Yulia Tymoshenko's style

Sienna Miller

Yulia Tymoshenko is the elected Prime Minister of the Ukraine, voted by Forbes Magazine in 2005 as the third most powerful woman in the world. But what Yulia Tymoshenko is most noted for around the world, is her hair or rather «the braid».

Tymoshenko was an extremely important politician in the Orange Revolution of 2004, when her beauty was commented nearly as often as her role in bringing down the post-Soviet government in Ukraine.
The braid has become such a staple of her persona that her Web site features articles about it, including some claiming that the braid has influenced designers like Narciso Rodriguez and the actresses like Sienna Miller.

Yet the braid is not just a fashion statement. It is a calculated political tool with significant cultural resonance, one that has helped turn her into more than a candidate. To her supporters at least, she is regarded as a kind of Lady Liberty.
A braid is a traditional Ukrainian hairstyle, and by adopting it, Tymoshenko has been able to underline her nationalist credentials, drawing a contrast with her main opponents, who are more closely linked to Russia.
Tymoshenko has tried to play up that view with her other signature look, white clothing, which is intended to show her purity in the face of what she has called a corrupt political and business culture.
Tymoshenko's hair color has varied over the years, from dark to blond, but lately she seems to be keeping it almost as light as her clothing.
Still, she is regularly asked that most frivolous of questions: Is the braid real?
"Everything that I have is natural - braid, nails - I practically never use cosmetics," she once said at a news conference. "They often ask me in the provinces about my braid. Now, once and for all, I am going to lay to rest these rumors."
With that, in front of the cameras, she let her hair down, for all the world to see.