Braids

If there’s one hairstyle that will forever remain a staple, it’s braids. After all, they’ve adorned the hair of women and men since.

Create tiny square-shaped parts in your head and three-strand braid cornrows from the root to the ends to create box braids. Platinum Cornrows. The braid precisely laid down her middle part? The plaits left loose at the temples? Or the big bun of swirling, highlighted braids sitting high atop.

And at Byrdie HQ, we're huge proponents of epic plaits, even if they're far beyond our skill set. Hey, they're still fun to look at! In search of the most covetable styles, we’ve combed through the Internet to find the coolest, most badass braided hairstyles of all time—30 of them to be exact. Ahead, you’ll find our favorite, long-hair friendly braids of the season—including messy, disheveled fishtails and clean, polished crowns—all ready to be re-created and admired. Warning: You won’t be able to settle on your favorite (we know we couldn’t). Strafe outerwear.