Popsugar Beauty Celebrity Beauty Brandy's Evolution of Braided Hairstyles Brandy's Decades-Long Commitment to Braids Is Almost as Impressive as Her Music 2 September 2020 by Danielle Jackson Image Source: Getty / Steve Granitz ICYMI: Brandy and Monica came together earlier this week for a record-shattering Verzuz battle that delivered a heavy dose of nostalgia to '90s R&B lovers everywhere. The two music legends spent hours running through their discographies as millions of fans watched along via Instagram Live and Apple TV, and as the highly-anticipated event took place, many viewers discussed and shared memes on social media. While the music and the memories were the main focus for the night, there were plenty other fans who couldn't help but point out a fun detail about Brandy, which is that she's basically the queen of protective styles and has been for almost her entire career. From the early years of Brandy's career when she released her first two albums up until now, braids and protective hairstyles have become synonymous with the singer. She wore braids when she played Cinderella in the live-action adaptation of the fairy tale in 1997 and throughout the entirety of her time on Moesha. Over the last two decades, she's worn them in all kinds of variations — microbraids, box braids, knotless braids — at red carpet events and outings. True to form, for Monday night's event, she wore waist-length braids that were installed by Los Angeles-based braider, Jackie Martinez Ali. Read ahead to see how Brandy's braids and protective styles have evolved throughout her career. Brandy's Box Braids at the Cinderella Premiere in 1997 Image Source: Getty / Ron Galella 1 / 18 Brandy's Wavy Microbraid Bob at the Source Awards in 1999 Image Source: Getty / Steve Granitz 2 / 18 Brandy's Flipped Microbraid Bob While Filming Moesha in 2001 Image Source: Getty / Getty Images 3 / 18 Brandy's Wavy Microbraids While Filming Moesha in 2001 Image Source: Getty / Getty Images 4 / 18 Brandy's Medium Box Braids During a Video Shoot in 2001 Image Source: Getty / Kevin Winter 5 / 18 Brandy's Waist-Length Box Braids at a Charity Event in 2001 Image Source: Getty / Ron Galella 6 / 18 Brandy's Light Brown Microbraids at the NAACP Image Awards in 2001 Image Source: Getty / J. Vespa 7 / 18 Brandy's Braided Bangs in 2002 Image Source: Getty / Harry Langdon 8 / 18 Brandy's Wavy Microbraids at a Film Premiere in 2003 Image Source: Getty / Gregg DeGuire 9 / 18 Brandy's Microbraids at the ESPY Awards in 2003 Image Source: Getty / Steve Granitz 10 / 18 Brandy's Box Braids at an NBA All-Star Game in 2007 Image Source: Getty / Robert Mora 11 / 18 Brandy's Box Braids at Ray J's 30th Birthday Party in 2011 Image Source: Getty / Steven Lawton 12 / 18 Brandy's Kinky Twists at a Television Taping in 2014 Image Source: Getty / Maury Phillips 13 / 18 Brandy's Braided Updo at a Pre-Oscar Gala in 2015 Image Source: Getty / Earl Gibson III 14 / 18 Brandy's Havana Twists at Black Girls Rock! in 2019 Image Source: Getty / Gilbert Carrasquillo 15 / 18 Brandy's Multi-coloured Box Braids on Halloween in 2019 View this post on Instagram A post shared by 4 e v e r b r a n d y (@brandy) on Oct 31, 2019 at 9:23pm PDT 16 / 18 Brandy's Knotless Braids at the DIVAS Simply Singing On World AIDS Day Event in 2019 Image Source: Getty / Paul Archuleta 17 / 18 Brandy's Hippie Braids During Her Verzuz Battle in 2020 View this post on Instagram A post shared by SIKORA (@iamsikora) on Aug 31, 2020 at 9:47pm PDT 18 / 18 Celebrity BeautyBrandyCelebrity HairBraids