The DIY Short

Lately the whole DIY studded and dyed shorts have been really in, although I've noticed that most pairs cost anywhere from sixty to ninety dollars. Since this is rather outrageous, I thought I'd give my own pair a try.

First, I went about cutting some old skinnies into shorts, since I never seemed to wear them anyways. The best part about the pants however, was the zipper detail at the bottom. I decided to save those for ideas later. When I'd cut them up, I borrowed a friend's switchblade and began to distress them - though I proved not to be very good at this. What was supposed to be exposed white threads (which would color when dyed) just turned into frayed holes. Thankfully, they still look ok.

I then took them into the art studio at my school, where I sewed on the zippers to the sides of the shorts, and cut out the fabric between them. This makes them a bit scandalous when wearing... but I need to figure out a lace short or something I can wear underneath. After this, I dunked them in a yellowy dye, which was a mixture of a golden color and an ochre yellow. Expecting them to be a bit more brown, I was a little surprised when they came out more green than ochre, but I didn't bleach them at all, and the light blue on the jeans must have turned the yellow a bit green.

After letting them dry and putting them through the wash one more time, I bought some studs on Etsy, and studded them up, like everyone else. Good news is, I think they're pretty cool!