There was one hair look I really, really loved for autumn/winter 2013. And it was at the Christian Siriano show. More importantly, I should tell you that it was the legendary Aveda creative director Antoinette Beenders that did it. And she duly called it the 'regal fishtail braid'.

With this is mind, I jumped at the chance to go and meet with Antoinette and be braided myself. No really, on a rainy afternoon in a Soho Hotel suite, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. While Antoinette plaited away she told me about the Russian Opera inspirations which came into play when she created the look, as well as the richly opulent clothing that required something equally wonderful to sit against.

From the front, it’s a delicately round look; from the back, it’s a glamorous swathe of fishtails that are wrapped and entwined in each other. ‘It’s reminiscent of a Russian girl dressed for an evening at the opera,’ Antoinette mused. 

Well, I’m not going to the opera any time soon, but I’m cherishing my regal braid. It's dead easy to do yourself at home - click through the gallery above to a foolproof set-by-step guide.