This first object is really special: a pair of denim cutoffs, decorated with sharpie in big, colorful florals.
These are a pair of shorts that once belonged to Deborah Slavitt, Smith College Class of 1969. Debbie says she was inspired to draw on the jeans by seeing record covers and posters. Looking at them with a contemporary eye, it’s so clear that these shorts are a product of the nineteen sixties.
There are several posters in the Smith College Museum of Art’s collection in this style. The Magic Garden, by R. Wander, is an example.
The colors on this poster and on the cutoff shorts are noticeably similar, and although Debby did not draw any butterflies on her shorts, the flowers on both illustrations are comparable.
When I first saw these shorts, I was really interested in how they reflected a Smith student’s life. What would other students be wearing at this time? I found this 1967 photograph of Smith students on a ski trip in the Smith College Special Collections. What really struck me about this was that the two students are also wearing bright, pop-y florals, in this case on their coats.
Go on to the next page to see my process of remaking these shorts.