Black Widow Braids | 3 Types & Complete Style Guide

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The movie Black Widow featured some great hairstyles across all of the actors starring in the film, and none more iconic than the braids the titular character wore.

Below, we’ll talk about the most popular types of Black Widow braids and how you can wear these badass hairstyles yourself. Read on to learn all you need to know!

What Are Black Widow Braids?

Everyone likes feeling as though they’re going to go on an adventure as soon as they step out their front door, and what better way to kickstart that feeling than with your appearance?

You may not have the tactical gear that Black Widow does, but there is one aspect of these superheroes you can emulate; their hairstyles! Black Widow came out in 2021 as the first female-centric movie in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It follows the story of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), a once notorious assassin, as she reunites with her sister Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), mother Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), and father Alexei (David Harbour).

The family attempts to bring down the very force that brought them together in the first place, the highly secretive Black Widows. Even though the movie features incredible stunts, CGI effects, and acting, the hairstyles are what caught our eye.

The three leading female characters all sport braided hairstyles ranging from casual to battle ready. You can easily integrate any of these featured hairstyles into your daily life.

Even if you aren’t fighting assassins, who doesn’t love feeling battle ready? To try any of the hairstyles below, the instructions assume you are working with hair with a similar texture and length as the stars.

If not, you can use a wig or extensions to achieve the length texture you need. Alternatively, you could adapt the hairstyles for your hair, taking Black Widow as your inspiration.

Natasha Romanoff Braids

To start, we’ll review the Black Widow braid hairstyles of the main character, Natasha Romanoff. Natasha was once a Black Widow assassin but later left the criminal organization to become an Avenger. She sports braids in this film as well as in many of her appearances in the MCU.

Single Dutch Braid

In the earlier parts of the film, we see Natasha wearing her hair in a simple braid. From talking with her sister to motorcycle chase scenes, this style holds up and looks simple and badass throughout the film.

Doing this braid on your hair is super easy. To put it simply, it is just a dutch braid that starts at the upper back of your hair and goes through to the ends of your hair.

Start by drying your hair. We recommend you brush it first to be as free of knots and tangles as possible. If your hair is prone to tangling, you could try a little hair oil to help keep it smooth.
Take a section of hair from the upper back part of your hair and divide it into three sections
Take the left-most section, and pass it underneath the middle section, making it the new middle section
Next, take the right section and pass it under the middle section. Add a little hair in from the side as you go
Braid down to the nape of your neck. Make sure all of your hair strands are included in the braid
Continue braiding until you reach the ends of your hair
Tie off the braid with a small elastic

Pigtail Braids

You can do these pigtail braids with the same method as the single braid. Instead of one dutch braid running down the back of your head, it’s one on either side of your head.

Start by parting your hair in two
Start a dutch braid near your temple and braid back behind your ear, adding in small amounts of hair as you braid. By the time you reach behind one ear, you should have included all of the hair from that section
Braid the rest as usual
Fasten with a hair elastic
Repeat on the other side.

Twin Side Braids

This hairstyle is super cute and was in plenty of the promotional art for the movie. Most of the hair is left down and softly curled. The hairstyle begins with a side part and features two small french braids.

A french braid is the opposite of a dutch braid; instead of going under with the strands, you pass the sections of hair over the middle section, adding in small amounts of hair as you go.

Take a 1-2 inch section of hair from around your temple
Do a loose french braid following the section directly downward
When you reach your ear, you can continue with a regular braid until you reach the ends of your hair
Tie it off with a small elastic
Take another 1-2 inch section just behind the first section
Loosely french braid until you reach around your ear
Continue the braid as usual
Fasten with a small hair elastic.

Braided Ponytail

This is Natasha’s battle-ready hair, featured in the latter half of the movie. The combination of the smaller braids makes it look intricate, but it’s not difficult to do at all.

Take a small inch-wide section of hair from behind each ear and make a simple braid
Divide your remaining hair into upper and lower sections
Take the upper section and further divide it into two sections
Starting near the back of your head, braid each of these two sections
Take the remaining lower section of your hair and put it into a ponytail
Take the two upper braids, cross them over each other, and drape them over the ponytail
Use pins to hold them into place.

Yelena Belova Braids

Natasha’s little sister, Yelena, is also a great source for Black Widow braids, though only one of her hairstyles features braids. This is a bun style seen in the later half of the movie that will give a powerful, battle-ready aura to any outfit.

Braided Bun

Yelena’s braided bun starts in the same way as Natasha’s pigtail braids.

Start by making pigtail braids
Cross the braid ends over themselves and fold them across the back of your head, twisting them into a knot at the back of your neck
Use pins to hold the braid ends in place.

Bonus: Double Ponytail

This hairstyle doesn’t have braids, but it is still a fun Black Widow hairstyle. Simply divide your hair into upper and lower sections. Put each section into a ponytail, one over the other. The result is a ponytail that gives the appearance of excellent volume and length.

Melina Vostokoff Braids

The last character we’ll be looking at is Melina, the mother figure of Natasha and Yelena. Like Yelena, Melina has two main hairstyles featured in the movie. The first is a variation on a crown braid. The other is a ponytail.

Crown Braid

To do this hairstyle, you’ll want to be very comfortable with dutch braiding.

To start, take a 1-inch section from the front side of your hair, starting at one ear
Dutch braid this section from your ear, across the top of your head, and then down to the ends of your hair
Take another half-inch section from just behind the first and repeat, starting at the opposite ear
Divide the remaining hair into two side-by-side sections
Dutch braid both sections straight down to the ends. You should now have four braids in total
Finish the hairstyle by arranging the braids so that they circle your head, doing your best to hide the ends underneath the other braids
Keep them in place with pins.

Twisted Ponytail

The last hairstyle seen on Melina is a simple ponytail. It uses twists to give volume and texture to the hairstyle. If you’re in love with braiding, however, you could use small, loose braids to achieve the same effect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Black Widow braids are iconic and practical hairstyles that anyone can do, but if you still have some questions about them, check out this FAQ!

Does Natasha wear any other braids?

Natasha is in many of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. In the later films, particularly Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, you can see her with a variety of braided hairstyles.

Are Black Widow Braids easy?

Some are, yes! We mainly found Natasha’s double braid style great for beginners, as you’re able to see all of the hair as you braid, and you don’t have to braid behind your head.

Do other Marvel characters wear braids?

Some characters from other Marvel movies wear braids, like Thor from Thor and Shuri from Black Panther, but Natasha Romanoff’s hairstyles are by far the most iconic braids in the MCU.

Black Widow Braids: Tying Off Loose Ends

The braided hairstyles from the movie Black Widow add an extra level of characterization to the film’s protagonists. From Natasha’s battle-ready braided ponytail to Melina’s no-nonsense crown braid, there are a variety of styles that are great for anyone to try on their hair. Braid your locks up, and you’ll be ready to face whatever life throws at you.