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DESIGNER
DENIM
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Dear Sharon:
I am having a very low fashion moment. My summer wardrobe is boring the bang out
of me, yet it's too early to think fall. What is a mid-season mixer that will
perk up my closet and funk up my spirits? --Snoozy
Dear Snoozy:
Oh, lord won't you buy
me some Gucci jeans. My friends all wear Levi's and I want to make them scream....
Gosh darn, those are not the lyrics to that Janis Joplin song. They
are, "won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz". Silly me. It is just that the
latest fashion trend looks like it fell out of a Hollywood-glamorized rendition
of the rock queen's closet. And the price of today's Gucci version is probably
not much less than what a car cost in Ms. Joplin's day. Oops!
When Gucci paraded raw-edge weeeeeeeeell-worn
jeans and jeans skirts down its Milan runway, Neo-Bohemian Chic was born. Look,
I like over-priced designer clothes-- if not to wear, but to drool over-- as much
as the next girl about town. But ripped jeans (no matter how many roses are embroidered on the skirt, or how many beads and feather flocks are appliquéd to the pants) are just
not my idea of true top designer form... it is only styling, baby. Trend junkies, go and get those bona-fide hip Gucci jeans (you probably had them on order before they made it to the stores anyway), but everyone else-- savor the flavor and have it
your way.
Shops are overflowing with sooooo many interpretations of whatever you'd like to call this jeans thing... rich-hippie, hippie chic, new bohemian or, peace, love and Woodstock re-do that a girl could go mad choosing. Check out The Gap, XOXO stores and Bella Dahl Vintage Chic (available at Anthropologie and Nordstrom) for a start.
But if you truly want to be an individual,
try it yourself! It does not take a genius to decorate (or as they say back home,
"dreckorate") a pair of jeans, just some scraps of cool fabric, beads,
feathers, appliqués, maybe some embroidery, and a little ingenuity. You
are the designer here, so the choice of embellishment is totally up to you! Whatever
you do, do not be too perfect-- the look is raw! And, do not forget the pair of
really worn-out, faded, tattered jeans-- which you style-crazed savage, probably
have stuffed in the back of your closet from the last time ruff-hewn jeans were
a craze.
If sewing is not your thing, or you want this
look in a matter of minutes, use iron-on adhesive or fabric and craft glue found
in the notions department... just be sure to read the label for cleaning instructions.
The skirt of the moment is low-slung, knee-length,
and fashioned from a hacked-off pair of old jeans. Since I wouldn't want you to
ruin your well-fitting, worn-out favorite in the transformation process, I asked
Cathleen Campbell, Director of Marketing and Education for the Home Sewing Association
(www.sewing.org)
for some handy do-it-yourself advice. She suggests:
- Cut jeans off at or below the knee and save the leg pieces
for later; remove all stitching on inner-leg and crotch.
- Overlap center front and back crotch pieces together and
baste in place.
- Use fabric from the cut-off legs to fill in the open triangle
and pin in place.
- Try on skirt and adjust fit.
- Topstitch old leg and crotch seams onto the new denim insertion; trim excess.
- Topstitch or trim (raw edges are good here) hem to desired
length.
- Embroidery or decorations can be done either before or
after the insertion is made... depending on location, some embellishments will be
easier before skirt is finished.
- Voila, an old jean gets a new lease on life!
- Overlap center front and back crotch pieces together and
baste in place.
- Use fabric from the cut-off legs to fill in the open triangle
and pin in place.
- Try on skirt and adjust fit.
- Topstitch old leg and crotch seams onto the new denim insertion; trim excess.
- Topstitch or trim (raw edges are good here) hem to desired
length.
- Embroidery or decorations can be done either before or
after the insertion is made... depending on location, some embellishments will be
easier before skirt is finished.
- Voila, an old jean gets a new lease on life!
Top off the Neo-Bohemian look with a belly
skimming T-shirt or airy peasant blouse, flowing hippie hair, and a pair of beaded
slides. Caveat emptor: If you are old enough to know the difference between hippie
and yippie, just select one earthy element ...too much of a good thing and they'll
be asking what was in your brownies. G-roooooovy.
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