French Braid Girl

Compared to the simplest form of hair braid, a French braid has several practical advantages: it can restrain hair from the top of the head that is too short to reach the nape of the neck, and it spreads the weight and tension of the braid across a larger portion of the scalp. Its sleeker appearance is also sometimes viewed as more elegant and sophisticated. However, a French braid is more difficult to construct than a simple braid because of its greater complexity; when performed on one's own hair, it also requires a more prolonged elevation of the hands above the back of the head, and leaves more tangled hair along the scalp when unbraiding.
History
It is unclear when the hairstyle originated, or how it became associated with France in the English-speaking world; in the French language, the same hairstyle is called tresse africaine ("African braid") or tresse indienne ("Indian braid").