With the best collection of her career so far, Tory Burch gave us a taste of the whole, wide, flavorful world for Spring ’13. Vibrant and festive, a mix of embroidery and eyelet; wax, wheat, and Bazin prints; flowing appliquéd and embellished dresses; and jaunty beaded moccasins captured my heart, but what really finished off this feast for the eyes in style: the hair. Amazingly disheveled fishtail braids gave the new Burch girl a real sense of character. She isn’t just dressing like an exotic world-traveler, she really walks the walk and has the locks to prove it.

Too-perfect hair isn’t just unrealistic, it lacks sensuality. Sure, we’ve seen Blake Lively do the messy fishtail on the red carpet, but there is something particularly inspiring about Tory’s washed-ashore-mermaid hair. Here’s how to create a fishtail braid of your own, to get a jump on the Spring season:

1. Take the hair into two even sections, on each side of the head (so four all together with a part down the middle, for pigtails).

2. Pick a small strand from one section (taking from underneath works better, so you can wrap it around thoroughly), and wrap it around the entire section. (Be sure your pieces aren’t too thick; fishtail braids need to be delicate to look right.)

3. Do the same with the other section of hair.

4. Repeat these steps on each side, until you’re finished.

5. Gently pull at the edges to widen the braid and to get some fuzziness around, for a naturally worn-in look.

6. Do it all over again on the other side.