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"If, like me, your *Game of Thrones* obsession has you casually browsing a [Wiki of Ice and Fire](http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Main_Page) for a little background information (please don't judge), then you're probably already preparing yourself for Sunday night's season finale. For a little hair context\u2014and some advice on how to create a *GoT*-worthy braid\u2014I spoke to the show's head hair designer, Kevin Alexander.\\n\\n\\n\\n                   \\n\\nWhile *Game of Thrones* obviously isn't meant to be realistic (exhibits A and B: dragons and baby smoke monsters), the hair isn't the stuff of fantasy. \\\"What would you do with your hair if you were standing in a brothel or in the rain? Or riding a horse through the desert? You'd tie it up and knot it back,\\\" says Alexander. \\\"All the braided styles came from a place of practicality.\\\"\\n\\n\\n\\nAs for inspiration, Alexander says he drew on a wide range of sources. \\\"Initially we took ourselves back to the medieval period to bring us into it,\\\" he says. \\\"I would start with the Pre-Raphaelites\u2014the frizziness, the loose waves, the flat hair. That's where I would ground myself. And then, because *Games of Thrones* is a fantasy piece, I started to look at old fashion stuff, and I went to museums and looked at ancient civilizations.\\\"\\n\\n\\n\\nFor [Daenerys Targaryen's complex braids,](http://www.allure.com/hair-ideas/2014/best-game-of-thrones-season-4-hairstyles\\\\#slide=1) Alexander looked at images from India. \\\"That's where I got the idea to plait it through the back, then bring it all together, bunched in.\\\" He was adamant that these not be runway-style braids: \\\"We put that edge to it, with that period\u2014not fashion\u2014feel,\\\" he says. \\\"You're seeing texture, not a mechanized weave pattern.\\\" For [Cercei Lannister's courtly style,](http://www.allure.com/hair-ideas/2014/best-game-of-thrones-season-4-hairstyles\\\\#slide=8) Alexander looked in a decidedly different direction. \\\"I thought of Galliano. And we looked through a lot of '60s updos and at period stuff from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. You take one little thing out of each of them.\\\"\\n\\n\\n\\nRegardless of his sources of inspiration, Alexander also works closely with each actress to develop the character's look. \\\"They will say, 'No, I'm uncomfortable,'\\\" he notes. \\\"Some people are conscious of their foreheads; some people are conscious of their ears. I'm very used to someone saying, 'I don't like my neck showing. I don't want it off my face.'\\\"\\n\\n\\n\\nAnd now, here's your *Thrones*-worthy braid tutorial for Sunday night, should you feel ambitious:\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n  \u2022 __Start with uneven sections.__ If you're an American Girl doll, the sections of your braid should be equal, right down to the last strand. Otherwise, keep one thick and the other two teensy, or weave together small, medium, and large pieces. \\\"By keeping them uneven, you create this knotty, imperfect shape,\\\" says Alexander.\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n  \u2022 __Mind the bumps.__ Just because you're going for an imperfect, textured look, that doesn't mean you can't enlist the help of a good product. \\\"If you want it to look neat as you're braiding, spray the sections with hair spray, which keeps them all very crisp.\\\" And tame excessively lumpy sections with bobby pins. \\\"If you run your fingers over the bump with your thumb and forefinger and push in a bobby pin, you'll lose the bump.\\\"\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n  \u2022 __Skip around.__ \\\"I'll drop one section of the braid, twist together the two others, and then pick it up again on the other side,\\\" Alexander says.\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n  \u2022 __Don't finish the job.__ Let's say you try one of those cool French braids that starts along the hairline and cascades to the back of the head. Rather than taking it all the way to the base of your neck, stop halfway down the head. Or, really, wherever you feel like it. \\\"My only complaint with braids is they're usually too tight,\\\" says Alexander. \\\"We like to leave a lot of hair down and loose. There's a lot of beauty in that contrast.\\\"\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n  __RELATED LINKS:__\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n  \u2022 [The Best Hair Looks From *Game of Thrones Season 4*](http://www.allure.com/hair-ideas/2014/best-game-of-thrones-season-4-hairstyles\\\\#slide=1)\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n  \u2022 [View From the Fashion Closet: Westeros Fashion Week](http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends/blogs/daily-beauty-reporter/2014/05/view-fashion-closet-game-of-thrones.html)\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n  \u2022 [*Game of Thrones' Natalie Dormer Talks Body Image and Sex Scenes*](http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends/blogs/daily-beauty-reporter/2013/08/game-of-thrones-natalie-dormer.html)\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n  \u2022 [*Game of Thrones Stunner Emilia Clarke Talks Beauty and *Breakfast at Tiffany's**](http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends/blogs/daily-beauty-reporter/2013/03/emilia-clarkes-beauty-routine-secrets.html)"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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