I found this video on Donna Ida’s blog from when she went to LA to visit Paige. This video shows the process of what Paige jeans go through while being made in the Los Angeles factory. You can see them making the lap creases, sanding and stone washing etc. It’s a great video! I love seeing clips like these because it really gives you an insight into what goes into making a premium denim brand! You can see the original video post here.

Flares:

• Hippie: Wear flares with a tie-dye shirt and platforms, add accessories such as glasses or a headband, don’t forget your peace sign.
• Rosie The Riveter: Pair your flares with a chambray shirt and add a headscarf.
• Sailor: Add a striped tee and sailor hat to your flares.

Leather Pants:

• Cat Woman: Wear leather pants and a slim fitting black top, leather boots and black cat ears.
• Biker: Leather pants paired with motorcycle jacket and black boots.
• Sandra Dee: Wear your leather pants, leather jacket and heels. Curl your hair in and add some lipstick.

Cargo Pants:

• Indiana Jones/Explorer: Wear your cargo pants with a white shirt, khaki vest, add a hat and binoculars.
• Army: Cargos paired with a camouflage or khaki top, boots and dog tags.
• Construction Worker: Cargos paired with white tee shirt, hard hat and tool kit or belt.

Colored/Printed Denim:

Colored Denim makes a great staple for building a costume.

• Angel: Wear white jeans, a white top, wings and a halo.
• Bee: Wear yellow or black jeans with a yellow or black shirt, add some wings.
• Lady Bug: Red Jeans and red top (you can cut out some black felt dots) and add some wings.
• iPod Commercial: Wear black jeans and black top, add an iPod and dance the night away.
• Leopard or Snake: Wear your (leopard or snakeskin) printed pants with a matching/neutral top, add whiskers if necessary.

Overalls:

• Farmer: Add a plaid shirt and some hay (and stuffed farm animals)
• Miner: Wear a Henley shirt, boots and add a headlamp and some tools.
• Scarecrow: Wear a plaid shirt, and hat, add stuff your sleeves with hay.

Shorts:

• Daisy Duke: Shorts, plaid shirt or crop top and heels.
• Britney Spears: Shorts, white tank top, over-sized sunglasses and Uggs or other boots.

Basic Blue Jeans:

• Where’s Waldo: Add a red striped top, stocking cap and glasses.
• Cowboy: Add a denim shirt or plaid shirt, vest, boots and hat.
• Nerd: Add rolled/cuffed jeans, tee shirt, glasses and carry around book and apple (you could also wear overalls).
• Bella Swan: Wear skinny jeans and Chuck Taylors, tee shirt and hoodie. Wear no makeup to keep your face pale.

What are you going to be for Halloween? Will you be wearing any denim trends with your costume?

D.I.Y. Distressing Denim from AzaleaTV on Vimeo.

Here is a video that Azalea created to show how to DIY a pair of raw jeans. Being a raw denim fan, I guess I was on the fence about this one like most people would be, is it cheating? A lot of people say that using sand paper and bleach etc to fade and make your raw jeans look worn is definitely cheating, you are supposed to wear them for a long time until they mold and form to your body shape which will then create all the fades and rips. I know first hand that this takes a really long time and a lot of perseverance so it’s not for everyone.

I came to the conclusion that I actually think this video is good, purely because he’s not distressing and fading them to look like he wore them out, he’s created bleach splashes as well as an overall fade and even put circles on them. Plus, he waxed them. You can’t get that appearance on raw denim just by wearing them so I think he did a great job. I thought the video shows you how easy it is to create your own wash on your own jeans. Every time I see someone doing denim DIY it makes me want to do more myself! I love making denim my own! What do you think of the video? Also, if you like the video on FaceBook you could win the pair of jeans featured in the video!

Customizing my jeans have always been something that I like to do. Whether it be adding some rips and tears, slitting the hem, adding stains, zippers or just doing something random to them. I don’t think I have a pair of jeans that are exactly the way I have got them, but that is what I love. They are my own and no one else’s. Here is a post of a pair of jeans that I did a few more customizations on than my others.

I recently received a pair of the J Brand Agnes Jeans in Black. I always wanted to try this style out. Being that they didn’t have pockets, I would always second guess purchasing these jeans. I finally decided to get the style because they are one of the amazing pairs out.

My first thought to do was to just add some pockets. Then I thought, “Hmmm…What else can I do to these to make them even more my own?” I then came to the conclusion to do a bit more than what I intended.

First thing I did was detach the third bottom portion off the jeans. This part was actually a lot easier than what I actually anticipated. I then switched the legs so that the zippers are placed at the inseam instead of at the outside of the jeans. I stitched the portion back to the rest of the jeans the way it was stitched before taking it apart so that it still had the same hold and motorcycle style.

After I finished sewing the legs back together, I slit the pocket panels under the hip zippers so there would be access to the pockets when it is unzipped. Then I got some pocket sacks and sewed them to the panels so there would be a place to hold my items. The only thing that I have wished I had done before hand was to dye the pockets black before I had attached them, but I can always detach and reattach them back on.

Now that I have finished making these jeans my own, they have become one of my favorites. I love that I can now put my personal belongings into the front pockets of the jeans and zip them up for safety. Now if only I can figure out how to wax these to give them a leather look? You can check out the photos below of the finished product.

I thought I would do something a little different in what I share with you and customize a pair of Levi’s. I often customize my denim by ripping, shredding, patching, hemming, studding, paint splattering etc because I love to make jeans more my own.

This time I took a pair of higher rise Levi’s jeggings that I had and chopped the legs off to make them into shorts. It’s best to cut one leg first after measuring where you want them and then fold them in half and cut the other leg against the already chopped one to make sure they are the same. Since these were completely plain (see the first gallery image) I decided to make them a little more edgy and distress them. I took a small holed cheese grater and something hard to put inside the leg and then grated the denim really hard where I wanted the distressing. It does take a while to get the destruction as you want it. I also made abrasions on the zipper area, the pockets, the back pockets and around the waist band.

After I had finished doing all of that I soaked them in water to get all of the dust and fabric bits off and then I left them in the sun to dry for a while to fade the denim a bit. I then chucked them in the tumble dryer to roughen them up a little bit more. Finally I frayed the edges of the new hem with scissors. It’s really easy and simple to make your own shorts this way, it just takes a lot of patience to get the end result. I do prefer to customize and make my own denim shorts to actually buying new ones. How many of you do the same thing?

For the denim lover (or you!) who seems to have everything, 1154 Lill is a great idea.  The company that offers customized handbags is now offering a denim handbag! You can choose the shape, everything from a tote to a clutch, pick out a fabric, and then the trim and details.

The company also offers a “design a bag kit” which comes complete with fabric swatches and samples, so you can see them in person and mix and match. After you decide on a design and place your order, the company ships out your unique bag. What a great gift idea! Plus, it starts at only $80! You can check out the design options on their website at 1154 Lill.com

I did a little collaboration bracelet with the denim jewellery brand K.B LuSH. I’ve always loved their pieces since I first saw the brand and they gave me the opportunity to design one. I love dragonflies, so I made this brass dragonfly the main focal point of the bracelet and it features ribbons, pearl beads, buttons and zippers as well on a vintage piece of denim. Each bracelet is hand made and unique.

K.B LuSH started the bracelet based off of my design and then I finished it. I named the bracelet ‘Dragonfly Meadows’ and it’s available to buy worldwide from their online store for $45. It’s only available in limited edition quantities though as it’s a special limited edition bracelet. I had a really fun time designing and making the bracelet. I have always loved designing and making clothes/accessories since I can remember. I hope you like it! Click here to buy this bracelet from K.B LuSH.

Victoria Beckham spent some time with Vanessa Hudgens to talk to her about her designing and how she creates her jeans! Victoria talks us through a step by step process of customizing a pair of her jeans which Vanessa is wearing in the photo above. They look very cool! I love customizing my own jeans with paint and rips. You can see the process and more photos at Teen Vogue by clicking here. You can also read below a snippet of the article which is on Teen Vogue.

Get Victoria Beckham started on the subject of denim, and the designer, former Spice Girl, and world-famous soccer mum can wax poetic to seemingly no end. “Fit is very, very important,” she emphasizes. “You want a jean that is superflattering but also relatively practical. You need to be able to move around in it. When I wear a skinny jean,” she says, “I like it to have a little bag around the knee and the ankle. It’s more modern than something that is tight, tight, tight.” And fabric and finish are no less paramount to the fashion doyenne. “I spend a lot of time making sure we get it right with the wash because there’s a big difference between something that looks authentic and something that looks like it’s been made,” she says. That perfectionist attitude seems to be serving her well. Her denim line, which she describes as “fashion-forward and quite European,” has a loyal celebrity following. But perhaps most telling of all, it makes the grade with Beckham herself. “Everything that I design, I wear,” she says matter-of-factly. What could be more convincing than that?

I absolutely love Denim Leggings and Lace Tights. I wear Denim Leggings all the time because they are so comfy and versatile. I have been thinking of ways I can change around the look and I came to the conclusion of putting footless Lace Tights over the top of my Denim Leggings. It actually turned out really really hot! I love the look. It’s great for those of you who may find the Lace Tights are a little itchy like I do, you can’t feel the material once it’s put over the soft Denim Leggings. It’s a great look that works. Denim Leggings are hot and Lace is in right now so why not mix them up. Not only are they pretty they keep you extra warm for the winter months as well. I included photos of mine for you to see. The Leggings are by Topshop and the footless Lace Tights are by ASOS. If you have any questions or anything just post a comment and I will be happy to help.

All you need is a pair of scissors, jeans and fishnet/lacey tights.

1) Get an old pair of jeans (or a cheaper pair of jeans you don’t mind destroying). I chose black so the tights do not stand out as much as they would against a blue jean.

2) Get your scissors and start making a little hole in an area of the jeans.

3) Put your fingers in the hole and start pulling so the hole rips and gets bigger. Pulling and ripping it will give the effect of a worn in hole as the edges will fray. Do this on all of the holes you have created to however big or little you would like them.

4) Get your scissors again and start lightly snipping the edges of the hole so they look a little more frayed. Over time this will fray even more and look better with wear. Don’t snip too much, just a tiny amount on the fraying. You don’t want to make slits.

5) If you need a hand you can always ask your kitten to put some holes in the jeans. Haha.

6) Lay your jeans out and look at all of the holes you have made. Check that you have made enough and you are happy with how they look. It helps to try them on in front of a mirror as well so you can see clearly how they look on your body and if you want more holes in a certain area.

7) Here are some close ups of the holes so you can see how they look.

8 ) Put your fishnet tights or lacey tights on and then put your jeans on over the top. The lace and the fishnets will show through the holes you created and will give a different look to the jeans. It helps to buy footless tights. You can buy them in most places. ASOS have a great selection of them. If you don’t have footless it doesn’t matter, you can just wear boots.

9) Voila, you are ready to wear them out! Comment if you have ever done this to your jeans or plan on doing it. I would love to see everyone else’s results.