DIY: The Painter's Jacket

I was browsing though the clothes I left in Manila and I found this jacket:

Gap khaki jacket

Unworn and plain, it was begging for me to infuse some of my trademark The Dandy Project "globetrotting deranged artist" flavor. I needed a statement jacket for the summer, as most of my more special jackets were fall/winter. This jacket was the perfect warm-weather weight.

My eyes went straight to the pockets, I wanted to highlight them somehow. I decided to frame them like windows, roughly painting around them with a brush and white acrylic.

I used a straight edge to keep the insides of my "windows" somewhat straight and neat.

Then on to the bottom half of the jacket, close to the side pockets. Partly inspired by Yves Saint Laurent, I wanted a hodgepodge of smudges on that area, looking as if the messy painter carelessly wipes his soiled hands on his jacket while he's at work.

YSL Spring 2008

What better way to do that then, but to soil my hands with paint and wipe them on the jacket?

I added a couple of paint splatters to make it look as if he had a few paintbrush fights with his artist-lover.

I enlisted the help of my new dog Frankie to lend her organic imprint on to the canvas.

To jack up the dandy, I wanted a touch of glitter, perhaps suggestive of the artist's glam nightlife. So I employed another of my amateurish painting techniques, glitter-bombs: globs of paint covered in glitter, that I would dry halfway, then pop with my finger to result in thick, textural smudges of paint edged in glitter.

I layered the smears and smudges with a little more color by literally wiping paint-covered hands on the jacket while worn.

When it is complete, the artist signs his piece. (My first signed piece!)

TDP stands not only for "The Dandy Project", but for my last and middle names as well.

a sneaky peek at the finished jacket

the DIY painter's jacket

Here it is worn:

DIY painter's jacket, American Apparel tank, H&M jeans, Victoria shoes

double-watched with one fresh from my brother's drawer (Casio watch, Cartier watch, leather bracelet from Barcelona)

Globetrotting deranged artists in-demand need to keep up with multiple time zones.

runway photo via GQ.com