Denimology has a cool article on how to style the bleached / tie-dyed denim trend. While there are no "rules" for doing so, it provides some good direction. Click the link to read more.

How to Style Tie Dyed Denim - Denimology

Hayden Panetierre has been wearing the perfect fit of jeans lately. She is SO cute!

Halle Berry returned to LA from her lengthy South Beach vacation with her family clad in her boyfriend jeans. This is a great and stylish, yet comfortable look for traveling, FYI.

Ciara, who has joined the ranks of celebrities who are making the big chop (although I don't know how much of her long locks were natural to begin with to call confidently call it a "big" chop, but whatever), stepped out of her Lambo in LA in her bleached jeans and a crisp white cotton blouse.

Michelle Williams looks like she was busted by the London paparazzi trying to make a quick run under the radar.



Amber Rose was in NYC with her blonde hair again...glad she got rid of the turquoise.


Monica and her make-up artist, Christian. *crickets* LOL, I know! That's what I said!!! However, my friend who lives in Atlanta who is familiar with Christian, told me that he has a very lucrative career and "gets that paper." So, I'm going to leave him alone...today.

Yes, you read it right and no, this blog has not changed its direction. These are Rock & Republics most popular styles/color of the moment. Thanks to Adam Lambert, who wore the men's version, the Slim Fuck on the American Idol finale and again with his boyfriend (he just came out of the closet...publicly at least), these jeans have gained much media attention and are selling out quickly. The women's version is appropriately named (I guess?) the Skinny Bitch.

LOL @ the boyfriend's face...he looks like he can't wait to snatch those jeans!


(I know the picture is itty bitty, so click here to see the full-sized picture.)

I really really do LOVE the wash, but $385 is a hefty price tag to pay for them.

Sisters, Paris and Nicky Hilton face off in their Black Orchid Black Jewel Skinny Jeans in Galactic. Paris wore hers casually with a vintage tee and matching Louboutins, and Nicky dressed hers up with a cute leather jacket...but who rocked these jeans the best?

I'm kinda on the fence on this one because I like both looks. If Nicky would've brought in a pop of color with a different shoe choice, she would've been the obvious choice for me.

Singer 22 carries these for $109...not bad.

So, I finally got around to making a couple of DIY projects inspired by current trends.

Rodarte-Inspired Leggings

The first is a spin on Rihanna's Rodarte leggings following Tiffany's instructions at Six Six Sick.

Instead of trying to create an imperfect pair of laser cut leggings by hand (this is the most meticulous project ever because its really hard to make each diamond identical and perfect), I chose to just do a couple of bands of them. So, if you're a little more conservative, you may want to try something more along these lines than the full cutout. I left the back alone. I really like the way they turned out (and the shorter time it took), and although I was just able to squeeze in only one wearing this season on a cooler evening, I'll be bringing them back in the fall. I may take some time in between now and then to do some more cutouts since I still have my stencil, but the perfectionist in me may not let me...





Bleached denim jeans

Next up, I decided to bleach some jeans using the instructions posted at Denimology. Unfortunately, I got the bright idea to take pictures as I went AFTER I finished, so I tried to duplicate how I scrunched the jeans to get this effect.

1. I started with a nice pair of dark wash denim (you'll have to use your imagination) and scrunched one pant leg from the ankle up and secured vertically with a rubber band.


2. Then I did the same with the other pant leg.


3. Then I scrunched them together horizontally and secured with a third rubber band.


4. After 2 hours of soaking in the bleach mixture and adding even more bleach (because I grew tired of making trips back and forth outside to check on them), I pulled them out of the bleach mixture, removed the rubber bands, and threw them in the rinse cycle.


And voila:



I was surprised that they turned out having a more two-toned tie-dyed effect rather than a splotchy bleached out one (you never know what you're going to get with these type of projects), but I'm assuming that's because they were of a light wash denim that was dyed dark in the first place. But, I do appreciate that they look a little different.

Unless you've been living under a rock, I'm sure that by now you know that both tie-dyed and ripped jeans are in. Well J Brand has a pair that incorporates both trends into one pair - the Low-Rise Pencil Leg in Zombie. Its a gray and white tie-dye and the pencil leg makes it versatile for any type of shoe.

See Rihanna, Beyonce, and Ashley Tisdale wearing theirs in totally different ways:


I love me some of Rihanna's style, but I wish she would lay low on the hot trends for awhile because I am getting tired of having to put her in every post! Jeez!




I have to say that Beyonce's is my favorite look. It is light, springy, and feminine with some edge. And I LOVE that tank!

UPDATE:
Ok, now Ashanti has a pair too...I mean, was J Brand GIVING these jeans away?!

Sometimes a pair of jeans come around that are just AMAZING and I am sooo feeling this bleached and painted pair worn by Ashley Tisdale, although I'm not feeling her overall look at all. A good stylist would've really helped her do these jeans some justice. I have yet to see these so I'm not sure what designer created them and I'm pretty positive she didn't craft these on her own.

This weekend, The Warehouse Sale will be in Chicago. The Warehouse Sale is a premium denim sample sale-type event that offers over 20,000 men and women's items for up to 80% off. They travel all over the U.S. (and internationally) for a weekend event that is usually located at the city's convention center. I've been to a couple of these and they are pretty hit or miss, and the size range isn't that large. So basically, if you have an easy-to-fit frame, you have a good chance of walking away with a purchase.

Keep in mind that if you want to try some of the new denim trends such as the Boyfriend Jean or Ripped and Bleached denim, you may want to go to find a good cheap pair to experiment with.

For a list of other upcoming cities, click here

Last month, I featured both the new ripped and tie-dye denim trends.

Denimology instructs us how we can make your own less expensive pair:

First up, bleached out skinnies with added rips. Childhood Flames has created a great pair with bleach and sandpaper. First up, either scrunch the jeans and put in a bucket of water with a little bleach in (try 5 parts water to one part bleach), and leave for about an hour. The better made the denim, and the darker the shade, the longer it will take to bleach out. Rinse with water (some people recommend vinegar to stop the bleach acting on the denim) and dry. Then attack with sandpaper if you want rough rips (and some pilling on the denim), or just nick a hole with scissors and rip with your fingers. The rips will fray more when you wash your jeans, so best to start small.

Yay!!! I'm definitely going to try this (w/one of my soon-to-be retired pairs) so I'll be sure to post pictures of the results.

I first heard about the coming on this trend about 2 years ago at a Denim Trend seminar in Las Vegas at the MAGIC tradeshow. Supposedly, we were supposed to see the look last year, but it never really came around. Well, it finally looks as if it painted and tie-dyed jeans have arrived.

The ones shown above are from Miss Sixty's Fall/Winter 2009 fashion show, and they are extrememly embellished and downright edgy. I'm not quite sure if those that will be produced and sold for retail will be so detailed as we're seeing the celebs in a more watered-down version...but perhaps they are just introducing us to the trend gradually???

Baby Phat and Charles Anastase featured their versions as well:




Siwy and Sass & Bide have their more conservative versions already:



Here are Jay-Z and Fergie dabbing experimenting with the look below:



My suggestion for wearing these: be careful of what parts of the jean are detailed as it will draw the eye right to it. Therefore, if you have heavier thighs, I would pass on the Miss Sixty's.

Runway pics courtesy of AW09 Denim Trend: Printed and Painted - Denimology">Denimology