Tips & Tricks Female Hairstyles

I have long curly hair like this...
(far left, in the green dress)
I know how I can do the buns for the pinic hairstyle, but I was wondering if anyone could give me any tips on how to do the back. I can't tell if its twisted or what...can anyone help?

 

I think it's just pulled into a loose ponytail and then tied with matching ribbons (same as those on her sleeves). Yeah, looking at all the pics I've saved of that particular dress, that's what it is. The curls are just kept loose - it's not pulled tight at all going into the ponytail.

kreleia ^.^

 

Does anyone have a picture of the back of that??? Because I have never seen one.

Katha, you have GORGEOUS hair. And just right for that style, too. No fighting to get your hair to curl and stay curly!!!

Those buns ought to be easy to do. The hard part would be crocheting or otherwise making the bun-holders ... just coil a little hair around, slip the holder over, and maybe secure with a pin and you're done. I'd save as much hair as I could for the back part ... however it's done.

 

From the (wonderful) Padawan's Guide:

Screenshots from the Making of P-19 video
Down near the bottom of the page are several of her back. It seems like it's just pulled back into a low ponytail.

 

Here is a close-up pic from that site:
[image=http://www.padawansguide.com/padme/makingof_flowered/images/Picture%2099.jpg]

 

Yeah. Looks like it to me, too.

nice pics!

 

Actually, from a picture that I saw of this style, (I can't recall where) there are two very loos french braids that start on top of her head, then join in the back... They are VERY loose. Also the buns are fake. So you could always just buy some hair at sally's braid it and put it in the snoods...

 

JGC, I know which picture you're talking about, and I don't think they're french braids. I think what you're seeing is where the fake hair was wrapped into Natalie's real hair. It looks like small sections were twisted into the fake hair, giving it the french braided look. Here's the image that I *think* you're talking about...

[image=http://members.cox.net/kreleia/images/picnic_hair_highquality.jpg]

kreleia ^.^

 

Is it wrong that I feel somewhat satisfied by the largeness of her pores in that picture?

[evil laugh]mwa-ha-ha[/evil laugh] She's not perfect!

 

I know what you mean. It drives me nuts the way all the guys are always going on and on about her.

By the way, does anyone have any idea on how to do the hair style for the ep2 rainbow dress?

 

Hello- I'm new to this whole costuming thing. Indy will be the first time I will have dressed up so I decided to start simple and go as Leia from A New Hope.

I must be a complete idiot for not being able to figure out how to do the infamous buns. My hair just isnt' long enough and the only extensions I can seem to find are the kind that clip on and they don't seem to work very well.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

 

Hi
That was the first costume I did too. My hair was a bit down my back at the time, and with bobby pins I managed to make the buns, but they were pretty small.

Mmmm....I'm sure that many others have done this one and have better advice. Fake buns that you can attach would probably be a good idea; I've never used it myself but many are using it for Padme's. Another thing I tried (but it didn't work well for me) was to wrap my hair around something to give it the shape. I cut pantyhose at both knees, filled each piece up with cotton, and spent a lot of time trying to systematically wrap my hair around it. It sort of worked, but was rather cumbersome, so I chose just to go with my own hair. Good luck!

 

"By the way, does anyone have any idea on how to do the hair style for the ep2 rainbow dress?"

I need to see a pic ... don't know what dress you mean.

The cinnamon buns ... If starting out with a long switch for each side didn't work for me (I'd start with a pony over each ear to which I'd attach the switch, then twist and pin the switch, tucking the tail in), I'd prefashion the buns out of the swiches and pin them over my own buns to make them bigger. It MAY even be possible to brush, spray, or coat something over the pieces that dries stiff so they don't lose their shape. I don't know what I would try, though. Perhaps you craft people have an idea ...

Of course this would make the swiches permanently shaped, and you couldn't take them apart to use for another hairstyle. And fake hair can be expensive.

If the fake hair is too shiny, there are spray-on products containing silica to put on your own head so it matches the texture of the fake hair better.

 

And WHAT did they do to Padme's hair in that pic??? It doesn't even look like real hair!

*shakes head, clucks tongue*

Hollywood, Hollywood ... God forbid she shoould just wear something easy and sensible, like any normal person would wear to go hiking around in.

 

I creativly 'sculpted' my Leia buns. And then I secured it with invisable thread.

Oh, and I read an interesting bit of info today. In the April 29th issue of Time. Lucas is asked why all the women in his movies have such crazy hair styles and he mentions that he took inspiration from turn-of-the-century Mexican revolutionist women for Leia's buns.

And Kreleia, yes that was the photo I was talking about

 

I forgot about sewing them!!

*hits self over head*

Duh ...

(it was 1 am)

I suppose you could have someone sew them on as well.

Small wire might also be useful. In fact, you'd have to use it for the Shmi hairstyle, to get the braid to defy gravity like that.

 

Ah. I was wondering about that. *just assumed it was based on the medieval ramshorns* Too, a lot of the hair styles are Mongolian/Tibetan/ancient Egyptian. I'll see if I can find a picture of the Senate hairpiece....

EDIT= Aha! While it's not the original picture I was thinking of, there is a 1921 picture of a very similar style. And another (still not the picture I had in mind, though). The one I've seen shows someone with that headdress, but it's a plain, portrait background. Oh, well.



If you use wire to shape the braids, I vote for florist wire. (You can find it in packs in the floral/wedding section of Walmart; it's inexpensive.) It cuts easily, bends well, and holds its shape.

 

I just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful advice in this thread!

The other day, I decided to do a SW hairdo for the midnight showing of EPII and I was wondering where in the world I could find advice on how to do it.

I was originally going to do Leia buns, but I really don't want to have to mess with hair pieces, and although my hair is very long and thick, it still doesn't look right.

So I think I might go with the bespin braid/bun look, as I know that wouldn't be too difficult to accomplish.

Thank you all so much!

 

Just thought I'd share how I did the infamous Leia buns.

My hair is about mid-back length, but the texture is very fine. So, if I try to do the buns with my hair alone, I look like I'm smuggling golf-balls on the sides of my head. It's not pretty.

So, I bought a pack of fake hair ("kanekalon" - I guess that's a fancy word for acrylic) loose extensions at Sally Beauty Supply - the packs have about 4 feet of hair in them. I divided the fake hair in half, then parted my own hair down the middle. On one side, I took one of those "ouchless" hair elastics and attached the top 3 inches of the fake hair to the bottom 3 inches of my real hair. Then I twisted my hair and just started working it into the bun shape. I kept going until all of the hair had been worked into the "cinnamon roll." Then I secured with bobby pins. Repeated on the other side.

Granted they don't look *exactly* like Leia's buns, but to the general public, that doesn't matter. I wore my hair like this to the opening night of "Ice Age" (our Fan Force went). I don't know how many random people called me Princess Leia. It was fun!

Here's some pics: (I was looking down at the camera in the first one, so I look really wierd - oh well.)

[image=http://members.cox.net/kreleia/images/leia_hair1.jpg] [image=http://members.cox.net/kreleia/images/leia_hair2.jpg]

kreleia ^.^

P.S. That itty-bitty first inside loop in the bun is my real hair. The rest is the acrylic stuff.

 

Great idea Kreleia! I had thought about combining the fake stuff with my real hair, because it sounds like ours is ver simmilar. But instead I just bought the hair at Sally's then wound them into buns. I should have seperated the hair into two seperate bundles, but I didn't so they are huge!!

Here's my picture

 

The rainbow dress, I don't know how to post pics, but its the one by the lake, all sorts of colors and she and Anakin kiss. Its really flowly, I used chiffion to make it. Anyway, thats the one I was asking for help with the hair style. Thanks

 

Yeah, I know which dress you're talking about, Princess1. I'm still pondering a way to do it that wouldn't require your own personal hairdresser or hours in front of a mirror like Natalie Portman, and I bet LLL is, too. More than likely, they used a wig. Which means we're going to have to be really creative to figure out how to do it on our own.

EDIT #1=Pictures for reference:

[image=http://www.padawansguide.com/padme/pastel/padme_pastel_head1.jpg]

[image=http://www.padawansguide.com/padme/pastel/padme_pastel_head2.jpg]

[image=http://www.padawansguide.com/padme/pastel/padme_pastel_new3.jpg]

EDIT #2= Yikes. Looking at that bottom picture, they definately used a lot of fake hair. You can tell where the shine is different on the top and back, compared to the sides just above her ears. Hmm.



kreleia, that looks really good! Until the lady who normally cuts my hair hacked off 8 inches, I could almost do it with just my normal hair. Now, I get to play around with fake hair and everyone's ideas on how to incorporate it.

 

Is that the one with a purple sort of long thin piece wound around it??

I REALLY need a good pic of that one ... a pic of the back would help too.

I have been trying to figure out how to do that, but you can't do nuthin' without a piccie.

Anyone??

Leia buns: I have a thought that if you know how to tease hair (or hairpieces), you could get the buns the proper thickness and circumference. It's a matter of teasing for fullness, then smoothing the very outer layer of hair so it doesn't look messy, then twist the buns up.

Haven't tried it.

It's hard to try these when you are large, as you can't wear any of the costumes, so there's no reason to do the hair. If I go to DragonCon I think I'm gonna offer my services to those who are thin enough to wear the costunes and can sew.

Plus I also do makeup ... street makeup mostly, but the Queen makeup shouldn't be too hard.

--LL.
(who is no stranger to teasing ... can't do the Deanna hairstyles without it!)

 

Ohhhhh, IIIIIII seeeeee ....

Not too bad ... I think!

Looks to me as if Natalie's hair is in a simple French twist under the piece that curls back, and that piece is all of fake hair and just sits on top of her head, held on by the first hairband. Must be heavy, and hurt. I hate using fake hair for something that is supposed to be the character's own hair. Do we really think a Senator would get up an hour early just to mess with fake hairpieces??? Good grief!

Let's see if this would work:

You know those cheap plastic headbands they sell that are padded and covered with fabric?? You buy those and then bead them. That's how I did a Deanna headpiece for my blue dress.

For the hairstyle (don't despair, several suggestions follow, worst first!!!):

If you can use your own hair, seems to me the best thing to do would be to make a form out of pipe cleaners and yarn that match your own haircolor as well as possible. You need it to be long and thick enough to form the part that goes out in back and curls down. I did this in a smaller version to hide under my own hair to give the Deanna style enough height and volume on top, and give the headband something solid to hold onto.

You might have to join pipe cleaners together to make the wire part long enough and thick enough to do the job.

What I would try to do is this:

Part your own hair from ear to ear. Take the front portion and clasp it off to the side somewhere, so it doesn't interfere with what you need to do with the back portion.

What you need to do with the back portion is make a SECURE ponytail high up on the back of your head. I would start with the form out in one straight piece, split the pony sideways, insert the form, and close the pony up around the form again and secure it WELL with another elastic. To help anchor the form into your hair so it will hold enough weight without slipping or making your head hurt, take enough pipe cleaners and bend them up against your scalp over the pony and secure with one of those thin curved metal barrettes. This will all be hidden anyway, and you want it to be comfortable. Then you bend all the pipe cleaners together and into the shape you want. I wrapped my Deanna one with yarn the same color, but you could use a few more pipe cleaners to wrap the form to help it hold its shape. I'm talking one big LOG of fuzzy covered wire ... (unless you can think of something else to use.)

Now you start combing your own hair around to cover the form. Start with the pony and add the front hair later. You could use a cut up hair net or wrap with wire to hold hair in place, plus I think some sort of comb-in stiffener like a thick setting gel might help, too. You secure the ends of your own hair to the end of the form with wire and it all gets tucked under at the nape of your neck, where no one can see it anyway.

I would really wire and slick the hair down. Then when you get that part done and it feels secure, it's time to take the front down and start putting it back. I'd put the first headband in like any other headband, only leave some hair out over your ears that you can loop over the ends of it as in the pic. Then you keep smoothing it back over the rest of the hair you've already got up, covering any spots where the form shows through, and securing it with setting gel and/or wire. Once it's all in place and feels secure, you put the rest of the bands around it. Towards the end, the bands would be too large ... you might be able to take the plastic out of them and sew them back together with wire instead. Then they are short enough and flexible enough to stay on.

Other thoughts:

If your hair is thick enough, you might be able to get the same effect by teasing the HECK out of it, pulling it all back into one really thick, short rope, and shaping it with setting gel or hairspray, maybe a little wire, and securing it at the bottom with wire to hold it to the nape of your neck. I could probably try this as I just got a spiral perm and my hair is thick, thick, thick right now!! Only

 

P.S.
If anyone lives close to Richmond, VA and wants to get together for a hairdressing session, I love to play with hair!!