Ride the lightning

I embroidered these shorts a year ago because I was astounded by the amount of denim cut-offs I had and I didn't think I would wear them as much as a plain pair. But I forgot that wearing neutrals and all that nonsense about minimalism is complete nonsense to me..

So here we have a vintage Metallica tee fluttering over a pair of hand embroidered denim cut-offs and boots I can't seem to take off. Hope March has been treating you well, happy almost Friday world.

Vintage Patchwork leather goodness

Vintage leather & suede top, DIY embroidered Wrangler cut-offs, Pony hair pumps: Wittner, Jewellery: Gifts+All over

I am too tired to wax eloquent about my outfit but I will say this, Vintage worn-in leather is the best!
Happy mid-week world.

Denim on crochet

Crochet shorts: Vintage, Denim shirt & Bag: Vintage+DIY, Boots: Docs


Its finally cold enough to wear my Docs and thick denim shirt that I painstaking embroidered. When there is fun stuff to wear just popping by the closest super-market becomes fun. Hope everyone's having a peaceful week so far. Happy Wednesday!

Edit: New Zealand just legalized same-sex marriage. YAAAAAAAAAAAY

Peace, love and mirror work

Here's me finally featuring my first 'mirror-work on vintage denim' shorts that I have been wearing quite consistently. Its been sometime since I've created something and this evening I got all angsty and sad, it took some time till I realised I have not created anything and that is making me cranky. Does that happen to anyone else? I need to do more than work, come home, eat and sleep to nourish my being. I still haven't started on my tie-dye Ganesh/ Hindu Goddess tee-shirt, also I am dying to learn to sew, knit and crochet but don't know who to ask and where to begin. So all in all I am pretty starved of creative fulfillment.

But instead of ranting about it, I've decided to stalk inspiring tumblrs in a bit to energize myself and get the creative juices flowing. Do you have any ideas for me? Back to outfit talk, this is my usual attire when the weather can't decide if it wants to be summer or pre-autumn and I love this plaid beauty to death. Another thing I love is the Bowie tank I've worn here, its perfect, its soft and it has David Bowie on it, what more could I want? As you can tell, I am one to repeat my items of clothing again and again, you've seen the Bowie tank here and the plaid shirt here. Hope you're having a wonderful mid-week and are preparing to spoil your loved ones today. I am going to be dancing for womens' rights and can't think of a better way to celebrate love. Sending out good vibes to the universe.

Vintage Levi's plaid and DIY shorts, Vintage leather bucket bag

DIY DIY

Since my last post I've been keeping busy working, getting things ready for the holiday and our special guest, gardening, finishing a few DIY projects and I am pleased to present the results of more needlework on denim personalization. After my first few projects went well, I got more confident, a few boxes of mirrors from the craft store and some furious embroidering later I finally had a Mexican day of the dead sugar skull-esque design on my old mink pink skirt and a paisley mirror work patch on my old Levi's 501s. It gives me lots of joy that I am wearing something that I personalized myself, not to mention a whole new fun twist to my old clothes and I am happy to report I haven't been tempted by any new pairs of shorts this summer inspite of greedily eyeing a few things from Ksubi and Insight :D

The best part about this spring/ summer has been our new balcony garden and it is awesome to see things we've planted grow with abandon all over the place. I might have to stop planting new cuttings because it already resembles a mini jungle, has started to attract weird looking insects and heaps of birds and I am afraid of tempting native wildlife (read scary lizards) to pay us a visit. I hope everyone is having a beautiful lead up to the holidays and spending heaps of time with loved ones. Happy Saturday all!

Summer shorts DIYs

Like any other girl I love denim cut offs for summer, baah who am I kidding, I love them all year round, but unlike most other girls who might have a few trusted pairs of jean shorts I have amassed a huge collection over the years. Since they look better with age there is no giving them away and as I re-organized my clothes during the move I realized I have an astounding number of Levis 501s alone and an even greater number of various other brands and leather and suede and various other materials, okay I think you get the picture, I have a lot of shorts. So this year I've decided to refrain from buying more and to avoid getting attracted by shiny new ones I decided to get crafty with my existing pairs.

I've already jumped on the tie-dye bandwagon eons ago, ripped a few babies to reveal their cooler shredded avatars, bleached, dip-dyed etc etc but I knew now was the time to up the ante because I want a pair of personalized denim that no one else would have. So I decided to go the ethnic embroidery route, Gujarati needle work style. Gujarat is a state in Western India that has a long history with textiles especially needle work and tie dye, popularly known locally as Bandhani. The stark monotony of the desert landscape in the region is brightened up by intricate colourful embroidery, bead and mirror work. Now I am not any where close to as talented as the local ladies there are but I still decided to have a go on a pair of shorts in what can be described best as my take on that style.

Here are a few pictures of the various DIYs that I am currently working on, I started small with stitching a ying yang patch on the back pocket of a pair, then embroidered a peace sign on the back of another, then sharpied a Mexican sugar skull-esque design on the front of a 501 and then started some more complicated work on a pair of Wranglers that's almost ready. Outfit posts coming as soon as the November rain lets up. Any DIY+design suggestions are more than welcome :D Happy Wednesday all!