DIY Custom Denim
Denim is back and RAGING all this summer and continuing through Fall. I am not the biggest jeans girl, but love mixing up my printed bell bottoms with a denim top. Lots of brands are capitalizing on this denim trend and of course charging way too much for a denim shirt or jacket. (Like the above matching set from Spell and The gypsy Collective which I love, but promptly returned because I can't afford it! Using for inspo.) Luckily we've got you covered on how to customize your own denim tops and deck them out without shelling out a ton of cash.*
So funny how denim has made it's way back around. We would laugh at my father in law for wearing denim on denim as he would insist it's coming back around, well it sure did. And when I went through customs once in the Bahamas the officers were laughing at my denim jacket and said they haven't seen that since they were kids....well jokes on them denim is a solid staple in everyone's closets again.
We have many a thrifting post coming your way, but in the meantime here are some tips for looking for vintage denim and all of the accoutrements:
Patches
Etsy has TONS of fun patches you can literally find anything you are looking for and MORE in the patch department. The patches are usually around a dollar or less. You can even find patches that will give the effect of embroidery, without the cost for custom embroidery. (Although I would die for a custom piece from this amazing company in Austin TX Lonesome Embroidery). Customizing your jacket or button down yourself makes it so much more badass and less embarrassing when someone compliments you on your denim because you actually did customize it yourself and didn't just buy it that way!
Items I love from Etsy including many adorable patches and pins.
Iron on your patches or honestly just superglue. I Ironed mine on, but some women tell me they superglue their patches on. Whatever works just make sure you lay your placement of the patches out first before you marry them to your denim.
PINS! Put a pin on it!
Pins are so IN right now AND they are just really fun to add a little character to anything you wear. As long are you are OK with poking a pin hole in your clothes pins can take your denim piece to the next level. They also aren't as permanent as a patch or embroidery so you can change the pins with your mood and vibe you are going for. I LOVE pins right now. My favorite pins are from Valfre. Click this link for 20% off your first purchase.
* My shopping 101: When I am hung up on a name brand piece, but can't find it or afford it some of the places and hacks I use are:
1) Scouring the internet like a stalker to try to hunt it down.
2) Once found checking on the original designer's website to see if it's on sale
3) If it's not on sale there I check other retailers and shop around online always checking Amazon
4) If it's no longer in online stores I check places like Ebay, poshmark, tradesy and depop
5) if all else fails you can go to The Hunt and start a hunt for it and someone usually will post something that is very similar
6) Sometimes the item is DIYable so you can do the above :)
Thrifting and Vintage
I love hunting for vintage denim. It all started with my billabong vest I found in Australia from the 90s, not super vintage, but so In right now. I decked it out with pins and rocked it all Summer 2016. I love thrifting and vintage finds because they usually are better quality materials from back in the day and more sustainable because they are recirculating back into shops instead of cheap, fast fashions that are throw away quality after a year or two.
QUALITY > QUANTITY.
I find a lot of vintage Levis at the Brass Armadillo Antique mall in Denver there is one vendor that always has some denim finds in stock and I usually snatch them up. It's where I found the amazing Hot Pink Levi's jacket, the dark denim Levi's and the fun Hot Shot Embroidered Wrangler piece, which I had been planning on selling 2/3 of them, but of course ended up keeping all 3 and rotating them through my collection. I am loving layering the denims and hope you find some fun patches and pins to spruce up your pieces. Never spend more than $40 on a denim jacket ever again you can dig deep at goodwill or other thrifting places and find a cheap denim piece that is solid and will hold up because its denim and then deck it out with pins and patches!
Looking forward to more women's options for hemp blended denim. Hemp textiles are the future and we are excited to see more hemp in the fashion industry.