FashBlog.com

There is a certain fashion trend that has lasted through the years. People of all ages enjoy this style whether they're purchasing ready-made items to wear or taking matters into their own hands and designing their own clothing. Appropriated by subcultures yet accessible to all, of course I'm talking about tie-dye.

While tie-dyeing will always be remembered as a hippie style, it has moved far beyond those flower child roots. I'm a child born of the 80s and during my senior year of high school in 1997 the color of our class shirts, voted on by a majority of my peers, was tie-dye. I've seen grandmothers in tie-dye shirts and I've seen babies in tie-dye onesies. There really is something about those bright, spiraling colors that appeals to everyone.

Personally, whenever I put on a tie-dye shirt, I feel instantly happier and more cheerful. It's a real pick-me-up. Now I'm not saying I would wear one to a business conference, but for everyday casual wear, nothing beats a great tie-dye pattern.

Tie-dying also tends to be a fun way to personalize group shirts. In fact, the ability to tie-dye seems to be a predominant reason for ordering white shirts in high school and college groups. I've seen high school students tie-dye their powder puff football t-shirts and I've seen college students make personalized mementos of a retreat weekend with a few tubs of dye. Dyeing the shirts becomes a social event and everyone can feel a bit unique while also feeling like they're part of the group.

I believe the first time I ever made a tie-dye shirt was in early elementary school. It was either a craft project in my Brownie Girl Scout troop or perhaps my teacher planned it as an end-of-the year treat. Either way, I dutifully brought in a plain white shirt. (As a side note, whenever I was going to do a tie-dye project as a kid, my mom always hated it because for some reason I never had any plain white shirts. So it either meant that I had to tie-dye one of my dad's undershirts and perhaps make a nightgown out of it or that my mom had to buy me a brand new shirt just to tie-dye. And if you've ever seen elementary school tie-dye efforts, then you'll understand why she probably didn't feel it was worth it.)

The white shirt would then be wrapped up in little rubber band bundles. Which led to the ever-important decision of which color to throw your wrapped-up shirt in. Each color looked beautiful in its deep hue, but you never knew exactly how it was going to look when dry. It was always exciting to see your very own creation arise from the tub of dye. Tie-dyed t-shirts are funny looking creatures, really. By the time you've wrapped them up properly with rubber bands or string, they're like lumpy, bumpy twigs or sometimes amoebas with lots of appendages. Somehow, the shirts I tie-dyed on my own never looked as good as the ones I could get from a store. Some of my friends knew the right wrapping tricks, though, and they came up with some cool creations.