Guessing length required for a style

[Chibbylick]

Hi All! I'm struggling with quantifying my current hair growth goal, and I'd like some help figuring it out...
One of my favorite books has a character who is often tugging the end of her braid, with her hand at her hips.I'm trying to figure out how long I'd need my hair to be to get a hip length braid. My hair is hip length now, and today's rope braid is only at bra strap length...
I also love the look of the Mordsith hair in the Legend of the Seeker... a very high pony, split into 2, braided, then one braid wrapped around the base of the other, forming a braided bun with a braid tail. The Mordsith braids reach about tailbone... how long does your hair need to be to reach tailbone when it is braided starting up that high?
How much length do your braids eat?

[florenonite]

A lot of it depends on how thick your hair is. I also find that French braids with lots of smaller sections (rather than a few large ones) eat up less length than English braids. At a guess, I'd say a braid probably eats up about a third of the length, from the nape.

[Chibbylick]

So if a braid shortens the hair by about 1/3, to get a hip length braid I'd need mid thigh length hair? Does that sound right? I was hoping classic length would be enough...

[ladyfey]

my hair is to the bottom of my knees and most braids put it at about mid-thigh

[florenonite]

So if a braid shortens the hair by about 1/3, to get a hip length braid I'd need mid thigh length hair? Does that sound right? I was hoping classic length would be enough...

Classic might be enough. I do have fairly thick hair, so my estimate could have been a bit liberal, especially as ladyfey's length seems seems shortened by less than a quarter. I think I also tend to think of the length of the braid as the length to the tie, and with longer hair therefore the length of the braid might form a greater proportion of the overall length. Another thing to bear in mind is how snugly it's braided - a loose braid will eat up less length than a snug one.

IOW, it's really hard to estimate how much hair you need for your braid to be a certain length. For yourself, you could measure your hair length from the nape, then braid it and measure it again and work out the percentage of length lost.

[Sunshineliz]

Hi All! I'm struggling with quantifying my current hair growth goal, and I'd like some help figuring it out...
One of my favorite books has a character who is often tugging the end of her braid, with her hand at her hips.I'm trying to figure out how long I'd need my hair to be to get a hip length braid. My hair is hip length now, and today's rope braid is only at bra strap length...

Are you talking about Wheel of Time?:D Sounds like Nynaeve. Anyway, I think it has a lot to do with thickness--the thicker it is the more length a braid will eat up. Some people it doesn't make much difference at all. If your hair is eating up a lot of length in a braid, then you'd definitely need more length. Classic might do.

If I were you, I'd just pick classic and check my braid at each milestone along the way. That should give you an idea if classic is a good goal. Then if it still isn't long enough when you reach classic, you can always set a new goal.:)

ETA: My braids do eat some length, but I'd never guess as high as 1/3 of it, probably not even 1/4th.

[Anje]

It seems like braids in thicker hair eat up more length than those in thinner hair, but that may be perception rather than reality for me.... For what it's worth, my hair is about mid-butt, and my braid tassel ends about at hip length, in the back.

[MandyBeth]

Also, braid type changes things.

Rope braiding just eats up hair I think, doing them on 6 y/o foster daughter. She goes from waist to APL with rope braids.

Also, number of strands. A basic 3 stranded English eats up less than a 5 strand.

[Chibbylick]

Yes Sunshineliz The Wheel Of Time indeed... can't wait for the next one... been saying that for decades!
I think I can imagine managing classic length, but I'm not confident I could go longer... guess I'll just wait and see!

[Sunshineliz]

Yes Sunshineliz The Wheel Of Time indeed... can't wait for the next one... been saying that for decades!
I think I can imagine managing classic length, but I'm not confident I could go longer... guess I'll just wait and see!

:D I'm just finishing Towers of Midnight. Started reading the series about 15 years ago. (*spoiler for anyone who hasn't read it*) Poor Nynaeve doesn't have that long braid to tug anymore. Guess she needs LHC support for understanding.:p Good luck on your Nynaeve-length braid!

[silverstars]

My hair is at BSL and a tight english braid is about collar bone length on me.

[pepperminttea]

This is very unscientific, but a plain 3-strand English braid often takes me from one milestone to the one above. At hip, the ends of my braid tassel reach waist, and at waist I had a BSL/MBL length braid. Maybe just my combination of semi-thickness and height, but that's how it works for me. :)

[celebriangel]

My braid hardly eats any length at all, because I am a curly. My hair, down and curly, is normally BSL (though today it was extra-curly and didn't even touch BSL! Weird...it has every day for months...) and my braid is between APL and BSL, about an inch above BSL.

[luxepiggy]

I believe it depends on hair thickness - my hair is hip length, on the thin side, and I lose 2-3 inches of length for a single french braid. With a 2-braid style I don't lose as much length as with a single braid.

[C.H.]

I would also like a hip length braid and my hair is about 2 inches from tailbone. A very tight 3-strand english braid lands at waist, a looser at lower back (I actually prefer the look of a looser braid). So I'm thinking I could achieve a hip length braid at classic, keeping in mind that my hair is on the thinner side of medium.

[Athena's Owl]

Ha! Nyaeve!

I have a single braid and the tip of the tail falls at hip, but that's due to thickness. I'm definitely a ii and I think a ii/iii would need longer hair to get that length.