Today braids are a predominantly aesthetic choice but in the past, in various cultures, they served to indicate social status and convey valuable information
There first braid of which there is “visual” testimony belongs to Venus of Willendorfa statuette that dates back more or less to the period between 28,000 and 25,000 BC. So we’re talking about thousands of years ago!
Well yes, braids boast very ancient origins, but in the past they were not simple hairstyles, but rather a sign of social belonging. We find them near the ancient Egyptians, at them ancient Greeksand depictions of women with braids have been found in Stone Age paintings in the Tassili Plateau in Saharadated as far back as 3000 BC
In Mexico still today indigenous women of the state of Oaxaca, on the occasion of the festival called “Guelaguetza”, they style their hair by making two braids enriched with colored ribbons.
The hairstyle, depending on how it is made, hides different symbolic meanings: if it is made on the right side of the head it indicates that the woman is married, on the left side it indicates that she is unmarried.
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Braids are also popular among Tibetan women although they vary from region to region, influenced by different customs. Among the nomadic pastoralists of the eastern regions, for example, women divide their hair into 108 braidsnumber linked to the 108 Tibetan sacred volumes of the Khangiur and the 108 Buddhist rosary beads. The hairstyle is often enriched with natural decorative elements, each of which contains a specific meaning.
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In Africa braids were used to identify different tribes and to report age, marital status, wealth, religion of each person. Even today, women pass down the art of weaving from generation to generation and the techniques used vary depending on the ethnic group.
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But the braids they also played a fundamental role during the Atlantic slave tradewhen they were used to draw maps to escape the plantations. Not to mention the spiritual meaning attributed to this hairstyle: being made on the head (the highest part of the body) it was believed to be the conduit used by spirits to reach people’s souls.
In Russia, as Russia Beyond explains, braids in the past served to indicate whether a woman was married (two braids), engaged (a braid with a ribbon) or unmarried (a single braid). Wearing hair loose was instead considered unbecoming and potentially dangerous because it made women vulnerable to the evil one.
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SOURCES: Byrdie/gandhanra/Parents
