I recreated Debbie’s shorts because I wanted to show the process of customizing that their previous owner went through, and to give a little insight into the varied life that clothes have.
I’m including a how-to guide so that you can make your own pair.
First, I gathered my materials.
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- A pair of shorts, that I chopped into cutoffs a few years ago after a friend gave me jeans that were too large for her (this project will be at least their third life!).
- Sharpies (in my case). You could also use felt-tip pens, or fabric markers, or any combination of those things.
- Cardboard, or paper to place in-between the legs of your shorts so the marker doesn’t bleed through.
Next, I decided to take some time looking at inspiration. For me, this meant looking at some of the posters in SCMA’s collection, and looking at Debbie’s original shorts, but this doesn’t have to be your only inspiration. Debbie said that her shorts were inspired by record covers and posters around at the time so perhaps you can find your inspiration from pop culture too.
This might be a good time to practice some designs on paper first before drawing directly on the shorts, but I decided to draw freehand because I felt this actually fit the style of the original shorts better.
If you’d like to see what your colors will look like before committing to any large designs, you can try out your markers in an inconspicuous place, like inside the back pockets.
I placed my cardboard in-between the front and back of the shorts and started outlining some abstracted floral shapes.
When I was pretty happy with the flowers I had drawn, I colored them in and added some other kinds of design and decoration, but the amount that you color in on your shorts is absolutely up to you.
This is my finished pair.
