If you’re a millennial, it might be hard to separate the idea of baby braids from the type of hairstyle you rocked regularly in the Y2K era with colorful barrettes and butterfly clips. Or perhaps from the kind celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens and Hailey Bieber wear to Coachella with cut-offs, crochet halter tops, and cowboy boots. But it was actually a whole other time and place that inspired Lily-Rose Depp to sport baby braids to the Los Angeles premiere of Nosferatu on Nov. 12th. This remake of the 1922 vampire movie — which is loosely based on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula — is set in Victorian times, and her beautifully sculpted style is a tribute to 19th century braided styles.
Braids have a long and complex history, dating back to African rock paintings from as early as 3500 BC. Centuries later, they became a popular hairstyle for women of the Victorian era, who styled their plaits into loops, buns, crowns, and other complex configurations depending on the occasion. Depp’s character in the film lives in Germany in 1838, which falls firmly into that time period, so it’s fitting that her hairstylist Bryce Scarlett would get inspired by the kinds of braids women wore back then — but of course he had to give them an update for 2024.
Scarlett has been styling the it girl’s hair for Nosferatu’s ongoing press tour, manipulating her beige-y blonde hair into a variety of different looks from chic twisted buns to half-up curls and even the on-trend ‘90s prom updo. But it seems that the LA premiere offered the opportunity to fully lean into a totally different vintage mood. To get the look, the stylist started by giving Depp a smooth blowout, her mid-back length hair falling into a soft and subtle wave. Then he created two tidy braids, each about a centimeter thick, on either side of her center part. With some sort of sorcery, the stylist managed to sculpt both braids into seamless S-curves that swirl toward her temples and then away from her face, then finished off with curled ends invisibly affixed to the back of her head.
The Idol star’s hair was a perfect complement to her vintage silver Chanel dress, which included a sheer, embellished cape that nodded to the Victorian Gothic period in the most subtle way. To complete Depp’s vintage vampire-inspired glam, makeup artist Nina Park used pinky-nude hues from her lids to her lips, creating a monochromatic effect. These little details kept the total look feeling more contemporary than costume-y, so if you want to try baby braids in a way that’s more 2024 than 1830 (or 2003, for that matter), keep the rest of your styling similarly modern and minimal.