When three-year-old Kristen Nunez picked up her first pair of scissors, she had no idea that her creative mind would produce an inspiration to many teens. With only her imagination and a limited budget, she began repurposing her old clothes. By the time she graduated college 17 years later, 60 percent of her wardrobe was handmade or altered.
âÂÂIâÂÂm all about unique things,â said Nunez, who began repurposing her clothes because she was not satisfied with what she found in stores.
Just like Nunez, many teens want more style and control over their wardrobes. This has driven them to take fashion into their own hands and give new life to their not so new clothes with do it yourself projects.
âÂÂFashion can be accessible and fun for you even if youâÂÂre just the girl next door,â said Tamaya Barnes, a 19-year-old fashion blogger who started altering her clothes at the age of 17.
Her main reasons for altering clothes are âÂÂprice and pride,â but she also wants to inspire others with her blog, thegirlnextdior.tumblr.com. Barnes receives messages from people who read her blog saying that it had encouraged them to do more altering and to not be so wasteful with their money.
âÂÂI just want people to realize that you can be creative and create without breaking the break,” she said.
Barnes says that she uses the blog to post her inspirations and projects. âÂÂYou won’t find high fashion editorials or rants about designers, just simply pictures for everyday inspiration,” she said.
Not all projects turn out successful. A pair of leggings she saw at the store inspired Barnesâ first DIY project. They had tie-dyed clouds on them. When she got home, she tried to achieve the same print by bleaching black leggings. She says that it had ended up looking like a Halloween costume gone wrong.
âÂÂThatâÂÂs the fun with doing things yourself, sometimes you fail and sometimes it turns out amazing,â she said.
Inspiration for repurposing clothes can come from anywhere and anything. Barnes says that she always observes other peopleâÂÂs outfits and styles, and lately has even got ideas just by checking out online stores. âÂÂIâÂÂll often browse a high priced website where I would never have the money to shop,” Barnes said.
There are various ways to be innovative in fashion. Barnes for example picked up an ug
ly long dress at a thrift store for three dollars once, and she turned it into her most worn piece. The dress had unusual slits and was completely unwearable, so when she got home, she chopped off the bottom, lowered the neckline and turned it into a shirt.
Nunezâ favorite piece is a studded trench coat which was inspired by one from Burberry. Another favorite project that she does often is taking guysâ t-shirts and reconstructing them to be feminine and form fitting.
Cat Morley is a craft obsessed journalist living in London. While at university studying computer art and filmmaking, she began a blog called Cut Out + Keep.
She built the blog into a community where everyone could make and share step-by-step craft tutorials after readers started sending in pictures of their own projects.
Morley says that she hopes the site encourages people to try new things and gain confidence in crafts theyâÂÂve never tried before. âÂÂThere’s nothing better than receiving a compliment on something you’ve made yourself,â she said in an email interview.
Another website that encouraged teens to repurpose clothes is recycledfrockery.com, which was created by Blaze Zenn. This site however, is focused more on the ecological side of things.
She says that she has seen teens doing DIY projects since the 1970s, when she herself was a teen in school.
While attending an economy class at the University of Michigan, Zenn began to think of ways to use what she already had. This led her to shop mainly at thrift/craft stores and repurpose her clothes, which she still does to this day.
She also says that she hopes this generation of teens will produce new trends because the fashion industry âÂÂisnâÂÂt going deep enough.âÂÂ
Zenn considers teens that repurpose their clothes as people that can âÂÂwalk the walk, not only talking the talk.âÂÂ
The popularity of altering clothes is growing and this is shown in many fashion magazine such as Teen Vogue which has even put out a DIY section on their website.
âÂÂThis trend will change the way people go about not only spending their money, but how they go about expressing themselves,â Nunez said.
âÂÂIâÂÂm all about unique things,â said Nunez, who began repurposing her clothes because she was not satisfied with what she found in stores.
Just like Nunez, many teens want more style and control over their wardrobes. This has driven them to take fashion into their own hands and give new life to their not so new clothes with do it yourself projects.
âÂÂFashion can be accessible and fun for you even if youâÂÂre just the girl next door,â said Tamaya Barnes, a 19-year-old fashion blogger who started altering her clothes at the age of 17.
Her main reasons for altering clothes are âÂÂprice and pride,â but she also wants to inspire others with her blog, thegirlnextdior.tumblr.com. Barnes receives messages from people who read her blog saying that it had encouraged them to do more altering and to not be so wasteful with their money.
âÂÂI just want people to realize that you can be creative and create without breaking the break,” she said.
Barnes says that she uses the blog to post her inspirations and projects. âÂÂYou won’t find high fashion editorials or rants about designers, just simply pictures for everyday inspiration,” she said.
Not all projects turn out successful. A pair of leggings she saw at the store inspired Barnesâ first DIY project. They had tie-dyed clouds on them. When she got home, she tried to achieve the same print by bleaching black leggings. She says that it had ended up looking like a Halloween costume gone wrong.
âÂÂThatâÂÂs the fun with doing things yourself, sometimes you fail and sometimes it turns out amazing,â she said.
Inspiration for repurposing clothes can come from anywhere and anything. Barnes says that she always observes other peopleâÂÂs outfits and styles, and lately has even got ideas just by checking out online stores. âÂÂIâÂÂll often browse a high priced website where I would never have the money to shop,” Barnes said.
There are various ways to be innovative in fashion. Barnes for example picked up an ug
ly long dress at a thrift store for three dollars once, and she turned it into her most worn piece. The dress had unusual slits and was completely unwearable, so when she got home, she chopped off the bottom, lowered the neckline and turned it into a shirt.
Nunezâ favorite piece is a studded trench coat which was inspired by one from Burberry. Another favorite project that she does often is taking guysâ t-shirts and reconstructing them to be feminine and form fitting.
Cat Morley is a craft obsessed journalist living in London. While at university studying computer art and filmmaking, she began a blog called Cut Out + Keep.
She built the blog into a community where everyone could make and share step-by-step craft tutorials after readers started sending in pictures of their own projects.
Morley says that she hopes the site encourages people to try new things and gain confidence in crafts theyâÂÂve never tried before. âÂÂThere’s nothing better than receiving a compliment on something you’ve made yourself,â she said in an email interview.
Another website that encouraged teens to repurpose clothes is recycledfrockery.com, which was created by Blaze Zenn. This site however, is focused more on the ecological side of things.
She says that she has seen teens doing DIY projects since the 1970s, when she herself was a teen in school.
While attending an economy class at the University of Michigan, Zenn began to think of ways to use what she already had. This led her to shop mainly at thrift/craft stores and repurpose her clothes, which she still does to this day.
She also says that she hopes this generation of teens will produce new trends because the fashion industry âÂÂisnâÂÂt going deep enough.âÂÂ
Zenn considers teens that repurpose their clothes as people that can âÂÂwalk the walk, not only talking the talk.âÂÂ
The popularity of altering clothes is growing and this is shown in many fashion magazine such as Teen Vogue which has even put out a DIY section on their website.
âÂÂThis trend will change the way people go about not only spending their money, but how they go about expressing themselves,â Nunez said.