Easy Vintage Updo

Back at the beginning of summer, Jen from All Things Ribbon challenged us to come up with a style for one of her pretty new headbands.  We did a fun little thing on our Facebook page, and had you guys pick which one we got make a style for.  These were the 4 to choose from:

And while they were all so pretty, the one that ended out having the most votes, was actually my favorite too!  All summer I’ve been trying to come up with the “perfect” style to use it in, and because it’s a headband I didn’t just want to “slap” it on as the finishing touch & be done.  I wanted to try to incorporate it into our style, and the hairstyle above is what I came up with.  It’s sort of a vintage/retro updo.

Keep in mind, you obviously don’t need a headband like the one I used (although it definitely adds to this pretty style!), but you’ll need some sort of headband or ribbon that goes completely around the head.  If it has a bit of stretch, that will help.  Also, you don’t need majorly long hair to do this.

Step 1 – Make 4 small ponytails at the nape of the neck

I didn’t part these out exactly, because I didn’t want huge parts on the back of her head.  I just gently sectioned hair out at the nape of her neck and secured them with elastics as evenly as I could.

Step 2 – Make 4 rope braids

If you need help with your rope braids, you can watch our rope braid video HERE.  Secure each one at the end with a clear elastic.

Step 3 – Add your headband

The headband has to go underneath the ponytails.  If there are embellishments on your headband you can play with the positioning of those however you like.  We started with this one further forward for a bit more “retro” look.

Now comes the part that isn’t “exact.”  I know – you guys probably hate it when I say that!  But this all depends on the length/amount of hair you’re working with.

Step 4 – Wrap the twists around the headband

You want the headband to stay under the ponytails.  I just started wrapping the twists around the headband so the headband stayed under the elastics.  I started on the far left pony.

At this point, you’re just trying to get as much of the headband covered as possible.  Don’t worry about anchoring anything just yet.

Same on the right side, just wrap those twists around the headband … 

Step 5 – Wrap the middle 2 twists around headband

Step 6 – Anchor twists with bobby pins

Again, this point is totally to your taste.  I pulled on the twists a bit to mess them up and anchored them as needed with bobby pins to ensure the white headband was totally covered up and the “tails” from my twists were hidden too.  Pulling on the twists gives a bit of a loopy look to it all I think.  And that’s about it.  You can make this as messy or as neat as you want.  If you don’t want the messy look, doing this with really damp hair works best.

FINISHED!

These gorgeous headbands can be found on the All Things Ribbon website under “Dahlias.”  There are several pages of beautiful ones to choose from, so head on over and take a peek!

In the end Bee preferred the headband back a bit further and not right on her forehead or hairline.  But either way, it was a gorgeous style that took no time at all.  This one is perfect for any age really and as long as you have enough hair to wrap around the headband a bit, it can be done with just about any length too.  Let us know what you think!