mom jeans

"Earnesty and clarity, those wonderful mentalities of decent positivity are all that we can scribe, but misery and poverty they follow me and my family and though it seems that I can't win, I think I have to try."

-Andrew Jackson Jihad

Simple outfits and bare feet help me beat the heat. It's still extremely hot here in southern California, and I find myself wiping sweat off of my face every few seconds. How's a girl supposed to feel pretty in heat like this? I keep my confidence by finding a couple simple pieces of comfortable clothing that stand out and grabbing a big, floppy hat. A couple of my go-to threads are my DIY high shorts and my big button-up, collared shirt. I didn't care for the whole "mom jean" trend at first, and even thought it was kind of silly, but what can I say, it grew on me. I never really thought about owning a pair until one day, while shopping at the Goodwill it sounded like a fun idea to cut up a few of the old pairs of jeans hanging in there. So, I bought a pair, cut them up and bleached some of the color out of them. I love their new color, and I even though I cut them at kind of an awkward length I don't think it really matters. I've learned to appreciate the mom jeans and actually really like the way they fit on me and how they look. There's always something cool about being a little old school.

With just a little bit of work on the jeans, this outfit cost no more than twenty dollars. (If I had put on some shoes it would have added on to the price a little bit, haha.) There are so many good reasons to shop thrift, I love the things that I find and how they inspire me.

Shirt: Crossroads Trading Comany, Santa Monica

Jeans: Goodwill, DIY

Arm Band: Farmers Market

Wooden Bracelet: IHsquared

with love,

neena noel

new

The first of my upcycling projects. I've hand-dyed some old jeans and have a couple more ideas in mind for more recreated products. I had so much fun making these, I've already pulled out a bag of old clothes to dye and make into something new. I also photographed my dying process for those who wish to make similar shorts, check it out. Plus, I'll be posting a preview of some of the jewelry I've been making in the next few days, which I'll put up for sale as soon as I get the proper shipping supplies to mail them out. I hope to have a variety of different types of clothing and accessories by the end of the year, but for now check out these new shorts! >>For sale here<<

with love,

neena noel

sunsets and short shorts

I've had bottles and boxes of fabric dye and old pairs of thrifted project jeans sitting in my closet for ages waiting to be used. Though I procrastinated my way through this project I finally finished (I think) a few pairs of upcycled shorts. I love the way the dip-dyed shorts came out and I have another pair that I plan on sewing some lace onto. Though I consider the dyed shorts to be done I might still add onto them just for fun, maybe embroider or paint a sun onto a back pocket? Once I decide whether or not I'm finished I'll most likely put these shorts up in my shop, but for now I'll post some pictures of the creating process for those of you who are interested:

Cut off the Mom Jeans into some high-waisted and low rise shorties

Let 'em soak in a tub of bleach and water

Took this pair out early just to make them look a little washed out and faded

Done bleaching

Time for dye

Dyed both bleached pairs with the lightest color first, lemon yellow

Lastly, dip-dyed the rest with scarlet, both for different lengths of time

with love,

neena noel