Once again I’m posting 2 Leia hair tutorials today – again since these are similar I figure I’d post them together! Today I’m doing the Rebel/Endor hairstyle and the Hoth hairstyle – this post is for the Hoth braids 🙂
My notes for all of these Leia tutorials:
-It’s been a long time since I actively studied these hairstyles – most of my Leia costumes I did 2005-2007ish. I don’t claim them to be 100% accurate then or now! These are just for showing the way I have personally done them. (this especially goes for the Rebel/Endor/Hoth braids!)
-There are always other ways of doing these hairstyles, so as always I urge you to research and experiment to see what works best for you! In particular, I’ve always found these 2 hairstyles (Endor/Hoth) frustrating to do – they’re a more severe look than I personally like to wear, so I think that plays into my frustration with them.
-My extensions no longer match! You’ll be able to easily see what is real hair vs extensions.
Anyway, let’s start…
What you need:
Bobbie Pins
Hairbands
1-2 short extensions or one long extension
Hairspray
Step 1
I separate my hair into two low pigtails, just in front of the ears, and braid them.
Now, Leia’s hair in the front is very pulled back in this style. The way I’ve done this once or twice is by taking a small elastic headband that matches (or at least blends in underneath the braids) my own hair, and using that to push my bangs and everything backwards. From there I separate my hair into the pigtails and continue on as you see below. (I currently do this with my Jedi Leia with the similar hairstyle – just bought a pack of 10 “ouchless” elastic black hairbands on amazon.)
Step 2
Next, I take each braid and wrap it over the top of my head, pinning them down to keep them in place.
And just as an aside: this is the way I do my hair underneath wigs! Besides giving a nice smooth look in a wigcap, the braid gives bobbie pins/clips/hair combs something to grab onto.
Step 3
Now, I use a long braided extension for this step, like the one I use for the long hanging braid on Slave or Ceremonial Leia. I HAVE occasionally used my shorter extensions for this, just linked one after another, but in this case I find a longer one is easier. (And normally I would use my thinner long braid for this but I couldn’t find it – the one you see in pictures has kinda big chunky ends that are hard to work with, as you can see in the picture. A braid that’s been thinned out on the ends works better for this.)
I center it on my head, right on top of my “natural” braids, and pin it in place.
Step 4
Wrap the sides around your head, pinning as you go. The ends should end up crossing in the back, with the ends stopping right around the side of your head. Tuck the ends under the braid and pin in place.
If your hair matches your extensions, unlike mine, the braids blend in and all look like one piece.
Step 5
Readjust and make sure everything is even (mine was a little too far forward, so if I’d been wearing this out, I would have readjusted it at this point), hit with some hairspray if you think you’ll need it, and if you have bangs like me, pin them back. All done!
The finished braids…
Visit my other Leia hair tutorials: ANH Leia Method #1 (Cinnamon Bun Method), ANH Leia Method #2 (Donut Method), Ceremonial Leia, Bespin Leia, Slave Leia, Hoth Leia, and Rebel/Endor Gear.