a long demonstration of an updo - with pictures!

[Athena's Owl]

TYhe other night I headed out to see the Musical Mamma Mia. I decided to stay fairly understated, so I wore dressy trousers, a turtleneck, and this bun:



and I made it with two pony tail holders, six hairpins (and a comb, of course)

I started by making a rope braid. start with a ponytail in the middle of the back of your head, divide in two equal halves, and twist your first section to the right:



Hi, Kitty! I use an incredibly technical method to keep my first strand from untwisting while I twist the second strand, also to the right:



held by jaw and shoulder. yep. now that I've twisted both strands to the right, I twist them both together to the left, to keep that bumpy, ropy texture:



so the strand that was on the right (and held by my chin) is now on the left. I gave it a little twist to combat the unraveling as I went.

Once I was done, I added another ponytail holder to the bottom:


And that's how you make a rope braid, and part one of this demo!

[BraiderSC]

It's a pretty bun. You're lucky to be able to do it at that length; i sure don't think i could! I had to wait till mine was a bit longer....

[Athena's Owl]

here is part Two! and really how to do the bun, but I thought I'd show how to do the rope braid first.



the trick is which direction you wind the bun. I chose to hold my bun down, and wind it to the right, or counter-clockwise. this loosens the twists on the rope braid and makes it look more like a series of loops. the other way holds more of the rope shape and gives you a different visual effect. I keep my hand on it and wind around like I'm doing a cinnamon bun, so each row lies next to one another.



I only have enough hair to do one and a half loops, though. I tuck the end way under my bun, and then sort of plump and adjust it so it's rounded.



My first hairpin goes under the bun - I skewer the end and fasten itin, and then promptly pin the edge right by it. six hairpins total is enough for me, even with those weak goody hairpins. I bet amish hairpins could hold this up with less.

when youre done, you get a series of loops that spiral around as they gradually get smaller, in a cross between nautilus shells and braided bread!

[Flaxen]

<chin scratches for the kitty>

That looks fabulous and very elegant.

[Delila]

Thanks for the demo, I've never quite understood a rope braid before this, but your pictures and description are a big help!

(... Scurries away to make a note to try this one soon!)

[peacecat3]

That looks beautiful! You might consider putting this into the Articles section, under Hairstyles. Maybe you could include another variation wherein you twist the bun clockwise?

[curls2grow]

It is beautiful! I never would have guessed about the rope braid being part of it (or how to even begin to do one), so I'm really glad that you showed that part, too.

[ShanaMaidela]

Beautiful bun! Thanks for sharing. I will try to remember that for when my hair is long. It'll be awhile though!

[rawtoast]

How neat! First, I have to get the hang of a rope braid. Then maybe I can try this pretty bun Thanks for the step-by-step (can we get this posted to the articles, please? )

[Elfboots]

Great instructions! Thanks for posting this!

[snowbear]

Talks to hair: "Grow, grow, grow!"

[Onebeauty]

Oh how pretty!! Grow darn hair ... grow.

[coppercurls]

Very pretty! Thank you for taking the time to share. I have just in the last year figured out how to rope braid and I love the textural differences you can get using that type of braid. I never thought of rounding out the twist like you did. It does give it a totally different look then when you just let the braid lay flat against your head.

[zaftig2k]

Fabulous bun with a great demonstration!! I have got to try that. That is a bun I think I can do.

Thanks!!!!!!!

[Instantblue]

That's a beautiful updo! Thanks for taking the time to make such great instructions for all of us. I can't wait until my hair is long enough to be able to do it!