It started with a scrunchie. How Strider Patton is building a girl dad community, one braid at a time.
When Strider Patton learned that he and his wife, Brooke, were expecting a daughter, he immediately went into girl dad mode.
'The image of me braiding her hair just flashed in my mind,' the 40-year-old professional artist from Half Moon Bay, Calif., tells Yahoo Life. 'I just started to think about what it would be like to have a little special time for us every day.'
First, though, he needed to learn how to braid. Patton decided to do 'what every millennial dad does,' he says, and hop on YouTube. But many of the videos he saw were by moms who already knew the basics.
'They were just flying through the simple stuff,' he says, like how to tie a hair tie. Patton sifted through dozens of videos to get the fundamentals down.
It would be a few years before his daughter, Imogen, now 5½, had enough hair for Patton to work with, and the beginning of their braiding adventures was a little hairy. 'I was horrible at it,' he recalls. 'But she [didn't] care because we're just playing and having fun.'
Patton soon got the hang of it, though, and their daddy-daughter styling sessions have since become treasured time together. He never imagined other dads would be inspired to follow suit.
Imogen regularly received compliments on her hair at school and on the playground. Everyone wanted to know: 'Did your mommy do your hair?' Imogen very matter-of-factly would reply, 'No, Dad braids,' and the line stuck. Soon after, dads were approaching Patton on the playground for pointers. Sensing an audience, he started publishing how-tos online last June under the handle Dad Braids. His instinct proved right: His first TikTok got more than 30,000 views.
He's since made more than 120 videos and amassed more than 139,000 followers on TikTok (more than 237,000 on Instagram). Every day, he receives messages from married, single and widowed dads from around the world. The content is resonating, he thinks, because it's tailored to his audience.
'I'm going in real time and showing very simple moves,' says Patton, who is also dad to Hudson, 1. 'I'm explaining the different types of brushes and hair care products because these are things no guys know about.'
Still, Patton insists he's no expert and that he's learning right alongside his viewers. That beginner's mindset is important to his message, he says. The goal isn't perfect braids — it's connection.
'I think it's really great for us to show our kids, 'Look at me, I'm taking on a challenging new task,'' he says. ''You're learning how to ride a bike? I'm learning how to braid hair. It's hard, so let's struggle together, but let's have fun while we're doing it.''
While Patton and his family have been surprised by his success, he also thinks there is a simple explanation.
'I think what I've tapped into,' he says, 'is one of the most passionate and most overlooked audiences on the internet: girl dads. This is surface-level braids, but really, it's [about] how to be a good dad.'
Dad Braids is currently a passion project but might not be for long. Patton sells merch and will soon release courses for dad braiders of all levels. He even wants to make different colored scrunchies that convey expertise, similar to martial arts belts. He laughs when he reflects on how his life has changed over the last year.
'Ten months of Dad Braids just annihilated 10 years of my art on Instagram,' he says. 'It's one of the most meaningful things that I've ever done, and I never could have ever seen this coming.'
Get the right gear. Patton was skeptical at first, but now fully gets the hype behind detangling brushes and sprays. He keeps all his braiding equipment corralled in a metal toolbox.
Distract her. To get your little one to sit still, Patton recommends having her play with dolls, Legos or kinetic sand.
Prevent bad hair days. 'The best way to tackle a bad hair day is the night before,' he says. 'It is an absolute game changer.' He recommends a loose braid overnight.
Start from the bottom. Don't brush top to bottom; lightly brush the ends and work your way up to avoid knots.
Don't force it. It's OK if it doesn't always go as planned. 'There should be no forcing or shaming,' Patton says. 'You want the braiding time to be sacred and beautiful.'
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