stay in school

Now this is a massive call, but I'm prepared to make it; this shirt is undoubtedly my best online purchase. Ever.

Consider, will you, the sheer scheme of this statement in light of the thousands of dollars I have spent on clothes, shoes and accessories online over the past 3 years (before which I did not a) own a debit card, or b) been introduced to the devil that is Asos), this shirt is the most perfect lightweight, washed cotton, boyfriend-style shirt in the history of mankind. And it cost me a measly $24.

From the glorious fantasy land that is Korean online store Style Nanda, it may just be the most confusing/annoying/cute/madness-inducing website I have ever visited but there are some serious gems hidden amongst the bad designer rip-offs. Now I know the Australian retail industry is going down the gurgler, and I'm not helping, but we really need to step up our game if Korea can churn out these ridiculously lovely articles for next-to-nothing!

The shorts are also NANDAAAA (to be pronounced in a squealy voice whilst making 'peace' signs with both hands), the combination of which made me look like a legitimate schoolboy. This is a just-for-fun, comfort-of-my-own-backyard, oh-shit-there's-someone-at-the-door-quick-get-changed-don't-let-them-see-me kind of outfit, but considering there is pretty much nothing that won't go beautifully with this shirt I can guarantee it won't leave my body until the threads start to unravel.

[wearing: Style Nanda shirt & shorts, Target sports bra]

shredded

Inspiration: Maison Martin Margiela

-What you need-

1 pair of jeans for sacrifice

stanley knife

-Method-

Slit jeans on back pockets and down the front by cutting straight horizontal lines at 'random'. I drew lines with a pencil to roughly guide the slits, don't make them too uniform or they will look weird.

Cluster the slits in sections about the thighs and upper shin area of the jeans making incisions no wider than 1cm, this makes it easier to pull the threads out.

After you've made the slits, start to pull away the blue vertical threads with your fingers (or tweezers if this is easier). I find it's quicker if you wriggle the white threads away from the blue as much as possible before trying to pull them out.

Done!

If you want, go back over any patches that look bare, but make sure you don't make holes too far up the thighs or you may end up showing off more than you want to. You can make them as shredded as you like, I went pretty far here, but you can go more extreme depending on how you like them. Just be careful if you're going to put them in the wash because they may end up disintegrating completely, hand washing is probably the best option for keeping the finish.

Note: This method is pretty time consuming (I spent a couple of hours on these!) so if you're feeling lazy, just throw the jeans into the washing machine to get the threads out. It works almost as well, although you don't have as much control over the result this way.

It's been a long time since I've put up a proper DIY, so when I stumbled upon this pair of almost perfect Ksubi jeans at Savers ($10!!) I knew they would make the perfect easy DIY shredded jeans.

I also cropped these jeans because, apart from the fact that they were a little bit too long for me full-length, I think they look much better shorter and when the weather warms up I reckon they'll become a wardrobe staple with jelly sandals and a basic tee.

[wearing: thrifted DIY'd Ksubi jeans, Siren heels]

paint pants

All my creative energy had been bottled up inside me for so long until I finally got around to doing a long awaited DIY painted jeans project yesterday! So so simple I'm not sure why I didn't think of it earlier, but I guess it's true that the best ideas are the ones you leave brewing for a while.

I bought these jeans from Primark when I was in London in February. I'm sure most people know about the craziness of Primark and how you just don't bother trying to line up for the change rooms, so it's all a bit of a lucky dip sizing-wise. Thankfully these jeans were a perfect fit, although for £11 it wouldn't be much of a loss if they didn't!

Materials:

Any odd pair of jeans (light colours work best)

Acrylic paints

Textile medium (I used Chromacryl)

Paint brushes (various sizes)

Instructions:

No prep required, but if you are using brand new jeans it's probably a good idea to put them through the wash first to get any excess dyes out.

Lay your jeans flat on a surface with newspaper or a drop sheet underneath, slot extra newspaper inside the legs so the paint doesn't seep through either side.

Mix up your acrylic colours with textile medium in separate disposable tubs/bowls (the medium should come with instructions, mine said to use 2:1 parts paint to medium).

If you plan on using light colours or not covering the entire fabric with paint put down a thin base coat in white or any background colour you like.

Then, go nuts! But not too nuts, you should try and just stick to a few complimentary colours and have a theme going (mine was inspired by lush tropical rainforests). It's really easy to go overboard with the paint so step back every now and then to think about your work (sorry if I sound like your 8th grade art teacher!).

If you're not very artistically confident and are lucky enough to know an abstract painter, get them involved! But I'm pretty sure anybody can whip around a paintbrush as I've done, so don't be afraid.

Hang the jeans up to dry. When the paint's completely dry iron the jeans under a tea towel or scrap fabric on the hottest setting to set the paint. Hand wash them in cool water to make sure the paint doesn't run (if it does though, there's basically nothing you can do except try and set the paint with the iron again). If you're paint runs it means you haven't used enough textile medium, so my advice would be to try and wash it all out and start from scratch unfortunately.

Wearing with: Style Nanda top, COS necklace, DIY perspex cuffs (as seen HERE), Windsor Smith Loren heels.

pants party

So I may have bought a new pair of shoes as a reward for finishing my first uni assignment of the year... A little premature considering I could quite possibly get a shocking mark back and then these shoes will forever be a horrible reminder of my failure as a student. BUT hopefully that's not the case!

Anyway, they are the ultimate Barbie platforms, super high and probably ankle breakers if I'm not careful, but they're a nice change from my chunky boot obsession.

Pulled this look out some things that were gathering dust in my wardrobe like the amazing watermelon necklace and my good old Ksubi MC Hammer pants. An unusually bright outfit for me, but I'm celebrating the lovely warm autumn Melbourne has been blessed with. Keep it coming please weather gods!

Wearing; Witchery dress (as top), Witchery bra, Ksubi pants, Windsor Smith Loren heels (from Styletread HERE), 'vintage' watermelon necklace and ebay gold cuff