Cornrow braids are so named because by virtue of their appearance, they do resemble cornrows that are to be seen on corn farms – only that in the case of cornrow braids, of course, the ‘cornrows’ are on the head of the person who opts for the cornrow braid hairstyle, and the row here are made from strands of the wearers’ hair.

The most basic feature of cornrow-braids (which is what sets them apart from the numerous other types of braids) is the fact that the wearer’s hair is braided in ‘rows’ very close to the scalp; often resulting in a very ‘neat’ look. Making these cornrow braids is an intricate art, and a person seeing a person wearing the cornrow braids for the first time might imagine that his or her hair is very short – which often turns out not to be the case, because hair that is ‘compressed’ into these ‘small-looking’ rows might turn out to be very long hair indeed when straightened out.

Of course, while the ‘straight’ variety is probably the commonest of all cornrow braids, it is worth noting that it is certainly NOT the only variety of them, as the cornrow braids can be worked into a great variety of shapes (geometric and otherwise) depending on the dexterity of the ‘hair braider’ creating them, and personal sense of style on the part of the wearer.

Not all hair forms can be easily worked into cornrow-braids though. These types of intricate braids, to be sure, call for hair that is ‘tough’ but malleable, like the African hair, with the softer varieties of hair being rather hard to work neatly into cornrow braids. This is perhaps the reason why cornrow braids have remained rooted in the African and African American societies (from where they were born anyway); because much as the other demographic groups might love the look that the cornrow braids confer to their wearers, they typically have a difficult time molding their softer hair types into such braids.

While by definition a traditional African and African American hairstyle, cornrow-braids have nonetheless come to be seen as a ‘modern’ fashion statement following their embracement by the hip hop subculture in the late decades of the 20th century – which saw many hip hop icons don the braided look, naturally leading to its adoption by their admirers in the masses.

Remarkable about cornrow braids is the fact that although they are quite sophisticated (in terms of the look they confer to their wearers), they are also quite low maintenance, because a typical set of braids can usually last for quite a good number of weeks, with the only maintenance required on the part of the wearer being good cleaning of the scalp on which they are anchored. Of course, if the braids are left for too long, hair does start falling out of the rows that make up the hairstyle, and this can leave the wearer looking very untidy – though again all it would take to rectify this is simply to comb the hair (and straighten it again), and the make a new set of braids -and thence restore the look; which might be further enhanced by the incorporation of multi-colored beads in the rows that make up the hairstyle.

Related Posts:

• Micro braids
• Beautiful cornrows: 5 tips to have it
• Cornrow Braids of all Styles
• Styles For Long Hair
• Long Hair Extensions

3 Responses to “Cornrow Styles”

1. Cornrow Braids of all Styles | Health And Beauty Woman
   September 6th, 2009 @ 6:20 pm

   [...] are many different styles of cornrows, you can choose if you go in such a sight. In principle, hairstylist will be able to give you a [...]

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   December 16th, 2009 @ 2:24 pm

   hair thinning for men…

   Informative post about hair loss in woman, thanks for sharing your knowledge, I look forward to more about hair loss in woman….

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   August 29th, 2010 @ 12:40 pm

   Cornrows are beginning to fade as the style, more guys are either going to dreads or just wearing their hair low. I had rows for a while, and it was too much maintenance for me.

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