Braid (hairstyle)

Braids (also referred to as plaits) are a hairstyle formed by interlacing three or more strands of hair. Braiding has been used to style and ornament human and animal hair for thousands of years world-wide in various cultures around the world. Braided hairstyles are used in many cultures as social signifiers for traits such as marital status, gender, social class, and age. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-stranded structure. More complex patterns can be constructed from an arbitrary number of strands to create a wider range of structures. The structure is usually long and narrow with each component strand functionally equivalent in zigzagging forward through the overlapping mass of the others. Incorporating more hair as the braid progresses, either from the head or from separate wefts of hair, can create other styles such as knotless braids and French braids. Small items like beads and shells can also be incorporated into the braid.