Cheap Chic Obsession

DIY- Peter Jensen ‘Tattoo’ Tights

 

As I said before, I was so inspired by the Peter Jensen show I went to at the V&A that I decided to do some DIYs. This one here is one I have been wanting to do for a while. I once saw Alexa Chung wearing natural colored knee high tights like these (minues the tattoo)  paired with cutoff shorts so I knew I would love them with the tattoo prints!!! This one is easy and fast but you need to be careful not to rip the stockings.

You will need:

• Natural or tan colored knee-high tights (you can also do full tights). I recommend getting as high ‘denier’ as possible (denier refers to the thickness of the tights so the higher the number the thicker the tights.
• Permanant marker with a thin tip. I bought this ‘promarker’ at the art store for less than 2£. Sharpies will also work. I recommend a dark brown color.
•  Thin cardboard cut out to 4in x 8in . I used one I got from a package of tights but you could also use a piece from a cereal box.
• a print out or print outs of simple designs you want on your tights. I just typed in ‘cherry blossom outlines’ into google images and it came up with these. You can use hearts, mermaids, flowers, stars, or whatever you want.

1) Either wrap your design around your cardboard like I did here, or if you have lots of little designs, like the ones on the Peter Jensen tights,  cut them out and tape or glue them to the front and back of your cardboard.

This is how my design looks wrapped around my cardboard.2) Measure the part where your foot will go in your stocking since you don’t want to draw on this part (or maybe you do). I would say you start drawing one quarter of the way up your stocking like I have marked where my finger is. 

3) Stretch the stocking with your fingers like this and carefully slip the cardboard down to where I had it marked with my finger. You can stick your hand into the end of the cardboard and fold the cardboard inwards so it won’t get stuck on the stocking and rip it.

It should look like this once you have slipped it down.

4) Since the cardboard is thin it will want to flip up so you have to hold it down with one of your hands like I am doing below.

5)While you are holding it down with your free hand, start tracing over the drawing with your writing hand. Do not trace too roughly because this streches the nylon. Do it slowly without putting too much pressure. When you are done with the front side turn over and trace the backside (if there is anything there).

6) When you are done, stick your hand in there and grab the cardboard like I am doing below and pull up so that you can cover the upper half of the stocking.

7) Reapeat steps 4 &5. Then slip the cardboard out and you are done!!!

 

These are how mine came out. I decided to get stockings with shimmer because I thought they looked more festive but you can also get matte looking ones to look more like tattoos. You can also use black marker for a darker ‘tattoo.’

DIY (super easy) Neon Jimmy Choo’s

Ever since I saw Giselle wearing the neon pumps below in the  December issue of British Vogue, I was obsessed.  I’ve been really feeling the neon accents because it gives your wardrobe a touch of color and is chic and clean in a modernists sort of way.  Anyway here is the super easy DIY.

 

Jimmy Choo makes  pumps and strappy sandals in neon, neon green, neon pink, neon orange, and neon blue. The cool part about this DIY is that you can use either pumps you have lying around or strappy sandals look equally cool as well. I will  definitely wear these with a black dress probably for new year’s eve but I think they look cool with jeans as well.

You  will Need:

• a pair of pumps or strappy heels
• white spray paint
• Neon spray paint (in whatever shade you want)
• newspaper
• tape ( I used scotch tape but white tape is easier to use I think)

 

 

1) use the tape to cover up areas that you don’t want spray painted such as the sole or the opposite sides of straps.

It should look like this when you are done:

2) take a sheet of newspaper and scrunch it into a ball, this covers the inside of the sole on pumps.

 

 

3) Take the white spray paint and begin spray painting the shoes evenly. I think it works best on a leather like surface although mine was satin and it still worked.

The first coat will look uneven like this below but you just have to keep spray painting until it is even. It will drip a bit but I did it all in one go.

 

This is how it should look when finished. Let it dry overnight. 

4) Now you are ready for the neon. Begin spray painting the shoe evenly and make sure you do all parts, including the heel.

 

5) Let it dry over night and then spray paint any areas you might have missed.

 

This is the finished product and I am very  happy with it. I do recommend getting the white paper-like tape because I think it is easier to handle and will help you cover up areas and leave you with a cleaner shoe!

Eyeliner bookmark

Below is an eyeliner inspiration bookmark that I thought was quite interesting/helpful. Notice that most of my make-up posts consists of eyeliner tutorials this really does highlight my lack of knowledge in that area or what others would call my make-up ‘trick’.  Anyway I am currently working on a few articles/DIY to pop out before the holidays and also end my spell of ‘dry’ posts or as I like to call ‘fillers’ (posts that I think are lacking content and research.) So I hope the next few posts start to be a bit more interesting. Happy December! (I can’t believe it’s come so soon!)