Studs for Studs

Hello, my name is Sammy Hallal, I’m a 22 year old pharmacy student by day and fashion enthusiast by night. Since Studs have been making a comeback and can add a nice touch to any piece of clothing, their connotations with bikers, punks, emo kids at the mall, cowboys, elvis, and elvis impersonators are slowly dispersing into the realms of high fashion and have eventually reached the mass market. Indeed, some hot-shot designers such as Givenchy and Prada have already featured studded shirts in their collections.

Givenchy

  
 

Prada

 Since it’s high fashion, most of you can’t afford these shirts unless you’re a millionaire, sleeping with one, or a prostitute (the kind that receives “business” from politicians and/or athletes). But if you’re like me, a broke college student, chances are you can’t afford these either.

Therefore, for my first article (and maybe only article, considering how lazy I’ll get)for my best friend’s online ‘zine, I will be providing you a step-by-step guide on how to embellish your own shirts with studs along with pictures for those who don’t feel like reading. (Yay, illiteratism!)

Step 1: Get studs (obviously) and other necessary tools.
This step is pretty simple since there are only three main ingredients for creating your own studded entrée.

1) Studs: gold, chrome, or any other color of your liking.



 I got these at Mood Fabrics, for $3.95/bag.


2) Pliers, or some other metallic tool not usually used in clothes making.

3) A shirt, or any article of clothing.

Step 2: Since these studs come with spikes at the bottom, you simply puncture the spikes into the area of the shirt you wish to embellish.

Step 3: This is where the pliers come in. After puncturing, simply use the flat edge of the piers or any other heavy metal to fold the spikes inward, locking the stud in place. It’s best to use a tool instead of your fingers to avoid cutting yourself and bleeding everywhere (although blood may add a nice dark, sadistic design if you’re going for the “I’ve just been stabbed and/or mauled repeatedly” look).

Step 4: Repeat steps 2-3, aligning the studs in whatever pattern your heart desires.

Here is me, “professionally” modeling my own DIY studded shirt.

After following these simple steps along with some TLC, you will have your own personally designed studded shirt without having to make a down payment and/or sell an organ for the expensive alternative.

By Sammy Hallal