Fishtail Braid

Hotter temperatures mean that it's time to dig your favourite hats out from the back of the closet. While everyone loves a good fedora, the crux is that it can create a conundrum for your hair. But fear no more. You don't have to sacrifice your favourite hat for your hairstyle; get three hairstyling ideas for making your hat part of your look when you keep reading.

Blake Lively's continuing to dominate red carpets across the US as she promotes her new movie Savages. From old Hollywood waves to a beach babe textured up 'do, Blake's most recent hairstyle, at the NYC premiere, is the best of both worlds: statement-making, yet simple to recreate. Read on for our step-by-step instructions to creating a fishtail plait and remember, if you're looking to get your braid nice and chunky like Blake's, consider clipping in some hair extensions before you start. Try Schwarzkopf Magic Hair Extensions ($44.95).

• Begin by pulling hair back into a ponytail (you can skip this step if you want a more casual feel to the braid; simply jump to step two and separate strands at the nape of the neck).
• Next separate the ponytail into two even sections
• Take about a half-inch portion of hair from the outer side of the right-hand section and cross it over so that it joins the left-hand section on the inside.
• Repeat the action but this time on the left-hand side.
• Depending on how chunky you want your braid to be, you can alter the width of the portions of hair you take. If you take a wider section your braid will be chunkier.
• Continue to cross the portions over until you reach about two inches from the bottom of your hair. Then secure the braid with an elastic.
• To style, you can bring the braid over one shoulder if it's long enough.
• If you want a more textured, less polished end result that is similar to Blake's, hold onto the bottom of the braid at the elastic and begin to gently push the hair upwards, creating a more lived-in texture. Move your fingers up the braid and repeat the action, holding with one hand and pushing up with the other, to create the effect the full way up the braid.
• Finally, finish off the ponytail with a jewelled or metallic band to add something special to the style. Try these options: Sportsgirl Silver Clean Covered Band ($9.95) or Topshop Gold Section Top Knot (approx $13.50) and secure with hairspray.

In this week's episode of Australia's Next Top Model, the tribal trend was alive and well, evident in the bright pops of eyeshadow and braided hairstyles. We turned to the show's lead hairstylist, TRESemmé's Joh Bailey, on how we can recreate three of the most popular braided 'dos — the fishtail, the French plait and the rope braid:

FISHTAIL BRAID

To form a fishtail, you ideally need quite long hair to get the proper effect. This is best created at the nape of the neck as a low pony.

• Pull hair back and separate it into two even sections.
• Take a long thin piece of hair from one of these sections and use it to wrap first around one section, then in a figure eight over the next section and back again. Effectively you are creating a figure eight along the whole ponytail.
• You should keep the figure eight joins quite tight, which means using extra hair. Once the first piece runs out, take another piece from the other side and keep going. Finish by tying off with an elastic. For a messier look, ease out the hair when you are done.

Read more for how to recreate a French plait and a rope braid!