My Chosen Final Design

I have chosen 'look 3' as my final design. I really like the different levels created on the top of the head with the 3D padding and flat french plaits. I really like how the plaits from the back of the french plaits all wrap round the bun because it brings the whole look together and looks really intricate. My hair is very long and very thick so the bun at the back of the head will be prominent enough and there will be enough hair to cover the padding fully and also have the french plaits at the same time, so I think this look is perfect for my hair type. I am really excited to get experimenting with this look!

My chosen design.

Step by step:
1. Section off the bottom part of the hair, starting at the ears and creating a hill shape, as shown in the image below, and put this section into a ponytail to keep out of the way.

2. Crimp all of the top section of hair with crimpers (unfortunately I didn't have a crimper at hand so I left the hair how it was, which was partly crimped anyway).
3. I next sectioned the top of the hair into 5 sections. The top, middle section needs to finish where the eyebrows start, and the very side sections need to be roughly the same width as the top section. The padding section needs to be bigger that these other sections. All these sections need to be taken back, all the way to the ponytail.

Back view.

Top view.

Side view.

4. Split the padding sections, with roughly 2/3 of the hair on top and 1/3 of the hair on the bottom. Take some hair off the bottom section and create a small french plait going back towards the back ponytail, keeping it parallel with the top section.

5. Wrap the end of the french plait back on itself and secure it with some hair grips, then secure the padding on top of the french plaits with hair grips.

6. Then take a small line of hair from the bottom of the bottom section and the top of the top section and leave them out of the padding, for now. Also take a small strip of hair from the front of these sections by the forehead and leave that out of the padding too.

7. Take the bottom section and smooth it over the padding and secure with hair grips.
8. Then take the top section and smooth this section over the padding to hide as much of the padding as possible. Tuck the ends under and secure with hair grips.

Side view.

Front view.

9. Take the front strip of hair along the hair line and plait this three times, then take pieces from along each side of the padding to add into the plait to create a french plait.

Side view.

Front view.

10. French plait the very side sections, making them flat against the head, and continue them onto a regular plait.

11. French plait the middle section, flat against the head and then secure with a hair elastic before a regular plait is formed.

Top view.

Back view.

12. Split the small ponytail coming off the middle french plait in two equal sections and create two plaits.

13. Secure the plait coming off the back of the padding against the end of the padding and against the head, with a hair grip. Wrap the rest of the plait under the ponytail and secure with a hair grip.

14. Separate the ponytail into two equal sections and twist them slightly. Wrap them round each other  to create a tight twisted look.

 15. Wrap this twisted ponytail round in a circle to create a bun at the back of the head.

16. Wrap the plaits from the middle french plait around the bun, going outwards, and secure the ends with hair grips into the bun.

17. Wrap the plaits from the very end plaits round the bun, going inwards, and secure the ends with hair grips.

The Final Look

Front view.

Back view.

I am really excited with how it came out! I especially really like the bun at the back with all the plaits wrapped round it! I haven't seen that done before and I think it gives a fun, but intricate, modern twist on the Elizabethan plaits and buns. I found the french plait over the padding tricky and after a couple of goes at it I still don't think I got it perfect. I think I should make the hair over the padding tighter next time so that it doesn't sag as much when I'm trying to french plait over the top. I noticed that there was more scalp showing on the left side, making it look uneven, so I will make sure that I use the same sized padding to rectify this. You also have to be very careful when putting the french plait on top of the padding because it is easy to move the french plait out of place and that's when mistakes happen.

I decided not to use ribbon in this design because I think it would just be too Elizabethan and also too technical for the time limit given. I want to give my look a modern twist, but without making it messier or less intricate. I may incorporate colour into my look so I will do some research into this.

Lessons learned/notes:
-Use darker coloured padding so that it blends in better with the dark hair colour.
-With the french plait over the padding, practice definitely makes perfect.
-Make sure you have lots of hair elastics!
-My hair is a lot longer and a lot thicker than the model's hair so the plaits and bun will be bigger.
-Make sure the hair around the padding is tight.
-Make sure both padding pieces are the same shape and size.