Like skirts over pants and bolero cardigans and everything that was once the reserve of Disney Channel child stars, the tiny braid has swung its way back into our lives.
While baby braids—two tiny strands braided on either side of the face to frame it—might be a product of the noughties nostalgia that continues to sweep the sartorial sphere, they also find a natural alignment with a few other trend eras.
The bohemian white-dress-wearing free spirits of the ’70s come to mind—as Margot Robbie showed, when she dressed in image of Sharon Tate at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Robbie portrayed Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.Tate, a beauty icon of her time, wore the same hairstyle to the festival in 1968. Whimsy, hippy-dippy perfection.
More recently, during her Future Nostalgia tour, Dua Lipa has been spotted in the easy, breezy style on multiple occasions. In April, Lipa twisted her hair into tiny braids and donned a punchy fuschia set by Valentino—and also wore her hair in the style while on stage in London, with a candy pink Balenciaga catsuit and matching opera gloves. Hot pink, it seems, makes for a natural partner in crime.
We knew we were aesthetically in favour, but Lipa makes the case for the baby braid as a practical option—if they can keep the hair from her face while she performs onstage for hours at a time, then they can likely withstand the wear and tear of an average evening out on the town.
If this hairstyle had a kinship with any geographical location, it would have to be the Coachella Valley. But this year, Hailey Bieber, dressed in her normcore best (a tank and jeans) showed that the baby braid, paired with a swipe of under-eye aquamarine liner, was an easy dip of the toe into festival-appropriate outfitting (without having to commit to an entirely boho-chic ensemble, cowboy boots et al).
Ready to get the look? It’s incredibly easy to emulate. Just take two equal width lengths of hair from either side of your face and plait. Secure with a small elastic, or do à la Margot Robbie, and leave ends unsecured. For a full Y2K moment? Tiny butterfly claw clips in punchy pastels, naturally.
