My methods for Hoth and Bespin Leia hair

[Annie Organa ()]

Considering I want to do both of these costumes at some point in the future, I figured I'd tackle the hair first. Neither are perfect, but I figured I'd make a post for those with minimal resources, like me, who want to try using their own hair in their costumes.

The first, and more challenging one, is Hoth. Since my hair is short, this was going to be hard.

You'll notice that Leia's hair isn't just wrapped around her head once; it's wrapped around twice. Excuse the, erm, creepy photo, they still didn't know.



What I did was I parted my hair down the middle, and made two pigtails. Then, I spit those pigtails into two smaller ones--one on top and one on the bottom. I clipped the two top ones on top of my head to get them out of the way.

I braided both of the bottom pigtails, and laid them one on top of the other to make it look like one was the outer braid and the other was the inner braid. I pinned them at the ends, right by my ears. Then, I did the same thing with the top braids, "connecting" them as much as I possibly could to form the "double-braid" effect. This is my final result. Not perfect, but it was my first try!



Now on to Bespin, which is much easier!

The key piece to this hairstyle is a braided bun extension I bought at Claire's. (I honestly can't tell if her bun is twisted or braided, so I went with the braid.) Particularly, this one, for those interested:
http://www.claires.com/store/goods/hair/cat1260204/faux+hair/p64224/faux+hair+bun/ (it's a little too big, but I think it works for the time being)

All I did was make two braids, pinned them up to the back of my head--although they're a lot lower than how Leia's got hers in the movie since I have short hair--and pinned it so the bottom just covered up where I'd secured the braids. This makes it look like it's higher up on my head!

This is the final result:



Any thoughts? And if you do any of these costumes, what are your hairstyling methods for them?
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Galactic Academy alumna CLOR0509
Former Delegation Vice Leader for Delegation of Assarda (2018-2020)

[RebelSenator ()]

I've seen hair extensions used for the braids for both of these. I would have to use a wig and extensions since my hair is blonde.
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Stay on Target

[Annie Organa ()]

[Princess Liz Fett (Liz Welsh)]

Hoth Leia is a costume I'm working on as well as the Bespin Escape outfit. For my Bespin hair, I just pin my natural hair in a bun, then add braid extensions under it (making sure the braids are securely pinned down and hidden underneath the bun). As for Hoth Leia, since my hair is really long, I use my natural hair in a braid, and use that for the back of the hair, and use a braid extension for the top of the head hope this helps, I'll try to take pics and maybe do a tutorial soon

[padme9055 (Tabitha McCurdy)]

A tip for having smoother braids, try smoothing some oil (not more then a nickel size drop on your hand) in to your hair and combing it out throughly. Or brushing. Really helps with the fly-aways.

I did the Bespin style in my hair once, but not only do I have 3 foot of hanging hair, my hair is REALLY thick. So I almost have Leia hair myself . My sister did it and she did like the bottom half of my hair in a bun and took to rather small sections of hair and braided them and looped them up. It actually didn't look too bad.
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Check out my blog: http://anartistslifeline.wordpress.com

Tabitha: a daughter, big sister, screenwriter, costumer, seamstress.

[Annie Organa ()]

[Annie Organa ()]

Upon further inspection, I've noticed that Leia's braids in the Bespin hairstyle actually start somewhere under the bun:



This changes my entire method! I think maybe I could put all of my natural hair into the bun, and then get two braid extensions for the loops. Anyone else have ideas on how to achieve this style?
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Galactic Academy alumna CLOR0509
Former Delegation Vice Leader for Delegation of Assarda (2018-2020)

[KrisAntilles (Amanda Burk)]

I would pull your hair into a pony tail. Hook/loop the braid extentions on to your pony tail. Then twist your pony tail into a bun and pin it down.

That's what I do with my braid extensions that I wear with my generic jedi costumes. My three long braids are attached to a ponytail holder. The shorter braid that wraps around my bun is attached to a small ponytail holder. I pull my hair back into a pony tail. Loop the short braid onto my pony tail. Then loop the long braids onto my pony tail. Twist my ponytail into a bun and pin in place. Wrap the short braid around my bun and pin in place. Works great! Though it's been dubbed the "Slave Leia" hair.





I'm toying with the idea of making some new braid extensions so I can do a Bespin Leia style hairdo and change things up. Heck, every troop I go to, everyone calls me Leia anyway, especially with my lighter colored jedi costume. It's been dubbed the "Expanded Universe Jedi Knight Leia". lol! Might as well have both "Bespin Leia" and "Slave Leia" hair for it I guess. lol!


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Jedi - Great Lakes Base
TS-50136 - Great Lakes Garrison
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[Annie Organa ()]

That looks great!

I just bought some packages of braiding hair online, so I'm going to try to braid them both, and pin them up under a bun made from my natural hair. I don't know if it will work, but it's worth a shot.
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Galactic Academy alumna CLOR0509
Former Delegation Vice Leader for Delegation of Assarda (2018-2020)

[KrisAntilles (Amanda Burk)]

I use a very thin hair net the same color as my hair to wrap around my bun. It keeps the fly aways smoothed down, and I can fluff my hair a wee bit loose in the bun, so the bun looks a little bigger than it really is but the hair net keeps it all in place. And you can't really tell it's there unless you really look close. Just an idea! Good luck!
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Jedi - Great Lakes Base
TS-50136 - Great Lakes Garrison
Follow my costuming adventures (both Star Wars and non Star Wars):
Dun Got Class Costuming Creations

[Annie Organa ()]

[Lora Skywalker ()]

Alright, you asked for ideas and I happen to quite a fan of eleborate hair styles.
I'll try to make examples for both long and short hairs.

First one: Hoth Leia
For long hairs (middle back or longer): I'd do the same as I do when doing Elizabethan Hair taping except I'd pin it in place rather than sew it in. This means starting out with a tight, low ponytail that is then split in two equally large portions. These are then english braided. (Also known as a standard three strand braid).
Then flip the braids around so the leftside braid goes to the right side and vice versa. This helps hide the split.
Next up is wrapping the braids around your head. Wrap one at a time and use clips to keep it there until you secure it. Make sure they are tight. Tuck the ends under the other braid.
Then use a poodoo of good hair pins to pin those braids into place and remove the clips.

For short hairs (minimum ponytail dusk lenght): Make a ponytail like above and add two (long) extensions to it. Again they should be english braided and crossed in the back. Proceed as described above and voila! You have the Hoth hairdo.

Here's a tutorial to Elizabethan hair taping, which is very similar to Leia's Hoth style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqbAdvL8kME


The Bespin/Cloud City hairdo:
For very long hair: Make a tight, high ponytail and divide it in two. English braid until you have braided enough to have the loops just above your shoulders. Make sure you have a good portion unbraided hair.
Then loop the hair up and wrap the unbraided part around in a bun, covering the beginning and end of the braided hair. Tuck the ends under the bun.

For long hairs (those hair isn't crazy long long): Start as above, but instead split into three portions of hair. You can make the middle part smaller so you have more hair in your braids.
Proceed as before, but braid all the way down. Loop the braided hair and use the ends as the base for the bun. Cover with the last portion of unbraided hair and tuck the end under.

For short hairs (shoulder lenght): Make a high ponytail. Add two english braided extensions and loop them up. Either use your own hair to cover the beginning/ends, or use more extensions to make the wrapped bun.


Disclaimer: I haven't tired doing the Cloud City hairdo on myself yet, so this is a theoretical breakdown of the hair style. I hope it will be helpful to others.

These methods can be altered as needed; if you have thin or little hair you may wish to use extension even if your hair is very long. That's what I do to get the fullness of Leia's crazy thick hair.
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Nordic Base BMO | DL of Aurora Delegation | CRC | She/Her They/Them

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[Princess Liz Fett (Liz Welsh)]

I would just make sure that the braids looks neat and even. I'm not an LCJ, but I think it's important for the hair to look true to source. Reference images have helped me a lot with my Leia hairstyles The padawan's guide is packed with great reference images

[Annie Organa ()]

[Lora Skywalker ()]

Long extensions are hard to braid well. I remember having to braid them very carefully when I braided my kanekalon extensions for ceremonial Leia. It was slow and a bit a of PITA.
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Nordic Base BMO | DL of Aurora Delegation | CRC | She/Her They/Them

RLGS Detachment website: http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/