Senate

My version:

(Similar style)

Reference images:

Analysis (whoo, scientific): This style wins the "most defiant of gravity" award. The basket-like frame holds the hair up and outwards from the head, following the shape of the head at first, then tapering inwards before flaring out sharply. The hair is pulled straight back without parting it first (unlike the majority of the Episode II styles; almost all of them start with some kind of part). About halfway through the basket, the hair is braided into many tiny braids, which then continue back to the end of the frame and are coiled around in the back of the "cup" formed by the frame (see pictures 3 and 4). The hair around the face is oddly fuzzy; I have no idea what's going on there. This style seems to be inspired by an old African style (see picture 5), further corroborating the historicity of Star Wars hairstyles. (Yes, historicity is a word, look it up.) You'll notice the poor girl in picture 5 has the same strained look that Natalie Portman first showed when trying to balance the Episode I hairstyles without falling over backwards. Take my word for it, these styles will KILL your neck.

Directions: Cool as this style is, I don't know if it's worth the neck-ache. I had to take both versions of mine down after only a little while because it was making my neck too sore. However, if you want to attempt this with real hair, the secret lies with tupperware. Open your kitchen cupboard and assess your supplies. I used a roughly cylindrical tupperware container with a plastic water bottle duct-taped to it for the second picture, which was my first attempt. I was actually trying to do something vaguely Bride of Frankenstein-esque, but it was close enough to this style that I decided to post it here. For my second attempt, I used two smaller pieces of tupperware so that I could get closer to the shape of the original style. In both, I put the tupperware creation in the middle of my head and pulled the hair around it, tying strips of cloth or whatever around the whole thing to hold it. I also put an elastic around the hair at the top so that I had a little ponytail dangling from the end. Then I could just coil it around into a bun and pin it or do whatever I wanted with it. I didn't dare try the multiple tiny braids thing; it would take about 5 years and far more neck strength than I have to do that. I used ribbons and random pieces of string to somewhat recreate the basket look. One helpful hint: don't make your style stick out too far from your head, or your arms won't be long enough to fix the end of it. That's it!