Pigtails

A young girl with pigtails.

Please note that this article refers to pigtails as they relate to Hair. If you're looking for pigtail connectors, please refer to the Fiber Optics or Plug articles.

Pigtails (also known as angel wings and bunches) describe a hairstyle in which the hair is parted down in the middle and tied into two bundles, one on each side of the head.

Pigtails, in the strictest sense, most often refer to the joining of symmetric or semi-symmetric groups of hair (as viewed along the centerline of the scalp), secured with hair tie (e.g., scrunchie, rubber band, or similar) of some sort, with the majority of the hair allowed to hang free or secured in such a way as to not mix with any hair across a definitive part. [The term part is used here to indicate a natural or artificial separation of hair at the scalp, where the hair falls or is pulled in opposing directions.]

Contents

1 Types of pigtails
2 Making pigtails
3 Word Origin
4 Other uses
5 See also

Types of pigtails

There are several broad types of pigtails. The term can refer to free-hanging, braided (plaited in British English), or secured hair; as long as the sections don't cross the part, the pigtail moniker applies.

The epynomic term pigtails refers to groups of hair joined at or near the scalp with ribbons, barrettes, rubber bands, or sorts of strings, and allowed to hang free to the ends of the hair.
The term braided pigtails refers to groups which have been braided/plaited part or all of the way down and secured at or near the ends of the pigtail. These can have one hair tie at the end, or at both ends, if the hair is pulled into regular pigtails first and then braided.
French braided pigtails are similar to braided pigtails, except that they are formed as a natural extension of two french braids. Each section of hair is braided as a French braid, with the tail either braided to the end or left completely unbraided (i.e., the braid is secured near the nape of the neck). Unbraided and braided ends can be left hanging or rolled into buns (or otherwise dealt with creatively), and braided ends alone can be tucked back under the braid to form a loop.
Pigtail buns are pigtails (either secured or unsecured) that are coiled into a circular pattern (similar perhaps to a coiled pastry) and secured in place with pins, sticks, or hair ties.
Odango are a specific hybrid of pigtail buns and normal pigtails. The word comes from Japanese and means dumplings. The hair of a pigtail is twisted around itself and the end pulled through, creating what is essentially a knot, with the ends of the hair protruding from the center of the bun and either braided or more commonly allowed to hang free.

Making pigtails

To create the most basic type of pigtail, part the hair along the centerline of the scalp and gather each section with a rubber band behind the ears, allowing the rest of the hair to hang free.

Word Origin

The term pigtail appears in English in the American colonies in the 1600's to describe a twist of chewing tobacco. One of the steps in processing the tobacco was to twist a handful of leaves together to form a compact bunch that would then be cured (dried, either with or without smoking). The term "pigtail" was applied to the bunch based on its resemblance to a twisted pig's tail.

From the later 1600's through the 1800's, the term came to be applied to any braided (plaited, in British parlance) hairstyle. The British army also adopted a single pigtail or "queue" as its standard dress for long hair. Robert Louis Stevenson mentions "pigtail" referring to hair and then to "pigtail tobacco" in the first and fourth chapters of Treasure Island, respectively. (See Project Gutenberg for an online copy of the book at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/120/120.txt.)

The term pigtail in English does not convey a negative connotation. To the contrary, even to this day British barristers wear a wig with pigtails as a sign of their position and wisdom.

Other uses

"Pigtails" is also the workname for when an iridium source is used by radiologists at worksites.

Pigtails

Types of pigtails

Making pigtails

Word Origin

Other uses

See also