Two Saturday evenings ago my husband and I attended the schmoozy event that is New Orleans’ White Linen Night. Art galleries along Julia Street in the Warehouse District throw open their doors to the public to showcase collections and launch exhibits. Restaurants bring food and bars to the street, cars are prohibited, and guests are asked to wear their finest white linen (or whatever they have that’s white-ish).
I’ll jump on any excuse to dress up, so of course I heeded the call to wear le couleur du soir. Being from the South and an island girl at heart, I do happen to own a bit of white linen. I dug in my closet for this dress, which I wore to my bridal shower in May – 9 YEARS AGO. Thankfully, it still fits like a charm.
For its debut in 2005, I wore this dress with a large, wide-brimmed floppy hat that was perfect for a sunny day. But since White Linen Night is well, at night, I skipped the hat and opted for an elegant braided side bun.
Since my hair is now so long and the summer heat creates lots of frizz, I decided to braid my hair wet. I do this with most braided styles – it’s easier, faster and the braids come out much sleeker.
I actually would have preferred my hair to dry a bit before I left the house so I could pull the braid apart and make the bun even bigger, but as usual, I was rushing, so no such thing occurred.
This was actually a very easy style to achieve. After applying a bit of Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, I created a deep part on one side and combed all my hair straight. I then created one French braid with the top section of hair, and created a second braid in the back, to the same side.
I looped the front French braid around the back one, forming a small bun, and pinned the ends to secure. I then took the back braid, and looped it around the perimeter of the small bun to create an even larger bun, and pinned the ends.
The down side to braiding wet hair is that it is very heavy, so I had to stick all kinds of long bobby pins in random places to hold all the hair in place. Generally, I was pleased with the result, though next time I may try it on blown out, straight hair to see just how big of a braided bun I can create.
If you try this style yourself, I’d love to see it! Leave a comment here with a photo, or tag the photo @curlonamission on Instagram. Happy braiding!
Curl on a Mission 