Planning, Praying, Playing: Au or Faux naturale? Bridal Hairstyles

At the moment, with it being Black History Month, there seems to be a lot of talk about race, intelligence and beauty. Always a thought-provoking topic! There are films like Chris Rock’s ‘Good Hair’, and Channel 4's insightful documentary series, ‘The White Beauty Myth’.

All this has got me thinking even harder about my choice of bridal hairstyle, and the possibilities seem to be endless. Nonetheless, I am finding it surprisingly hard to find inspiration for bridal hairdos for black women.

Do I go for a long, sleek and very versatile Caucasian style weave, afro-centric hair extensions, to give me that bit of length that I so desire, without necessarily conforming to the ‘straight + long = beautiful’ mantra OR do I figure out something to do with my own natural 1 inch head of hair.

Before I go any further, I just want to clarify that I think everyone is free to wear their hair as they please (sing it India!). On a personal level, I want my bridal hairstyle to represent the way I view myself at this stage in my life - and that is proud to be a black woman, very comfortable in my own skin and realising that I truly am not my hair and that I can wear it any way I wish and still be me. An empowering revelation! At the same time, I am no Whoopi Goldberg and sisterlocks are not for me. I simply want a bridal ‘do’ that is different and a lot more special than the way that I usually wear my hair – TWA (teeny weeny afro)…after all it is my wedding day! At the same time, it has to be tried and tested style that I know I like the look of! The big day is no time for beauty experiments, is it girls!

Aside from kinky twists and braid-outs, I can think of little else I can do with my, albeit beautiful, very short and rather kinky hair. Had I been brave enough to shave my head and grow out my natural hair a few years ago, perhaps I would have had more length to play with. If I did, these are some styles that I find really pretty and would definitely have considered.

This now leaves me with two options 1) Afro-centric extensions and 2) Caucasia-centric sleek weave…or is there a third option after all, a curly weave, giving me the length, without leaving guests wondering if it really is me beneath all the make-up and tresses!

Here are some styles that I am currently salivating over!

The Afro-Centric