FAQ Friday: Princess Leia Hairstyles – Rebel/Endor Braids

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 Rebel/Endor 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 – The Rebel/Endor braids…

What you need:
Bobbie Pins
Hairbands
1-2 short extensions
Hairspray

Step 1
I pull my hair back into two low pigtails, right behind my ears.

Step 2
I braid each pigtail, ending each one by looping my hair back into the hairband, just to keep it from sticking out.

Step 3
I take one of my short hair extensions – the same ones I use for ANH Leia – and braid it. I place it in the center of my head and pin it in place.

Wrap the edges around towards your two pigtails and pin in place.

Step 4
I have sometimes used 2 extensions for this – doing a second braid slightly on top of the other for a double braided look. You can do this if you want, or if you think one looks well enough, leave it at that! If you want to do a second one, now is the time to do it.
Next, I twirl my own braided pigtails up into mini-buns and pin in place.

Step 5
Readjust and make sure everything is even, use some hairspray if you think you’ll need it, and if you have bangs like me, pin them back. All done!
Mine’s a little crooked from the front, so if I’d been wearing this out, I would have adjust a bit more here.