Elizabethan Inspired Plaits

After researching the various hairstyles of the Elizabethan era, we were supposed to do  Elizabethan inspired plaits during lesson. Which was quite fun:)

I started with thinking about what kind of plait I want to use and went for the french plait going down on each side. To give it an Elizabethan touch I plaited lace into the plaits.

First of all here is was you need to do this hairstyle:

• brush
• sectioning clips
• pin tail comb
• elastics
• Kirby gribs
• a needle
• lace, pearls, threads, cord (anything Elizabethan related)

Begin with combing the hair thoroughly. You don't want any nasty knots while you are plaiting.

Because I decided to have on each side a french plait going down I split the hair in the middle. Then I laid the lace around the head and fixed it with sectioning clips on one side so it won't slip away while plaiting the first side. Before you start with the plaiting make sure the lace has the same length on each side.

Now it's time to start plaiting. Plait the lace normally into the french plait. Just make sure it's visible. After you've done one side do the same with other. What a surprise:) A problem that occurred while I was plaiting was that somehow I had hair leftover in the back and I was a bit too lazy to do it again so I had to find a solution. I decided to make a small fish tail plait out of it. I messed it up a bit to give it more volume and sew some lace in it as well to match it with the overall theme.

Then you take each of the plaits and put them up onto the other side. But I didn't want to fix them using Kirby gribs so what do you do?

 I took a needle and used the leftover lace you have from each side. Then sew it up to the front of the head. When you have done it with both sides take the lace and make a small knot and hide it under the main lace.

And that's it! That's my Elizabethan inspired hairstyle. I think it's quite a simple look but also looks elegant.