WHAT IS IT ABOUT BRAIDS and sisterhood that makes them such divine companions? The fantastic how-to book Beautiful Braids was a longtime staple in my childhood, but somehow I never really mastered the tricky task of braiding my own hair in the mirror. (When I’m home sometimes my mom still does it!) Maybe the secret of sisters with fabulous braids is that they do it for each other? After getting a tip on the braid-heavy photo above from Pam at Retro Renovation, I started thinking about my favorite plaited ladies from The Sister Project. Here’s what I found:
TSP founder and veteran braid-rocker, Margaret Roach, looks adorable with ribbons in her hair in this vintage gem (that’s baby Marion with her).
Plaits were the standard style for Poppy and Daisy de Villeneuve while they were growing up in England. (For the full scoop on their style and sisterhood, have a look at their profile in the TSP galleries.)
These impressively long braids were the headliners for our We Match photo gallery. Aren’t they perfect for a first communion?
And our favorite painter Amanda Blake looks positively whimsical with her hair in classic braids.
She even paints them on her subjects! (Find more of Amanda’s beautiful work here.)
Did braids play a prominent role in your childhood? As always, we’d love to see your wacky and/or whimsical photos of braids and sisters! Send them to thesisterproject [at] gmail [dot] com.
(Thanks, Roz, for the great top photo.)
Related posts:
- The Sisterhood Keeps on Growing… This post is part of TSP’s network-wide “Sisters I’ve Met...
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I’m so jealous of all those who had braids. As a child I begged and begged my mother to let me have long hair, but she always had my hair cut short. Awful pixie bobs! Of course, she had long hair as a child and always wanted short hair. I am still growing my hair now and hoping it will one day be long enough to braid. There’s no age limit, right?
this gets me to thinkin’: there really is something about our hair. when i was about 5, my mom got me a ‘pixie cut’. remember those? like, you were a girl with braids — or a girl with a pixie cut. how did that affect how we saw ourselves, and who we … “became”?
Oh, this is such funny timing! I’ve gotten really into braiding my hair now that it’s long enough again. I’ve even started to French-braid my own hair!
My sister and I live on opposite sides of the country, but when we get together, she always asks me to braid her hair. It was one of the few sisterly things we did together growing up, and it continues to be an act of sisterly bonding.
I love to braid, I braided (horses manes and tails) to support my horse habit for years.
I cut my hair off, 3 years ago to let my gray shine through. Now my hair is at a perfect length for braiding. I found my self French Braiding it the other day, so much fun.
Anastasia, practice is the only way to master the French braid on yourself, don’t give up.
Growing up, I always wore my hair in braids – something about wanting to look more like Laura Ingalls than Nelly (yuk!). I love this post! It’s so nostalgic and I love the artwork – really cool!
I, too, had that book as a child – was it just me or was the twisted braid thing completely impossible? I think it was called the rope or something.
Also, like Becky, one of my sisters always asks me to french braid her hair in pigtails when I visit – she lives in rural Illinois and I’m in California. (I taught myself to french braid my own hair because no one I knew could french braid!)
I’ve always called them pigtails – is that what you guys call them? Or are pigtails for you exclusively unbraided?
Oh how we are all braided together! I still love your site (in spite of only having a brother…) Glad you like the photo! Cheers
Roz
Pigtails are definitely plaits, while ponytails are the loose kind ;-) I wear braids in my hear when vacationing in hot and humid climes, so I’ll have to dig around for a picture of braided me..
I’ve always thought of ponytails being the loose kind, but just one of them, while pigtails were two – either braided or not. Interesting!
forty years separates my first pigtail from my second … IT’S GREAT @2/B BACK !!!!