Hairstyles for Seven Daughters

....because this mommy finally decided to try.

I was never good at hair. When my twin first realized I liked Josh in college, she said "Hannah, admit it, you like Josh, you started brushing your hair"

For my wedding I think I sorta took some hair from the sides and twisted them into a ponytail in a kinda impromptu elven hairstyle. It fell out by the end of the reception, you can track its descent throughout my wedding photos.

Then I got obsessed with Youtube hair tutorials as a newlywed, but 99% of the time relapse into my simple hairstick/pencil bun or a side braid (you don't even have to reach behind your head).

Then I had kids, and I discovered Society's Child Hair Law.

SOCIETY'S CHILD HAIR LAW: The love (and sanity) of a mother is directly proportional to the state of her daughter's hair.

When I only had 5 kids I got lectured by a (sincere, freaking out) stranger in walmart about how I was having too many children. A full on speech. She was genuinely having a come-apart. Usually I got the chuckle "you have your hands full." I am convinced that it was because that day their hair was messy and their hairbows had fallen out. Ironically, because I had actually taken my poor apartment-pound kids out to the park to feed ducks and climb trees. I found that if I brushed their hair, stuck the top wispy bits into a hair elastic, and stuck a bow in there somewhere, people calmed down a lot. And smiled.

People worry about kid's well-being. And somehow, society believes that a child's hairstyle is  the barometer of Mother's mental state and ability to care for her children. I thought it was kinda silly, but grudgingly accepted it as a part of reality

But after spending 10 years griping about shallow humans and their hair-barometers, I am getting a taste of my own medicine as my 13 yr old thinks she should only have to brush her hair 2x a week. "I don't care how it looks" she says cheerfully.

But it looks terrible because she's got such beautiful fine, thick, hair. And fine hair = massive tangles. All of a sudden all those silly shallow-sighted society enforcers make sense now.

A woman's hair is her glory after all.

Medieval Princesss Leia. I've wanted to make this for a decade, but haven't had a chance yet. Maybe I'll make the outfit for Jenny one day..... (I worked with ChatGPT to get this image)

1. Monday-Bunday
• From the Basic Bun, to High Bun, to Cluster Buns
• Can split it in 2 roots (with ponytails at base) to keep the weight distributed. This also assists in giving volume back. 
• Can make a smaller base bun, and a looser one on top of that.
1. High Buns---weight is on the top (this is gentle on the scalp, as the weight of the hair is literally supported by your skull, not tension on the follicles)
1. Two loop bun "Wedding Hair" (it spreads the weight out soooo comfy)
2. Two Loop Bun, Braided variant.
3. Cute High Bun Top of head, Chinese topknot w/hair-tie, rest of hair elastic the end, split open, flip and pin around the topknot.
4. Top of the Head Cluster Buns. (for curly hair), 3 wiggly buns, 3 shell buns, etc.
5. High Bun, Braid Wrapped. (Plus hanging braid--Princess Leia Ceremonial)
6. Pompador (Aunt Cornelia), from basic to romantic to traditional full to  traditional half to crazy... must wear the right clothes for this...
2. Mid Buns---weight is supported on the side, tension on the other hair
1. Princess Leia Two Buns(Cinnamon) you can also use socks or bunmakers, or be less authentic and just do 2 shell buns.
2. Princess Leia Bespin
3. Shell Bun
1. set on a flipped base
2. Stack it with 2
4. Braid Wrapped Shell Bun---can set on a flipped base
5. Stick Buns--Infinity Bun, and Shell Bun
6. French Twist (Grace Kelley)
7. Claw Clip Fan Buns
8. Fan Buns for medium hair or longer hair
3. For Volume---cluster buns, wear it down with 2 side-clips when Josh comes home
2. Tuesday--Two Braids
1. Pioneer
2. French
3. Lyman Girl 
4. Kirsten (pioneer, looped)
5. Medieval (twisted around circlet or headband, then braided. Can braid a ribbon in for the full Norman effect)
6. 14th cent Medieval. Medieval Princess Leia....
7. Romantic ( 2 flip throughs with elastic on each side, give side texture)
8. ...Get it up in a German Crown Braid off your neck
9. For Volume---do this but make it look Norman and on purpose, take it out at 5 when Josh comes home.
3. Wednesday--One Braid or "Low-Do"
• ONE BRAIDS---Always twist the sides and pancake the braid!
1. French or Dutch
2. Lyman Girl/Tamina
3. Medieval---with circlet or headband.
4. Flipped ponytail, hanging braid (rope, fishtail, English).
5. Princess Leia Bespin
• Lower Buns, plus side volume, early 1900s
1. Gibson roll, trick is make the braids first, and roll your hair around it. Gibson Roll or Gibson Tuck or Gibson Tuck with Braids
2. Hannah's Favorite, Side twist and sideways French across the back.
3. Side-twists plus Low volume---2 flipped ponytails turn into 3 low shell buns across back.
4. Gibson with wreath.
5. Bernadette Victorian you can make this way simpler by doing 2 flipped pony-tails into braids.
6. 2 min chignon top half of hair into flip-through, then the rest of the hair treats it like a wreath
7. Really clever updo for shorter hair, 2 ponytails, gibson tuck and then flip through ponytail on top
8. FOR VOLUME: Do a gibson roll around a wreath or stretchy hairband. Round and round. Gibson roll way HERE and inverted way HERE
4. Thursday--Crown Braid
1. German (Heidi, Milkmaid) Braids
2. High German (twist base first like Pretty Shepherdess, so braid sits higher)
3. Simple Dutch Crown (Princess Leia Hoth)
4. FOR VOLUME 6 Cluster Tiara buns (top of head, then strung together with pins)---makes excellent curls
5. OR REPEAT FOR VOLUME: Do a gibson roll around a wreath or stretchy hairband. Round and round. Gibson roll way HERE and inverted way HERE
5. Friday---Flip-Through Ponytail (and girls hair-wash day)
1. Rope Braided flip through
2. Double Flip through, fishtail.
3. Braided ponytail
4. Ponytail root with stick bun (#4,#5,#6 are the best) (braided or unbraided. Sometimes called "Chinese Buns")
5. Claw Clip High ponytail here and no-hair-tie variation here
6. High Pony or this flipped up high pony
7. Low Pony
8. Try this 3 roots ponytail for stress? 3 ponytails Triforce shape, then bring the two lower up over the top one and join them together? And flip them up? Or flip all 3? 
9.  TRY THIS crazy Urbosa version, 3 up-flipped up high ponytials, linked with a big loose hair tie, plus side-swoop in place of bangs. Use this as a starting point
10. For VOLUME, wash this day, do a simple scrunchie on top of head and split and pull the hair round and round it.
11. At night....LEGGING CURLS
6. Saturday---Free Day 
1. Anything they want. The rules---BRUSH IT IN THE MORNING. 
2. Sleep in Sock buns OR LEGGING CURLS
7. Sunday--Princess [Half Up] or Queen [Up-Do, Low-Do]
1. Princess
1. Princess Side Twists (Eowyn)
2. Rope Braid Rose half-up
3. Braided Princess half up (Pancake it)
4. Wrapped Flower wreath, half-up.
5. Elven (goes down in a v)
6. Double Elven (double v)
7. Braided Headband Zelda--BOTW
2. Queen 
1. Up-Do + Headband/coronet
1. Messy Buns like this or 2 stacked like this
2. Fan Buns for medium hair or longer hair
3. Claw Clip Fan Buns
4. Shell Bun set on a flipped base
5. Shell Bun set on a flipped base Stack it with 2
2. Low-Do + Headband/coronet. Bling takes it from early 1900s to queen
1. Gibson roll, trick is make the braids first, and roll your hair around it. Gibson Roll or Gibson Tuck or Gibson Tuck with Braids
2. Hannah's Favorite, Side twist and sideways French across the back.
3. Side-twists plus Low volume---2 flipped ponytails turn into 3 low shell buns across back.
4. Gibson with wreath.

FOR THE WAVY-HAIRED DAUGHTER

This easy routine and This comprehensive one

Brunette Eowyns and Human Heras: Thoughts on Cosplaying

Cosplaying is fun. I admit, I spent a good chunk of the last 5 years, saving pictures of really cool cosplays to my computer. I like dressing up, and I like stories. (Full disclaimer, despite spending hours of my life saving & researching cosplays, I have never actually been to a conference, or even a midnight showing, alas)


However, something I realized, sorting out the cosplays I particularly liked, is there are 2 things I value if I did cosplay--to look like the character, but also, to also be kind of like the character---if they were me. Sort of like capturing the "ethos" of the character, translated into the modern day me.


For example: An hours worth of make up on Princess Leia? Totally. Princesses have to keep up appearances. Princesses need to be careful how they dress, how they walk, how they look. So a princess would totally spend a lot of time on make up. Yes, Princess Leia is cool and independent. So that means she puts on her own makeup, and doesn't drag along a make-up assistant before battles. She's still a princess, you know.

So if I was pretending to be Princess Leia, then yes, I'd put on make up.

More than a minute's worth of makeup on Mara Jade? Think about it. Her idea of looking presentable when Luke was coming, was to wash her face in an icy creek when she hadn't had a shower in 2 weeks. (Specter of the Past). If Mara used make-up at all, she probably wouldn't put on any more than took 60 seconds....unless she was impersonating a duchess or something like in Allegiance. But most of her work seemed to be of the hijacking pirate ships and leaping over roof-struts to rescue hostages type of things.

I like this picture of her I found on the internet. Red gold hair on a blazingly idealistic 18 yr old.

So if I were pretending to be Mara, I wouldn't bother with make-up. (And whomever illustrated the cover of Choices of One should have thought about that triple-applied mascara....)

So for portraying an alien (like Hera Syndulla), a human girl wearing a realistic & weathered aviator suit feels much more "authentic" to me, than one wearing hours worth of make-up and prosthetics to look like a Twilek. (Because a Twilek wouldn't need prosthetics.)

That said, I think when I do get round to making Josh a Grand Admiral Uniform, we will go the whole 9 yards with the blue skin and red eyes and all, because Josh basically is Thrawn already. (minus the superhuman IQ. And Josh is a Christian. And a sort of imperialist libertarian. So not the totalitarian part either.) But when we do give Josh blue skin, we will do it authentically. So I will feed him colloidal silver, to turn his skin bluish-grey naturally.

That was a joke.
We will use make-up.

Ok, back to my pointless ramble....

When trying to be like Tolkien's characters, I feel like it somehow isn't really the ethos of the Elves of Middle Earth to be wearing lots of make-up or wigs.
To me, Tolkien's world is about the natural beauty of things, the grain of the wood, the rustle of leaves, the tangle of rocks and trees and stars, elven maidens clad in simple dresses, water bubbling over rocks from a mountain brook. (As much as I love the complicated velvet gowns of the movies, they don't seem to really match the people in the book). When cosplaying Lord of the Rings characters, I like it when cosplayers just showcase the beauty of their natural hair (even forgoing their "usual" modern hair products, straighteners, curling irons, etc) go light on the make-up, and leave the artificial wigs alone.
To me, a brunette Eowyn or a blonde Arwen is so much more "authentic" than one with a wig. And an Arwen or an Eowyn climbing a tree or making breakfast feels more "authentic" to me than one at a convention playing dress up (which I imagine would be very very fun, hanging out with like-minded people, and I would love to do some day. However, it's not capturing the "ethos" of the elves).

this cosplayer "Mela"dress made by "Gen", captures more of the "ethos" of the elves for me than any of the elves in the movies did with their make up artists and fake trees.

Same for medieval looks. I feel more medieval by trying to capture the ethos of it in my everyday clothing. For me, that means having Isaiah wearing a medieval tunic with his jeans as he climbs a tree, and wearing cotton tunics & belts with my modern day pants, as I play with the kids in the back yard, make dinner, and pray. Also while learning how to shoot. But we haven't got there yet....

**********************************************************************************
-------A long ramble on the subject of hair, probably of interest to very few-------------------------------

I prefer dark haired Eowyns to Eowyns with yellow wigs. (Practically, because you have to drop a good bit of money into a blonde wig for it not to look fake.) But also, I don't think Middle Earthers wore wigs, at least, not the rough-and-tumble early-medieval-Saxon-esque people of Rohan, living in wattle & daub halls (maybe flax or hair extensions, but definitely not wigs. That would be Roman).


For Star Wars, their technology is obviously very advanced, so wigs definitely existed. Princess Leia would be following in a long line of royal tradition to be wearing hair extensions & hair rats/padding. (Also, hair extensions have been around for as long as women have been able to cut off and save their own braids.)

Cosplaying realistic red hair is an issue unto itself. Sadly, a good chunk of awesome women in fiction have red hair :(
Black Widow does obviously dye her hair all sorts of colors, so dyed red hair for her makes perfect sense. (But why she straightened it in Cap 2, when they were running for their lives and hiding at Falcon's house, no one knows. She probably used an actual iron though, because she's awesome like that.)
However, with Mara, I wouldn't use dye. Firstly, because for a dark brunette to pull of red-gold, it would take something far far beyond my skill (probably professional chemicals at a salon). Secondly, because Mara would never have bothered to dye her hair, even when it would have been practical for camouflage (When she gets caught flat footed by a bounty hunter in Dark Force Rising who recognizes her by her hair). She wears a hood, though (Choices of One),so I would be a brunette Mara with a hood. But if you have blonde hair, and can pull off natural-looking red-gold hair......

Jenny's Hair Tutorial

So, this was completely un posed (except for the pic of her holding the applesauce). This is how she did her hair. And yes, she tries to rub yogurt, applesauce, tomato sauce, etc into her hair at every chance she gets. I don't know why. I even found bits of omelet in it once....

It looked so much like a tutorial I had to make it into one...so without further ado,

I present

Jenny's first ever hair tutorial

The Look. Style with a barette and some necklaces

STEP 1:

Style your hair the night before with applesauce. I like this brand, as its the only one my mom ever gets. Sometimes I use yogurt, or spaghetti sauce, or lentils, or jam, depending on what's available. Omelet doesn't hold the volume very well....

STEP 2:

Get a hold of a brush. I got mine that my mom left airing out in the back yard. And a spray bottle.  

STEP 3: 

Spray the brush with the spray bottle. 

 

STEP 5:

Brush your hair 

 STEP 5:

Repeat as needed.

STEP 6:

Give it a nice air dry by running around the back yard, preferably with a toy car you just liberated from your brother. Being chased around increases the air drying process.                                 

Enjoy your chic hairstyle, perfect for riding firetrucks and just running about the back yard in.

And here it is in a all in one page, for handy future reference.

Star Wars Hair Styles

As a kid, my Daddy took us to see the rerelease of Episode IV of Star Wars in theaters. I'd tried to to the hair before, but never got any where, as Alderanians evidently either have about 4x the hair thickness and volume as the rest of us humans have, or Princess Leia used hair extensions. I think I'll opt for the former.

LEIA HAIR #1(Classic) Her buns on either side of her head are about 2x the size of my entire head of hair

LEIA HAIR #2 (Ceremony) SO MUCH GLORIOUS HAIR

I'd seen wigs for the Leia Classic hair, but they all looked, um, like wigs. I'd even attempted once with hair pins to make my sister Leah's hair do this, but despite her God-given incredibly thick hair (jealousy alert, sob sob), I couldn't get it to stay firmly.  So I gave it up as only a wig-possible type of hair. And not being into wigs, I just gave up on it.

THEN I SAW THIS

From this awesome website http://increasinglydomestic.blogspot.com/2012/11/handmade-princess-leia-costume.html

Amy at Increasingly Domestic used sock buns to make her daughter the most convincing Princess Leia classic hairstyle I'd ever seen. SHE LOOKS AWESOME.

It looks infinitely more beautiful than wigs, is secure and comfortable and relatively lightweight. Best of all, your hair doesn't even need to be particularly long or even thick to do this. And you can just use old socks...


SO now that I am inspired by this sock bun technique to try a few Leia hairstyles, as well as invent a few Star-Wars universe (not the travesty that is Ep I-III) plausible styles that I think people like Shada D'ukal would have worn.
This is going to be fun.

Coming Soon, tutorials on....

1. Leia classic (2 buns) (Ep IV)
2. Leia ceremonial (Ep IV)
3. Leia at Bespin (with one sock bun) (Ep V)
4. Leia's crown braid (Already done, tutorial coming) (Ep V)



About Shada D'ukal's hair, all we know from  Zahn[i.e. the only canonical Star Wars writer in Hannah's Star Wars Canon) (and if there's a comic book out there with her pretense of her likeness, forget it) is that Shada wore her hair with needles and braids at least 4x, irst at the Whirlpool (where she used them in battle, a few weeks later at Hajarna, with a secret comm-link needle when catching the Devoronian, and 10 yrs later at her meeting with Karoly in an "elaborate plaited hairstyle." Since its the only references to her hair at all in the Thrawn Trilogy, I think we can assume it was part of her deceptive uniform as Mazzic's bodyguard, along with the gown.
The most description we get is the first time at the Whirlpool,
(insert quote)
Its intricate, involves 6 needles and evidently uses no pins or extras, as when she pulls them out to use them, her hair falls down in a bunch of braids.

Ornate Whirlpool/Meeting Karoly Hairstyle
-All hair braided in lots of braids
-6 needles, all hair up somehow
-needles can be whipped out pretty quickly
-very ornate

Perhaps she has levels of fanciness, catching the Devoronian, it may have been a single stick in a much more practical bun. Or something half-fancy but not as crazy formal as the other ones (worn with ball gowns)

Then in the Hand of Thrawn books, where she's being Karrde's bodyguard, it never mentions her needles as weapons. In fact, she has to resort to using coffee mugs etc. as stun weapons (which she's good at...). If she has the needles she would have used them. Which suggests, as Karrde's quasi-bodyguard, where she didn't have to pose as a decoration (with the exception of when then met Bombassa) that she spent considerably less time on her hair.
She wore practical clothing on that trip, jumpsuit and a robe/tunic type of practical clothing. She would still have all that hair, having just left Mazzic's service. I'm guessing she wore it either in a practical braid(s) or bun, as she is a real warrior. You need to keep your hair out of your face somehow. I keep thinking if she had a bun, buns are held by needles, and she would have used the needles, so it would probably be a braid of some kind, given her proficiency at braiding for 10 yrs, I think that's the most likely.

I think I shall make some fan art, and then do the hair and tutorials to go along with it :)

5. Shada D'ukal half-up + braid, 2 ways
6. Shada D'ukal's Whirlpool hairstyle....triple bun variations....
7. Shada D'ukal's Practical hair (I think a low parted french... maybe?)

:)