| Rachel Leigh Cook Goes To The Prom Styles For Medium Hair Lengths |
| Karen Marie Shelton |
| Date: 2/12/2000 |
Introduction  I absolutely love the movie, She's All That, starring Rachel Leigh Cook as the cute, quirky, but brainy Laney Boggs. (Photo of Rachel by Roger Erickson for Seventeen).
Her arch enemy is the snobbish, spoiled rich kid, Taylor Vaughan (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). During the run of the movie, Laney and Taylor not only compete for the attention of Zach Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) but they compete for Prom Queen. (Photo of Rachel Leigh Cook at her Prom in She's All That) Since Hair Boutique gets so many questions about Prom, I am always focused on any Prom hair information I can find. When Laney and Taylor went to their Prom as Prom Queen wannabes, my eyes were glued to their hairstyles.  I was not really surprised with either the dresses or the styles that Laney and Taylor wore. They were well suited for the characters they played and the hair that they wore. (Photo of Rachel from the movie, She's All That).
Rachel's Laney character had soft, fine and chin length hair while Taylor had thick, shoulder length hair that appeared to be coarse with some natural wave or curl. Laney looked stunning in an Audrey Hepburn sleek and elegant French Twist while Taylor went with the curly updo. I was very impressed that both Laney and Taylor wore hairstyles that were very appropriate for their film personalities, Prom dresses and hair types.
 I get lots of questions about whether or not the French Twist is old fashioned or out of style. As Laney Boggs in She's All That, Rachel Leigh Cook looked absolutely stunning in her simple, but elegant gown and sleek, shining soft French Twist.
With Jennifer Love Hewlitt portraying the gorgeous Audrey Hepburn on screen, don't be surprised to see lots of versions of Audrey's French Twist making a big comeback. The Classic Formal Do - The French Twist  The French Twist style can be worn by just about anyone with medium to super long hair. Laney Boggs aka Rachel Leigh Cook has medium length hair.
Although it appears to be fine in texture, I suspect that either a "hair ratt" or "hair form" was added to give the hair fullness and height. On Laney the French Twist was elegant and stunning.  Where do you find a hair ratt or hair form? At any Sally Beauty or large beauty supply store. If you can't find an official ratt or hair form, you can use clean pantyhose carefully rolled to fit close to the head. Famous movie stars have confessed in the past that they would "cheat" with their hair and sneak in rolled nylons or pantyhose to add fullness to their Twists.
If you have your heart set on wearing a Twist and have shorter hair, you can always "cheat" a little and pin on add-on hair and use your own hair to cover the "add-on". Where do you buy add-on hair? Most beauty supply stores or Sally Beauty will usually have a variety of add-on hair lengths.  The advantage to the French Twist is that it can be dressed up or down, worn high or flat, adorned with flowers, feathers, hair jewelry, Tiaras, pearls or curls and can be modified to look good with just about any face shape.
You can add or subtract a wide assortment of bangs, side curls, tendrils, parts, coils or twists to slim a round face, give height to a long face, show off a slender face or camouflage any other shape. The French Twist is a classic style. It never goes out of style and gives instant sleekness and class. Instructions For The Basic French Twist  I have always found it challenging to explain how to do a French Twist. I love the fact that Sarah Michelle Geller, Gwyneth Paltrow and other stars will often wear their own versions of a French Twist.
The photo of Michelle to the left shows her wearing a very messy version of the Twist. If you have never created a French Twist on yourself, I strongly recommend that you have a friend or stylist do the first couple of Twists for you. Watch closely and then when you feel comfortable, you can practice doing the Twist on your own hair.  There is the basic French Twist which is a simple hair updo twist. With some practice and visualization and a good mirror, anyone with medium to long hair can do a Twist to their own hair.
There is also the very complicated types of French Twists where the hair is divided into multiple sections and many different types of pins and swirls and curls are added. I have never been able to pull one of these off by myself. Maybe you will be able to, but generally it is best to have a friend or hairstylist help you with the more complicated updos. At least until you get the hang of it. Instructions For Do-It-Yourself French Twist The following instructions are taken from "Beautiful Braids: The Step-by-Step Guide to Braiding Styles for Every Occasion and All Ages by Patricia Coen and Joe Maxwell." This book was originally published in 1984 and is the book that I used to learn how to do my own French twist. It was recently re-released. The following instructions are the easiest instructions I have ever found in any book that describes how to do a French Twist. Beautiful Braids includes a step-by-step of line drawings that demonstrate each step. I can not recommend their book highly enough if you want to teach yourself to do a French Twist. - Comb or brush your hair smoothly back from your forehead.
- Gather your hair into a ponytail with a base halfway between your crown and nape and slightly to the left of center. Don’t anchor it.
- Twist the ponytail all the way around twice, in a clockwise direction. This holds the base of the hair closer to your head and gives you a firm anchor to work against.
- Hold the base of the ponytail in your left hand. With your right, hold its end up, pointing toward the ceiling.
- With your right hand, fold the end of the ponytail, about the top third, down towards the nape of your neck.
- Fold the entire ponytail down under itself, towards your nape so that is it less than half as long as it was.
- Curl the folded ponytail in your left hand. There should be a slight hollow between the ponytail and your scalp.
- With your right hand, begin to gently push the upper right hand portion of the folded ponytail down into the hollow.
- Continue pushing the hair underneath your left hand into the hollow so that the folded ponytail is slowly rolling inside the hollow.
- The twist is complete when you can’t push any additional hair into the hollow and the folded ponytail has become a tight roll.
- Create a seam by tucking in bobby pins along the line formed where the right hand edge of the roll meets your scalp starting at the bottom.
- Place bobby pins all along the seam up to the top of the roll, concealing them just under the roll.
- Begin to push the upper portion of the ponytail over into the space with the other hand, so that the folded part is slowly rolling over into it.
- When you have pushed all the hair in, secure with hairpins along the seam formed by the join, starting at the bottom. Conceal the grips by pushing them right underneath the roll.
Conclusion  Rachel Leigh Cook, as Laney Boggs in "She's All That" chose the elegant French Twist as her style to show off her gorgeous face and hair. She was simply breathtaking.
Anyone with medium length hair, some practice and some creativity can has a hot, to-the-minute Prom do. The French Twist is one of the most basic updos. A good basic Twist can be the foundation for a dressy updo adorned with flowers, jeweled hair sticks, or seasonal trinkets. |