Why All Your Favorite Stars Are Wearing Fabric-Woven Braids
And how you can cop the look. (It's easier than it seems.)

Just as you were ready to take on the hair piercing trend, hoops et al, there's a new way to adorn braids that's striking the fancy of stars: with fabric. The styles may look intricate, but if you can braid at all, it's as simple as weaving your choice material into the plait as if it were another section of hair.
So far the look has been seen on more-is-more style enthusiasts like Katy Perry and Rita Ora—here, at Burning Man, Perry gave off distinct My Little Pony vibes:
A post shared by KATY PERRY (@katyperry)
A photo posted by on
Ora had a similar look going on back in July with a Christmas-morning's worth of multi-color ribbon woven into her pigtail plaits:
And just this weekend, Alicia Keys posted a video on her Instagram page in which she covered Desiigner's new track "Timmy Turner" with pigtails wrapped up in red yarn:
A post shared by Alicia Keys (@aliciakeys)
A photo posted by on
If yarn and ribbon are a little too arts-and-crafts-y for your taste, you can also make like Frida Kahlo, who was known to weave scarves and fabric into her braided updos. Kahlo's fabric-adorned coifs have also inspired wearable runway beauty looks for designers like Mara Hoffman, Tia Cibani, Nicole Miller, and Rachel Roy in seasons past.
In other words, you've got plenty of inspo to beat the rest of the celebrity population to the punch and get your fabric-woven braid on:
Tia Cibani Spring 2014
Nicole Miller Spring 2014
Mara Hoffman Spring 2012
Rachel Roy Fall 2011
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Lauren Valenti is Vogue’s former senior beauty editor. Her work has also appeared on ELLE.com, MarieClaire.com, and in In Style. She graduated with a liberal arts degree from Eugene Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts, with a concentration on Culture and Media Studies and a minor in Journalism.
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