The elegant and elaborate hairstyles fashionable in Victorian times are famous for their beauty, but few modern women have the time or assistance to recreate the fanciest styles of the era.

However, modern women can still recreate the elegance of the era with its simpler styles.The Victorian 3-braid is one of my favorites: easy to recreate, it is a lovely updo, perfect for weddings or proms, but can be dressed down for everyday use as well.

This style looks best with fairly long, thick, straight hair. For a similar style that works well for shorter hair, scroll down to learn about the "Gibson Tuck."

If you already know how to do a flip-through, skip to step 4. Otherwise, continue reading. Experienced hair dressers will be able to create this style on themselves, others may need to practice on a friend first.

1. Put your subject's hair up into a basic pony tail.
2. Loosen the ponytail slightly and use your fingers to part the hair just above and below the band.
3. Carefully reach through the part and grab the pony tail. Pull it gently up through the part to create a flip-through.
4. Divide the ponytail into three sections. Get your friend to hold two of them.
5. Divide the remaining section into three and braid it. Repeat with the other two.
6. Loop the braids and tuck the ends into the flip-through. Secure with pins.

To view more examples of this lovely style, please visit Dreamweaver Braiding. (Scroll down to the middle of the page.)

You can also experiment with variations, including single braid and 5-braid versions.

If, like me, you have shorter, curlier hair, don't despair. There is a similar style popularly called the "Gibson Tuck" that you can try instead.

1. Put your subject's hair up into a basic ponytail.
2. Loosen the ponytail slightly and use your fingers to create a part just above the band.
3. Flip the band down into the "pocket" this creates, and push the ponytail in after it, as evenly as possible. Unlike the Victorian 3-braid, do NOT pull the hair through. Secure with pins.

This is a pretty yet practical updo that is very fast to make. The sample in the photo to the right took me under a minute from start to finish, though it would benefit from a neater part.

For a dressier look, you can secure the tuck with decorative hairsticks or combs, incorporate flowers or ribbons, curl any stray strands, or similar techniques.

This hub was written for the HubMob challenge, week one: All About Various Popular Hair Styles.