Since I’ve been going on and on in one entry about how denim is so amazing, let me share a DIY fix on denim to make it even better.

For those who want the bleached look but can’t find the perfect pair or for those who are trying to save (like me :D) and who just want to revamp their looks here’s one of the easiest and cheapest tips: bleach your own!

What you’ll need:

1. Denim you want to bleach (you can bleach anything btw, jeans, shorts, vests, tops, etc.)

2. Bleach (use whatever brand you prefer.)

3. Brush (If you want a dominant white effect, spare yourself the trouble and use a big scrubbing brush. I used a freakin toothbrush. Guess how long it took me to finish? 😐 But if you want small details on your denim, then a toothbrush is perfect. 🙂 )

So, this is the look I was going for (picture c/o Google.)

Umm, the Atenista in me can’t help but do this: picture from http://collegecandy.com/2009/08/20/what-he-really-thinks-of-your-bleached-denim/. sorry, just really had to cite. See the effect of multiple plagiarism case scares? Hahaha Screw the format though, I already included the site. 😐

Anyway, this isn’t exactly what I’d call a DIY success because I originally went for more white, like the picture above. Instead, mine turned out more green than white (totally not my fault, by the way. Please don’t blame my lack of scrubbing skills.) And no matter how much bleach I used or scrubbing I did, I just couldn’t make the whole thing lighter. Maybe I should’ve just used the whole bottle for this. 😐 And it was so stupid of me to use a toothbrush for the whole pair – I’ve never scrubbed anything so hard in my life and I still didn’t even bleach the whole thing!

Nonetheless, I liked it. 😀 Results below 🙂

Photographed by the amazing Joana Velasquez 🙂

Clothes: Shirt, Topshop; Jeans, DIY; White heels, Payless ShoeSource; White and Black bag, H&M; Gold leaf necklace, Accessorize; Silver Bangle, H&M; Chunky Gold bangle, Girl Shoppe; Thin gold bangle, Charles & Keith; Sunglasses, Forever21

Anyway, all you have to do is brush. (in frustration, I dipped one leg in my cup of bleach but it still didn’t turn white.) I used a combination of pounding with the toothbrush for a weird-artsy-solar-system-like effect, scrubbing, drawing lines and splotting.

I especially liked the effect of bleaching the seams and the sides so you might wanna do that too.

If you were wondering if you still need to mix water with the bleach so it’s not too strong, you don’t have to. I had to bleach mine twice because the bleach wasn’t strong enough. But I think it depends on the material of the jeans too. 🙂

I don’t advise just pouring the bleach on your denim coz that just leaves a weird circular mark which isn’t so pretty.

Please, please, if you ever plan on doing this, wear something old. And be very very careful that you don’t get the bleach on your clothes. It might not have that strong effect on denim but one drop could easily ruin other materials.

And I’m not exactly sure about this last tip, but if you leave the bleach to dry, your jeans are gonna smell. and you wouldn’t want that. I had my jeans washed immediately but I don’t know if that’s why the bleach didn’t really take effect.

There you go! If you’re inspired and would bleach your own pair, then enjoy and don’t forget to send pics of the results! 😀