Braid Length Questions

[FallingDarkness]

Hey yall! Quick question regarding braid length stuff. My hair is currently hip+, and my braid is hovering around waist, maybe a little above? Anyways, I think my goal for my hair is more oriented towards braid length than it is real length, because I want TBL hair for sures but also REALLY want a braid that is hip+, one that goes aaaaalllllll the way down my back. So I'm just curious: How much length do you guys normally need for that? How much further do I have to grow? HELP ME! <3 You guys rock.

[mermaid lullaby]

Well, I think the best answer is that it depends on your hair type and braid. Just wait and see! ;)
Question, whats "all the way down your back" mean? Does the tassel touch the chair, tbl, hip? Forgive me, I'm a little confused by that.

[Shepherdess]

I think braid length is my main goal too. I love how a long braid is and feels swishing across the back. :) Right now my braid (stretched tassel) is just almost classic length (not quite), and my hair reaches about mid thigh when loose and stretched (since it curls up some). When I was almost to knee length (hair loose) a few years back, my braid was full classic length. A lot depends on how thick your hair is all the way down. Thicker hair you almost have to grow longer to get a longer braid. My hair is very thick, though about halfway down my braid the thickness subsides until it gets pretty thin. I think my thinner part of the braid stretches longer than the thick portion. It probably depends on the person and their hair texture and thickness on how long it needs to be, so I really look forward to reading everyone else's experience with this too. :D

[Stormster]

Hey yall! Quick question regarding braid length stuff. My hair is currently hip+, and my braid is hovering around waist, maybe a little above? Anyways, I think my goal for my hair is more oriented towards braid length than it is real length, because I want TBL hair for sures but also REALLY want a braid that is hip+, one that goes aaaaalllllll the way down my back. So I'm just curious: How much length do you guys normally need for that? How much further do I have to grow? HELP ME! <3 You guys rock.

Oh! I can help with the length question, kinda!! :D Going by your hair type under your avatar, your's is considerably more wavy and a bit thicker then mine is so I might be off by a bit, so watch out there.

I currently have the kind of braid you are talking about though, one that goes all the way down the back. Mine is a basic three-section braid and for me, the tip of the 'free' ends (after the hair-tie) goes to about hip length. Overall length braided for me is 60 Inches. Un-braided my hair is probably much longer, as it goes to about my knees when not braided. Again though, yours seems to be thicker and wavier then mine is, so there may be some differences in inches that you'll be needing.


I think braid length is my main goal too. I love how a long braid is and feels swishing across the back. :) Right now my braid (stretched tassel) is just almost classic length (not quite), and my hair reaches about mid thigh when loose and stretched (since it curls up some). When I was almost to knee length (hair loose) a few years back, my braid was full classic length. A lot depends on how thick your hair is all the way down. Thicker hair you almost have to grow longer to get a longer braid. My hair is very thick, though about halfway down my braid the thickness subsides until it gets pretty thin. I think my thinner part of the braid stretches longer than the thick portion. It probably depends on the person and their hair texture and thickness on how long it needs to be, so I really look forward to reading everyone else's experience with this too. :D

I have the same thing with the braid thickness, though mine is more evenly shrinking down the whole length, since the last cut I had was a large 'V' on the ends and my braid tends to reflect that by startign thick at the top and then getting smaller and smaller as I go down to the bottom. getting the right size hair-tie for the ends is a challenge sometimes with a tail that small!

[Shepherdess]

Oh! I can help with the length question, kinda!! :D Going by your hair type under your avatar, your's is considerably more wavy and a bit thicker then mine is so I might be off by a bit, so watch out there.

I currently have the kind of braid you are talking about though, one that goes all the way down the back. Mine is a basic three-section braid and for me, the tip of the 'free' ends (after the hair-tie) goes to about hip length. Overall length braided for me is 60 Inches. Un-braided my hair is probably much longer, as it goes to about my knees when not braided. Again though, yours seems to be thicker and wavier then mine is, so there may be some differences in inches that you'll be needing.



I have the same thing with the braid thickness, though mine is more evenly shrinking down the whole length, since the last cut I had was a large 'V' on the ends and my braid tends to reflect that by startign thick at the top and then getting smaller and smaller as I go down to the bottom. getting the right size hair-tie for the ends is a challenge sometimes with a tail that small!
How do you tend to braid your hair? Do you braid a bit tighter, or do you do a loose braid? I'm curious since you mention your braid being hip length and it let out at knee length! That sounds like a lot of hair! :D I can completely relate to you there with the ends of my braids! I have the same problem with a hair-tie at the ends sometimes. I currently use loop n loom stretchies and they seem to work alright for my needs, even though they aren't hair things.

[Magalo]

You would need classic hair or probably a bit longer since your hair is thick in my opinion!

As a comparison, I have BCL hair (maybe 3 inches before tailbone) and my hair is braided down to the waist (where the elastic is). I have maybe 4 inches of tassel that goes down to hips.

[Stormster]

How do you tend to braid your hair? Do you braid a bit tighter, or do you do a loose braid? I'm curious since you mention your braid being hip length and it let out at knee length! That sounds like a lot of hair! :D I can completely relate to you there with the ends of my braids! I have the same problem with a hair-tie at the ends sometimes. I currently use loop n loom stretchies and they seem to work alright for my needs, even though they aren't hair things.

I try to keep it Medium tightness, I don't really like super-loose braids or super-tight ones (I got a lot of shorter hairs near the base of my skull and if it's too loose those come out super easily. :o too tight and it feels like my skin is being pulled up x.x ) and it is a lot of hair XD Braid is really the only stable hairstyle I have right now since I don't know how to do much else yet.

I do my braid in what I consider a basic three-section 'do (I dunno if that's an english braid or whatever?). As for hair-ties, I use Goodie brand 'Ouchless', the smallest I can find! I think they're meant more for toddlers and younger children but it's perfect for my small ends most the time. until the elastic on the inside stretches out that is. X3 Never heard of Loop n Loom though :o how do those work for you? Are there different sizes or...?

[Lindenare]

My basic English braid is what I'd consider "all the way down my back" - tie usually sits around TBL, with 5-6 inches of tassel ending at about classic. Well, maybe that's more all the way down my spine. I don't get the braid shrinkage that some do, but my hair is below my fingertips (by maybe 2 inches) when loose. I also don't really consider the tassel to be part of the braid proper, at least not on my own hair.

As for wanting a specific braid length, I have wanted both a braid long enough to do a coronet style (without French or Dutch braiding) and a knee-length braid for years. I'll probably need hair about knee for the former - it's almost there, but not quite yet - and mid-calf for the latter.

[Xavien_Grey]

Not to go all mathy on us, but you could just use your own hair as a guide... take a measurement loose (which you probably already have i'd guess, lol) and another braided. Assuming you were to braid the goal braid-length to the measured TBL you could solve for "X:length loose at goal" for your hair type. loose-length now/Braided now = loose-length goal "X" / Braid@TBL

that'd give you the projected length you'd need...right? Im a bio person though so math and i dont always get along

[Shepherdess]

I try to keep it Medium tightness, I don't really like super-loose braids or super-tight ones (I got a lot of shorter hairs near the base of my skull and if it's too loose those come out super easily. :o too tight and it feels like my skin is being pulled up x.x ) and it is a lot of hair XD Braid is really the only stable hairstyle I have right now since I don't know how to do much else yet.

I do my braid in what I consider a basic three-section 'do (I dunno if that's an english braid or whatever?). As for hair-ties, I use Goodie brand 'Ouchless', the smallest I can find! I think they're meant more for toddlers and younger children but it's perfect for my small ends most the time. until the elastic on the inside stretches out that is. X3 Never heard of Loop n Loom though :o how do those work for you? Are there different sizes or...?
Ahh, okay! :) That sounds like a good way to braid. I usually do my braid slightly loose maybe. That is nice. :)

Yes, that is an English braid! :) Oh, I used to use some of those children's Goodie hair ties in the past. I think that I lost them all though over time (I am bad about losing hair things sometimes). lol :p

The Loop n Loom stretchies are for arts and crafts (making little pot holders and such), but I like them a lot, partly because they are thin, and I can twist them on multiple times, which makes it harder for them to fall off (or at least for me, though sometimes they do slide off on me). They aren't as nice looking as a hair tie would be, though they seem to be gentle on my hair and protective of the ends. This is how I wear them:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=23075&d=1463813491
I usually keep my hair in a bun, so nobody notices anyhow. :o



As for wanting a specific braid length, I have wanted both a braid long enough to do a coronet style (without French or Dutch braiding) and a knee-length braid for years. I'll probably need hair about knee for the former - it's almost there, but not quite yet - and mid-calf for the latter.
This is one of my goals too!I would really love to have a braid that long if I could someday!!!

[rhyebud]

FallingDarkness, it looks like you got some good answers in this thread, which is wonderful because I don't have one! But I just wanted to say that I liked that you pointed out the braid length for measurement because I never thought of it that way, and that is accurate for me as well. I want a nice looking, long braid. Now I have new way to measure my hair length. Thanks!

[fairy_hair]

I found that when I had tailbone length hair, the braid only came down to waist-hip length. Now I'm at just a bit past classic, the braid comes down far past my tailbone and sometimes I accidentally sit on it (though try not to!) Classic is a definite length for the plait to fall past tailbone! :)

[Stepo_NiNha]

Hi

I have exactly the same problem. I usually braid my hair over my left shoulder as a side braid.

I am waist length but a french side braid looks like bsl. So, the solution for me was a fishscale braid which is awesome, it doesnt get undone along the day and DOESNT EAT length (at least on me).

Rope braids like french and dutch braids will eat more length.

With a little practice you can do it in 5 min. I do it in 3 min in wl hair. :)