Table of Contents
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A workshop series that teaches fathers to do their children's hair is coming to Alexandria next month, and the students will practice on mannequin heads.
Brews & Braids will hold its first Virginia session from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, at the Atlas Brew Works Alexandria taproom, 2429 Mandeville Lane in Carlyle Crossing, within walking distance of the King Street and Eisenhower Avenue Metro stations. The 90-minute workshop sits inside a two-hour window, leaving time to settle in and get a beer first.
The series is the work of Emily Strupp, a mother of two in Montgomery County, Maryland, who runs Social Noodle, a social media and event planning business she started in January to promote small businesses and connect them to one another.
Strupp launched Brews & Braids in June after seeing similar events in other cities, working with Anai, a hairstylist she had met while promoting the stylist's Bethesda head spa. The first workshop, at Owens Tavern in North Bethesda, drew 17 guests for 18 spots.
"It was a hugely successful, heart-warming event, getting to witness firsthand this generation of dads that are really being proactive in being hands-on and present for the care of their daughters," Strupp said.
She turned it into a series. Sessions have since run in North Bethesda, Kensington, Silver Spring and Washington, with more scheduled in Maryland and the District. Two other stylists have joined. The Alexandria workshop will be taught by Ali, a stylist Strupp knows from college.
How it got to Alexandria
Venues come to Brews & Braids either through Strupp's own connections or by asking to host, she said. Atlas approached her about bringing the workshop to its Alexandria taproom, she said, which is how the series first crossed the Potomac.
What's taught, and why there are no kids
Participants learn basic hair care, parting, ponytails and three-part braids, plus another style or two depending on the group's experience. Mannequin heads with different hair textures are available on request. Tickets include one-on-one instruction, a first beer and a bag of take-home supplies — a hairbrush, hair ties and clips.
Children are deliberately not part of it. Strupp said practicing on a mannequin lets participants learn on a head that isn't "wiggling, yelling, or running away," and gives them a chance to unwind and meet other local dads, which is harder with their own children in the room.
The best part, she said, is the photos guests send afterward of the hair they have done on their own kids.
Not only for dads
Though the workshops are marketed to fathers, Strupp said they are open to any caregiver. She has run one session billed as "Prosecco & Ponytails" for mothers, would like to do more, and has begun booking private parties.
Social Noodle's other work runs beyond hair. Strupp organized a spring event at Waredaca Brewery, hosted a backyard charcuterie workshop that brought several small businesses together, and is planning a free family carnival in Bethesda on Sept. 20.
Tickets are $50 per person, and the Alexandria session is capped at 16 spots. Payment is made through Venmo to Social Noodle, and details are posted on the Social Noodle Instagram account, @social.nooodle. Spots remained open as of Thursday.
