Style idea I just read

[Merlin]

I've just been leafing through an issue of Company in the common room and it's got a feature on braid ideas. I'd not seen this one before..

Part hair from ear to ear, as they put it 'where an alice band would go', then part the front section normally in the middle.

French fishtail braid the two front sections, because of the 'alice band' parting they will go down to just behind the ears, then continue in free-fall to the ends. Bring the two fishtail braids back to behind the head and tie them together. Essentially this is the old favourite of tying the front sections of hair behind your head, but with the fishtail braid effect it looks very different.

They also did a top of the head bun, but with the hair fishtail braided first. Oddly enough it makes the bun look very out of the ordinary.

Sorry if I've described this badly :confused:

[Alaia]

That sounds very interesting. I think I can imagine what you are talking about, but I'm a braid idiot so I probably can't pull it off.

[Monsterkitti]

Might try this later sounds kind of interesting :)

[MsBubbles]

Pictures, somebody! So I can go 'ooh' and 'aah' and then never be able to actually do the styles on my own hair...

But those do sound pretty.

[Merewen]

Ooooooooh... *puts style on list of things to try*

[anodyne_ame]

Oh wow that sounds cool, I'm definitely going to try that at some point, especially the bun version. Have to master the fishtail braid first :P

I second what MsBubbles said, if someone manages to pull off the bun version please post pics!

[Bluegrass Babe]

That sounds somewhat similar to FrannyG's avatar picture. Different braid style - but same idea.

I'd like to try it but I'm not the best braider.

[triumphator!]

Try it and show us pictures! :D

[Merewen]

Wait - question. For the bun, did they fishtail braid UP to get to the bun, or down like in the original description and then wrap the braids up to the bun? How did that work?

[Laurenji]

Oooo...I want to try this now. Luckily I haven't done my hair yet this morning...

[Merlin]

Wait - question. For the bun, did they fishtail braid UP to get to the bun, or down like in the original description and then wrap the braids up to the bun? How did that work?

Just made a high (as in very high) ponytail, fishtail braided that, then twisted it up into a bun - we're talking top of head really

[Kristin]

Sounds interesting. I will definitely have to try this. I'll do it tonight, if I remember. ;)

[brunette]

I attempted to do a french fishtail braid earlier and I failed miserably, I need more practice! I think its partly cos my hair isn't terribly thick and partly cos it didn't seem right, the braid itself was midway between my hairline and the parting I had made, and it looked wrong. I also did it too loose :p
I hope someone posts a photo soon as it would help a lot!

[ButterCream]

I am braid inept, neeeed pics!!:p

Puuurdy please??

Anyone?

:flower:

[Kristin]

I need some more info. about these styles.

What is the angle for the alice-style fishtails? Do you French braid from the part toward the ear/shoulder? Or from the front of the head toward the back?

For the fishtail bun, do you have the braid facing out or flat against the head?

[missfortune9335]

hmmmmm, I'm going to have to try this! Thanks :D

[Laurenji]

I tried this yesterday, but my french fishtail braids kept turning out very loopy and messy-looking, not smooth and fishy like they should have. Maybe I just need to keep practicing...

[kjirstiben]

OK, y'all... I tried this and took some pics. (Forgive the sort of weird angles -- getting good pics of a hairstyle, by yourself, is tricky! Let's call my photography "art".) ;)

Anyway, I followed the OP's directions (as I understood them, anyhow), and ended up with this (click through for larger pics):

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtxlDI-HWI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/IDbri17hZnw/s128/IMG_3878.JPG (http://lh6.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtxlDI-HWI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/IDbri17hZnw/s512/IMG_3878.JPG) http://lh3.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtovDo3UFI/AAAAAAAAA44/Mfznol9Ai1c/s128/IMG_3891.jpg (http://lh3.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtovDo3UFI/AAAAAAAAA44/Mfznol9Ai1c/s512/IMG_3891.jpg) http://lh3.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtothX9zfI/AAAAAAAAA4s/7ZaDqP_yMwI/s128/IMG_3873.jpg (http://lh3.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtothX9zfI/AAAAAAAAA4s/7ZaDqP_yMwI/s512/IMG_3873.jpg) http://lh5.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtouN_VS_I/AAAAAAAAA4w/Q2BB7inyAls/s128/IMG_3890.jpg (http://lh5.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtouN_VS_I/AAAAAAAAA4w/Q2BB7inyAls/s512/IMG_3890.jpg) http://lh6.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtouiAEqoI/AAAAAAAAA40/uig8PCqW-5w/s128/IMG_3894.jpg (http://lh6.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtouiAEqoI/AAAAAAAAA40/uig8PCqW-5w/s512/IMG_3894.jpg) http://lh4.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtovjjm5gI/AAAAAAAAA48/sd3qkSZxVw4/s128/IMG_3892.jpg (http://lh4.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtovjjm5gI/AAAAAAAAA48/sd3qkSZxVw4/s512/IMG_3892.jpg) http://lh5.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtxnPZJXiI/AAAAAAAAA5U/FgMY_vFryPU/s128/IMG_3881.JPG (http://lh5.ggpht.com/_K_10etXq5-0/TEtxnPZJXiI/AAAAAAAAA5U/FgMY_vFryPU/s512/IMG_3881.JPG)

I held the bun together with my wooden Baerreis hair fork (simple round, 4.5", LHC thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=6088)), angling it as best I could to cover up the burgundy ponytail holder I used for the top-of-my-head braid base.

Notes:
- Herringbone (fishtail) braids are tricky! Especially with little bits of hair. Though they are a little easier to keep track of than the three sections of a french braid, when you're working on these small sections.
- You can see it in my pictures: the braids look "hairy" because all the shorter hairs want to stick out of them. This became an issue particularly with the big braid for the bun. I think next time I'd smooth some kind of product over the braid to stick all the shorter hairs down, before bunning it.
- Instead of wrapping the front braids around the base of my neck, I crossed them over the back of my head and tucked their ends under the bun to hold them steady. The ends would have been wispy and sticking out on the top of my head otherwise.
- It might be easier to use slightly larger front sections, and make sure you finish the braid behind your ears. Where mine finished, I wasn't sure whether to tuck them behind my ears (which made my ears stick out) or lay them over my ears (which just looked funny).
- If your hair tangles easily, it's probably best to have your hair fairly well oiled before you do this. I did so and my ends still tangled a little bit, but not nearly as much as they would have if I'd done it with dry hair.

As an aside, mine didn't look that different from what I would have achieved with two little french braids and an English braided bun on top... it could be that I read the instructions wrong, though!

[spidermom]

Very interesting; thanks for trying it out and posting pics.

[Capybara]

That looks neat!

kjirstiben, thanks for posting the pictures! (Those earrings are gorgeous, btw!)

[Merlin]

OK, y'all... I tried this and took some pics. (Forgive the sort of weird angles -- getting good pics of a hairstyle, by yourself, is tricky! Let's call my photography "art".) ;)


That's the badger!

You've managed to produce a fishtail braid bun which looks pretty much like the photo in the magazine - only yours actually looks nicer as it's less 'furry'

[kjirstiben]

You've managed to produce a fishtail braid bun which looks pretty much like the photo in the magazine - only yours actually looks nicer as it's less 'furry'

How funny! And here I was worried because it had a halo... :) Thanks for letting me know my finished version was close to the original!

And Capy - thanks; I love to wear those earrings with updos. There's just something about long earrings and tall hair...

[brunette]

That's similar to how my front fishtail was coming out (I've always called it herringbone braid too) but I thought it could not be right on account of the hair parting showing. Looks great on you!
I must try again when I have more patience.