Begin Again, Denim

Let me begin with denim again, sorry for the repetitiveness that I am! Haha. What can I do? I am addicted to denims. My jacket is denim and my bag is too. God, so redundant! But whatever I know what I want.  I scored this denim jacket from a garage sale for $5 which I blogged it here too. 

I just love this ensemble. The basicness(if there is such a word) of this outfit is what it’s all about. This is what I am, a basic bitch. Haha. Black is such on fire in my style inspiration notice board. You can easily go chic with this. But I promise on my next post I will think of something else! Haha.

Initially

Unconsciously, I guess I am mostly drawn towards denim. Just last week I stopped by a garage sale near our unit and managed to score a vintage denim jacket for 5 bucks!
(which I have been looking for, for such a long time now). I used to see a lot of these in the thrift when I was in the Philippines but knowing that it is pretty humid to wear those in the streets I just pass them up.

This time it is beginning to warm up already for summer. But it still gets a little chilly sometimes. Melbourne weather is pretty moody like an old lady. I just went with this all denim ensemble. The top is a thrifted Izzue brand which was one of my favorites. Then I just wore a navy blue Tee from Levis and my dependable ASOS extreme super skinny jeans. My shoes are from Zara which I didn’t think I will wear again as it was really tight and kills my toes badly but after I breaking them in, they are okay now.

I thought that my style is becoming more subtle and less flashy like before. Well, I can say my style matures too. I opt for more basics now and staple pieces which can translate to a lot of occasions. I have stocked up mostly on basic T shirts( I think I’m overdoing it now). I’m trying some minimalism now.

Oh my, I have been so lazy to be honest with you but also really busy with work now. This is my first post of the year! I am active on Instagram if you can follow me @knyfortaleza. Will keep trying my hardest to post more! 

#OOTD: Jeans Dean

It’s my nod to denim and it’s iconic contribution to the fashion world. The top is a thrifted piece I got from the Philippines while my favorite tight fitting jeans are from Oxygen Clothing, one of my go-to brands in the Philippines. Oh how I missed shopping there! The black jacket is my staple outerwear when I can’t think anything else to pair with my outfit. It’s so versatile that it can fit into any ensemble given that it was just a thrifted piece I got for 100 pesos or like 2 bucks?

Went full on denim on denim in this #ootd post. I went with this light washed denim shirt to have a contrast with my darkly washed denim skinny jeans. To also camouflage that it is not a jean shirt is my goal in this ensemble. Tbh, I really like how the simplicity of this ensemble came together. It’s so me! hehe.

I hope you guys liked my OOTD post.

The “I’m quite distressed denim shirt”!! haha

Forget about the mess of this toilet! hahaha.

and my ridiculous smile here! I look terrible but I still uploaded it. haha.

H&M Jean shirt X DIY

This was my friend, Tel’s original idea. She showed me a picture of a shirt from H&M that she should’ve bought for her now fiance but when she was actually going to buy it was gone already. Too bad! Then, she told that it can be done by just cutting off the sleeves of a jacket and attaching a new sleeves to the jacket.

This was that H&M shirt minus the navy blue sleeves. Couldn’t find the exact shirt.

Finding your materials
So it instantly sparked my creative juices, I got off to the nearest thrift store to find some cool pieces that I can deconstruct. Luckily, I got something with 160 pesos, a pair of jackets in muted colours.

Dyeing
The shirt on the right side is too pale for blue so I decided to dye it to navy blue to emanate like a denim. See instructions for dyeing here.
While for the khaki brown shirt on the left, I didn’t go for dyeing it since fabric dyes here are little too limited with colours it might turn out like mahogany so I’m saving it. Hehe.

Chopping and attaching the sleeves
1. Measure the length from the middle of your palm to your shoulders and then use this measurement for the length of your sleeves. What I did was I gave a few allowance like 2 cm from the sleeve and then cut it out.
2. If you know how to sew using a machine then go for it. As for me, I opted to have it sewn from my friend.

And Voila!

Thoughts?

 

If You Like It Then Put A Stud On it

I am putting the spotlight to my black Marithe Francois Girbaud Rucksack bag, a vintage item circa 2005. Hehe. I was really not happy at first when I bought this. I think I just bought this on impulse. But it’s just recently that I unraveled my love for it. The rusty old faded  look gave this bag a new image. And to top that, I installed studs to make it look a little edgier.

With my project number 2, I placed matte brass studs that looked perfect for my denim top. I placed them unevenly on the upper part of the  pockets. This denim shirt is my fave. I t looks so legit with the studs. :)

Tip: When installing the metal studs, be sure to lay them first with the arrangement that you like  before locking them up. Be careful not to prick yourself, studs have really sharp edges for the lock. You can use a flat screwdriver to flatten these sharp edges.

Talking about epiphany here. Happy!

What do you guys think of the end result? :)

♛ AUK ♛

It’s Tough Love, Denim Love

I must admit I have this fixation with denims. Or an obsession probably. From tops to bottoms, I must have it. And just by having these amazing hauls keeps more happy than actually wearing them. Right! It’s quite nice to have a dependable denim top and pants. You can never go wrong with your trusty old denim.

Although it’s super hot now, and wearing this denim top with this weather is quite self-punishing. But of course there are light weight jeans that could still be worn.

This is my growing collection of denims. All of these were just thrifted from almost anywhere. With a creative mindset, I turned each of these outfits even cooler from various fabric manipulation techniques like dyeing and bleaching. Though not that refined,  I am just so happy of what I have achieved.

The things that you value the most are the things you have worked hard for.

♛ AUK ♛

Acid Wash Wednesday

Since I have lots of time to spare, it's time for some DIY!

I have this denim vest for more than a year now and just recently, I sent it over to the tailor for some alterations. It is looking sad and drab now so I thought of giving some life to it by bleaching or acid washing it. But before I poured myself into doing the project, I searched the web for some tips to go with me.

Warning: If you are planning to use your designer denim, you might want to rethink this because you might end up with a hot mess and hate yourself for sacrificing a precious gem in your closet. Instead, you can opt for your Mom's or Dad's old jeans or you can just buy at thrift stores.

Now let's start!

You will need:

1. Bleach

2. Spray Bottle

3. Denim Vest

4. Basin

What to do:

1. Lay your garment on a flat surface that you won't get worried of bleaching like your garage floor.

2. Wash the denim vest with running water. I used the hose to wash it.

3. Start splattering the bleach over the denim to your desire. You can use a spray bottle to get a localized spot bleach. Start with the front and then at the back. You can also put box boards to lay your garment to absorb the bleach and to prevent it from spreading to areas you don't want to be bleached.

4. Let the bleach set into the denim for a few minutes.

5. Once you got the faded look you aimed for, you can toss the denim into the basin and pour on cold water to halt further bleaching. Afterwards, you can wash it and put some fabric conditioner. Let it dry.

Voila! Your fresh and edgy denim vest!

Before/After

♛ AUK ♛

DIY Project: The Ombre Effect

Last summer, I was searching for cool outfits that I can wear for my vacation getaway. Ombre-detailed shirts and jeans are so in this season(or this year) and so I rummaged the entire city for some. I saw this cotton jean shirt with a ombre detail from Oxygen, a mid-high end clothing store  and costs 1, 799. That will hurt my sensitive pocket obviously, so I thought of just searching for a button down jean shirt from thrift stores or widely known here as ukay-ukay and just dye it. Lucky enough, I managed to get one which just costs 200 bucks! Plus I bought 5 packets of powdered dye.

             This was that shirt from Oxygen. by Mark Ammerson Pagaoa’s Lookbook account

For the dyeing process, I consulted YouTube and searched for some legitimate instructional videos. Aside from this, I also made some extra research in various dyeing techniques.

You will need:

Dye, a color of your desire

Non-stain basin - It should be wide to accommodate the fabric to be dyed.

Table salt

Fabric or shirt

A pair of Gloves

Cup

Hanger or a rod

and some creativity!

Step 1

Wear gloves. You may also want to wear an apron or dark-colored shirts to prevent staining.

Dissolve the powdered dye and salt in a small stainless container. You need to put on 2 tbsp. of salt for every gallon of water in the dye bath. In my case, I used the powdered form but there are liquid dyes available of course. It depends on how dark the effect you want to achieve with the amount of dye you will use.

Step 2

Pour in water into the stainless basin that can cover up the entire fabric and boil it. While waiting for the water to boil, wash the fabric to remove any finishes that may prevent absorption of dyes.

Step 3

When the water boils, pour in a small amount of dye.

Step 4

Using a hanger or a rod, dip dye a part of the fabric to create the lightest shade. Then quickly move it up and down into the dye bath.

Step 5

Then pour in the remaining dissolved dye and stir it continuously. Then dip the mid-section of the fabric that was dyed for 5 minutes, gently lifting and lowering it to create lighter and darker shades or until desired shade is achieved.

Step 6

Take out the fabric from dye bath and squeeze out excess dye. Wash the fabric under running water, holding the lightest color at the top. This will let the dye to seep through to the darkest area. Run it through the water until the water runs clear. Wring out the fabric for excess water and iron it until dry.

And there you go, a cool new look for you this season! Enjoy!