some more growing to do.
All of the variations were helpful to read and I look forward to trying them out sometime.
v

[ilovelonghair]

Had to try the braid around head thing out :D, didn't fully work. But with 2 braids it does work, not sure why. My hair lenght is a bit difficult to define, it's kind of hip lenght at the back but shorter at the front. And it always looks much shorter then it is anyway.

[Xanthippe]

You can sort of estimate how long your braid would have to be to wrap around your head if you have a floppy tape measure. Wrap it around your head loosely as if you were wrapping a braid and see how long that is from the base of your skull where the braid would start coming off your head. Does that make sense? When I do that, I get that my braid needs to be 25 inches long (measuring from the base of my skull).

But, you'd need to add a few inches to account for the fact that a braid isn't as thin as the tape measure For me, that would mean past tailbone thereabouts. I don't get that much braid length shrinkage, so I think classic length would do it definitely. Although, I get a lot of braid taper, so I think it would look funny if I just wrap one braid around my head (it's sort of lopsided because one side is thinner). The two braid variation works nicely to hide that.

So, that was just a long way of saying, I think classic length hair would be needed :silly: