Fun With Bleach- Really

    For months now I've been wanting to do a DIY project, but time (and ambition) has not been on my side. This week I saw a window of DIY opportunity and grabbed it. And apparently, so did a lot of other fashiony- creativey types. Friday I came into work and one of my coworkers was wearing the vest above. Isn't it awesome? This is the best kind of DIY: simple and quick, depending on how much time you want to invest in it, and nearly free. You probably have everything you need already hanging around your house and if not a quick trip to the supermarket will fix that. Below are just a couple steps to get you bleaching like a pro!

1- Assemble the materials. You'll need a large bucket or two, some bleach, vinegar, water, and things to bleach. That's it! I decided to work on two garments at once. The balled up thing is a black cotton tee shirt that I attacked a little to give it a boat neck before rubberbanding it tie-dye style. I also wanted to give new life to a pair of jeans I never wear by giving them the Dries Van Norton treatment.

2. Mix up a bleachy solution. I went by the 1/3 bleach, 2/3 water ratio, but the proportions are really up to you. I more bleach heavy solution will lighten the garment more quickly but will require more supervision and you won't have as much control over how the color turns out. In retrospect I could have gone lighter on the bleach to produce more of an ombre effect on the pants, so 1/4 bleach and 3/4 water might work better.

3- Dip away! I submerged the tee shirt fully in the bleach solution, It might need a weight to make it stay that way (I used a beer bottle- classy). Then I lowered the pants carefully into the solution, leaving the top two inches around the waistband outside. it's important to make sure your garment is evenly placed in the solution so the line isn't crooked. If you're dip dying, make sure to leave a little extra fabric outside of the solution because the bleach will creep up a little.

4- Wait. I left both the shirt and the pants in the solution for around 25 minutes. Keep an eyeball on yours to see if it's developing faster or slower. It's also good to keep in mind that the garment will get even a little lighter after it's removed from the solution. This happened to the tie-dye, which made it look even better, but that won't always be the case. To create a gradient effect, as seen on the vest above, submerge more of the garment in the solution after 10-15 minutes.

5- Set it. After your garments have reached the desired color carefully remove them from the solution and rinse them well. Now make ANOTHER solution, this time of 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water or so. The vinegar will stop the bleaching process and help to keep the color were it is. It also eliminates some of the bleach stinkiness. Let the garments soak in this before rinsing again. After they air dry they should be fine to wear, but if you want to wash them make sure to do so separately the first time.

Now you have some rad bleached stuff! There are a lot of other things that would look great with the same treatment. Shredded, dip-dyed shorts are very big for the summer. It would also be interesting to tie-dye a simple black structured. Blazer. There are so many possibilities!