Ceremonial Leia hair

[Jaxxa ()]

I'm hopefully about to be finished with a Ceremonial Leia that's been in the works for entirely too long. The dress is done, I have the shoes, I've ordered the jewelry, and I have the belt.

Last year, I wore it minus the necklace:



It's not a great picture, I was still recovering from my little run-in with an SUV. The dress fits quite a bit better now and I don't need to accessorize with a brace.

I have a Senatorial Leia with a long, full costume wig that I just restyled. It worked well, but it got heavy after a while. The biggest problem was trying to make it look natural while still covering my very blonde hair. I pinned the heck out of it, but you can see in the pictures the sides sort of protrude.

Anyone have suggestions for how to get it to lie more realistically while still providing blonde coverage, or suggestions for new wigs? I'm thinking about going the short wig + braids route anyway just to cut down on the weight.

[SongofAmazon (Jenna)]

The thing with wigs, is if they don't have bangs, they look wiggy. It's hard to hide the unnatural looking hairline. Though, I think if you're willing to start over, I'd go for a short wig, ponytail it and cut off the rest. Then you can build the bun around a cup or something, so it's hollow and not so heavy.

Alternatively, I've met a number of blond Leia's who use brown hair color spray ("Burn Brown" that you can find at Sally's Beauty Supplies) to temporarily spray their hair brown and then add extension pieces. I think that would actually be easier for you, and a heck of a lot lighter.
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In planning and progress:
Riyo Chuchi, Havoc Trooper, Amilyn Holdo, Lilac Handmaiden

Charter Committee | Galactic Senate DCO | RLGS Web Site

[Swfangirl ()]

Hey Lisa, almost finished with my ceremonial too I decided to go blonde braid with natural hair on mine, because I was worried about the long braid being too heavy for my head and pulling on a brown wig. I'm still playing with the styling, I don't like how mine looks yet either.

[Jaxxa ()]

Using my real hair as a base probably won't work for me. It's very fine and things pinned in it don't stay in place long. I'd much rather stick with wigs for reliability, ease of use, and proper color.

Like I said in the first post, I'm totally willing to replace the current wig (it has a ton of miles on it anyway) but I need a wig that is known to work for this kind of styling. I was looking around a bit and had trouble finding wigs that weren't cut into layers and didn't have bangs. I've only used wigs for a couple of costumes, so I'm not really sure what's out there or what I should be looking for in a description.

[Princess Liz Fett (Liz Welsh)]

Hey Jaxxa! I am almost finished with my ceremonial Leia as well. First, I bought a hair bun piece from the headshopwigs.com. The bun has a clip on it that stays right on your hair, and the bun is hollow in the inside so that you can hide your natural hair under it (in my case, since I have long hair, I don't hide it under the bun, I use it as the descending braid) But this bun is fantastic. Then, I cover the bun with multiple synthetic braids. I bought the braids from threemusesclothing.com. If your hair is too short for the descending braid, then just use a synthetic braid.
The synthetic braids and hair bun piece I bought come in a wide variety of different colors, and many different shades of colors
I hope this helps! When I'm done with my costume, I will include some pictures for you if you still need help
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Rebel Legion Costumer of the Year 2013

[SongofAmazon (Jenna)]

I have horrendously silky fine (and short too) hair, however, it's amazing what a bunch of hairspray can do to hold it in place. Though, when my hair is at its shortest, I need a hold-and-spray friend to help style it up. So, I wouldn't write off hair pieces because of fine hair. Though, if you're set on a wig, that works too.
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In planning and progress:
Riyo Chuchi, Havoc Trooper, Amilyn Holdo, Lilac Handmaiden

Charter Committee | Galactic Senate DCO | RLGS Web Site

[RebelSenator ()]

To mask your natural hairline, try a brown hair pencil. They are usually used to cover up roots between coloring. They're wax so they wash out.
In a pinch, I admit I've used a brown eyebrow pencil and it's worked just fine. My hair is platinum like yours so even the smallest amt will be noticed.
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