This is a topic that’s been beaten like a dead horse, and I’m so compelled to skim over the whole “making your own duds is recession-proof durrr” thing, but omg you guys. I studded a bag! And I’m like really proud of it!
The bag itself was a sad little knockoff I picked up at this epic Housing Works sale last summer where in a bout of delusional hysteria (it was 100 degrees and I was standing in the middle of a dumpster with a scary lady with a cane and very pregnant woman in a leotard), I filled up my shopping bag with random things that included this purse. In hindsight, it was a strange pick-up since I’m pretty turned off by deliberate knock-offs, which explains why I’ve carried it out exactly once since acquiring it last July.
So, when looking for things to stud, I remembered this forgotten baby and tried to give it a makeover. Uh, guys? It took me 2 HOURS. It’s been 2 weeks, but my fingertips are still sensitive. The yelling, cursing and random freak outs were enough to make my roommates nervous, and in the end—I only had myself a studded bag. A cute studded bag, but not anything I couldn’t pick up at Zara for a twenty.
I found that it’s hard as hell to stud a bag, let alone to construct a garment, and after attempting it, I was so much more likely to realize the amount of work, imagination and heart that goes into a piece of clothing. And I think that despite what the papers tell you, this realization is biggest effect of this pandemic DIY trend. I like to call it being materialistic. It’s time again that we consumers realize how our clothing is made, and what materials go into it and what kind of effort goes into the production of something we use. I doubt I’m going to look at something again without thinking of the poor fingers that were maimed in its creation—and I think that I’m wiling to set down more money for something that I can appreciate (conversely, I’m more unwilling to set down money for cheap, throwaway things).
But beauty is in the eyes (or fingers) of the beholder. What are your thoughts on this DIY phenom?
