Practical. Beautiful. Tribal. Ornamental. Regal. Ancient. Futuristic. Plain. Fantastical. 

The braiding of hair has been weaving the strands of functionality, community, and personal expression for literal centuries. They carry deep cultural and historical meaning while also delivering on some of pop culture’s most iconic stylings of all time – across decades and genre. Here are our favorites!

DOROTHY GALE

The production team and first director for The Wizard of Oz initially styled Judy Garland to have long, glamorously curled BLONDE hair (and heavier make-up to boot). One week into shooting, producers scrapped the whole look and restyled Dorothy to be more youthful, innocent, and unassuming. The weeks of reshoots were only one part of the tornado that was the making of this classic film.

FRIDA KAHLO

Mexican artist and and activist Frida Kahlo, most known for her vibrant and at times strange self-portraits, had a deep connection to her hair. She used it in life and in art to express her political passion for Mexicayotl movement, which aimed to revive the indigenous traditions of the Aztec into Mexican culture. As a queer person, she used hair in life and art to convey her feelings about gender, sex, and relationships. As a person with disabilities in her right leg (resulting from polio and a bus accident), it is possible that she also used the ribbons and flowers in her famous braids to draw the eye up and away from her biggest insecurity. She was a singular person, still revered for her relentless devotion to her creativity and convictions.

PRINCESS LEIA

Leia is, if not the first, then supremely seminal in linking sci-fi and fantasy heroines with braided hairstyles. What is the deal with that, anyway? A mix of factors – the combined utility and beauty of braids create looks that feel both regal and badass. These braids are often also borrowing inspiration from ancient cultures (Roman or Viking, eg.) and indigenous cultures. Leia’s famous “cinnamon roll buns” are likely heavily influenced by the “squash blossom” styles worn by Hopi women.

JANET JACKSON

In the 1993 romantic drama Poetic Justice, Janet Jackson sported box braids, wearing them tucked under her iconic newsboy cap, up in high ponytails, and pulled back with scarves and bands. Her styling had massive impact – while these long braids have a rich history in African culture dating at least back to the 15th century – they hadn’t been seen this way in cinema before. It made a traditional black hairstyle (worn by a black woman) feel both more aspirational and more familiar to a broader audience, paving the way for greater appreciation and appropriation of the look for years to come.

KATNISS EVERDEEN

Katniss Everdeen’s practical side braid is interesting because it is iconic inside the world of The Hunger Games, not just to readers and viewers of the franchise. Over the course of the trilogy, her braids shift away from their purely functional role to being used for literal brand strategy. Whether she is being styled for The Games themselves, or taking up her mantle as “The Mockingjay” (the face of the revolution), the people pulling the strings in her life understand the importance of a signature look – even in war.

QUEEN ELSA

Queen Elsa literally lets her hair down in Let It Go, euphorically unpinning a formal coif and letting it fall into a full and barely tamed braid. This moment from Disney’s 2013 smash hit Frozen offers an alternative to the more traditional “I want” song, often sung by an earnest ingenue in the first act. Instead, Elsa brassily belts out an “I AM” anthem, and the result was Disney’s first ever Diamond Status record. The song and character have been embraced by queer audiences in particular, seeing their experiences of coming out mirrored in Elsa’s icy self-celebration.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

As Cleopatra in the notorious 1963 epic of the same name, Liz Taylor was styled in wig-maker Stanley Hall’s glamorous interpretation of the hair pieces worn by Egypt’s most famous queen. Ancient Egyptians wore wigs for hygienic reasons, as well as using them to confer status and divinity. The film’s release perfectly dove-tailed with the emergence of hair stylist Vidal Sassoon’s geometrical bobs, which gave women permission to free themselves from the salon chair and use that time to become the Cleopatra’s of their own lives (hopefully with less snakes).

BEYONCÉ

“Hair is a woman’s crown”. Those are the words of Kim Kimble, the hair stylist behind the many braided styles of Beyoncé in her visual album Lemonade. Cornrows, sweeping box braids, and even a replica of Nerfiti’s crown done in small braids artfully tell a story of black women’s history, strength, and vulnerability. Lemonade cemented Beyoncé as a true star of the 21st century, but more than that, it marked a turning point in her career in which she appeared to be taking control of her own image and story as an artist, wife, and mother.

WEDNESDAY ADDAMS

Snap Snap. The sarcastic and delightfully morbid only daughter of The Addams Family has worn two sleek twin braids dating all the way back to her first appearance in The New Yorker cartoon series in 1944. Christina Ricci’s portrayal of Wednesday in the nineties cemented her as a gothic style icon, a status that has only grown with Tim Burton’s series Wednesday, where the now teenager is in a spotlight all her own – even if she prefers the dark.

DAENERYS TARGARYEN

Daenerys’ journey on Game of Thrones from slave-bride to warrior to royal lasts eight seasons, which means her hair not only serves to establish her character, but provides almost a decade’s worth of insight into her emotional life and status as she strives to achieve and maintain power in Westeros. Dothraki warriors gain braids alongside victory, and the spirit of this tradition is carried through by the ‘Mother of Dragons’ until the very end.

LILY GLADSTONE

In her historic and Oscar nominated portrayal of Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon, Lily Gladstone (from the Blackfoot and Nez Perce Nations) often wore a simple single long braid down the middle of her back. This styling emphasized her character’s immense pride in, and devotion to, her Osage heritage. This set her in subtle contrast to women like her sister, who allowed modern and western beauty ideals to influence them. Production teams worked closely with members of the Osage Nation to bring accuracy and truth to the incredible story, grounded in Gladstone’s quiet emotional depth and intellect.

ANNE SHIRLEY

Anne-with-an-E Shirley is one of the most enduringly beloved female characters of the 20th century. While her hairstyles do change over the course of the story (in no small part owing to her desperation to no longer be a red head), the image of the orphan’s two braids falling from underneath a straw hat is the one that has defined her since 1908. To fans, Anne remains a symbol of imagination, conviction, and open-heartedness.

BRANDY

Before Tiana and before Halle Bailey’s Ariel, there was Brandy as Cinderella. Disney’s 1997 adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical cast the R&B singer to portray their most iconic princess, bringing a fresh and contemporary flair to an American classic. She insisted on wearing braided looks, wanting to represent the culture of black women and inspire an audience of young girls by seeing themselves celebrated onscreen.

BO DEREK

In the 1979 movie 10, actress Bo Derek ran down the beach wearing a gold swimsuit and beaded braids. The scene was a sensation, launching Derek into stardom and making ‘Bo braids’ a fashion trend. The scene also created a controversy and conversation that is still ongoing: the iconic hairstyle’s proper name is ‘Fulani braids’, named for a nomadic West African group. The braids carried social meaning in that culture, and even helped women communicate with one another during slave trade. While Bo Derek looks beautiful in the movie, it brings to light larger questions around appropriation, and ongoing frustrations for black women whose culture is only allowed or appreciated once a white woman adopts it.

SHOSHANNA SHAPIRO

As the youngest member of the emotionally stunted but somehow still loveable foursome in HBO’s Girls, Shoshanna continually amazed viewers with her quirky and complicated hairstyles. The advent of social media at the time meant that millennial women were suddenly bombarded with imagery and influences from every angle, and Shosh’s playful yet painfully worked-over hair was a perfect satire of the Pinterest-fueled fever dream that was being a young woman in the 2010s.

PIPPI LONG-

STOCKING

Pippi Longstocking is the young heroine in a series of children’s books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren in 1945. She immediately captured the hearts and imaginations of children and families across the globe with her superhuman strength, rejection of adult propriety, and adventurous high-spirit. Her spunk and humor, paired with her gravity defying braids, provided a much needed antidote to the weight of the real world traumas being processed by people of every age and nationality at the end of WWII.

RAPUNZEL

While the ‘Maiden in a Tower’ story has potential roots going back as far as 4500 BC, the most famous and enduring version of the story is that of Rapunzel, published by The Brothers Grimm in 1812. As the story goes, Rapunzel is taken by a witch as a baby to live in a high tower with no doors. Over the years, her hair grows and grows and is used by the witch to climb up the tower, until she is, of course, rescued by a prince. Rapunzel’s story has been used to explore themes of true love conquering, of Stockholm syndrome, of forbidden craving, of life’s hardships, and many many others.