School is back in session and I'm taking Fall fashion lessons from the "IT"  girls of high school (wait, what... high school fashion ... no way) and by "IT" girls, I mean the ladies of Clueless and Gossip Girl! This Fall is all about channeling your inner preppy school girl and mixing it with a bit of "Old Money" and a splash of British glamour. So ladies, drag out your hounds-tooth, plaid skirts, pearls, and tweed...  and getchur class on. 

I still adore my polka-dots and paisley prints but I always love trying new trends and this print has be spotted everywhere. The chevron print is super fun and comes in a wide variety of colors and sizes! It's always best to ease into prints by starting with accessories! 

I seriously find some of the greatest, most amazing, things searching the world wide web. Today as I was getting inspired and writing my DIY denim makeover post ...I stumbled upon this mind blowing do it yourself guide on NEON, Glow-in-the dark, AZTEC, cut off shorts from Lisa @ 312STYLE.

I think the best part about this DIY is that you don't have to limit yourself to shorts.... You can apply this same technique to virtually anything!



What You Will Need:
- High Waisted Light Wash Denim Shorts ("Mom" Jean Style)
- Masking or Painter's Tape
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Grater 
- Aztec Design Printout for Stenciling 
- Pencil
- Glow-in-the-Dark Fabric Paints 
- Glow-in-the-Dark Paint (optional)
- Thin Paint Brush

~ First find a pair of "mom" style shorts - high, waisted with a long-inseam and light wash. 
~ To create the angled cut of brands like RunwayDreamz and One Teaspoon first put on the shorts and use Painter's Tape or masking tape to loosely wrap around each leg to create the shape and fit you desire.
~ Use a ruler to make sure the length of each side is identical (you don't want lopsided shorts).
~ Take your scissors and cut around each leg. Make sure you don't cut straight across the tape since the back will be slightly longer.
~ Slightly distress all edges with a grater.
~ Place shorts in a washing machine on a heavy regular cycle, cold. This will give you great frayed edges and a distressed vintage look.
~ Place in a dryer on delicate (so that you don't cause shrinkage).
~ Trim off excess frays at the bottom until you achieve your desired distressed look.
~ You now have the perfect cutoffs that can be worn as is, or embellished.

~ Find an tribal/Aztec print you love (larger geometric designs work best) and print it out on heavy card-stock.
~ You'll want to work in layers so start by cutting out the pattern to it's largest pattern and place on your shorts to get an idea of spacing. You should start your pattern in the middle of the pocket edge, tracing with a pencil, and work your way in and out.
~ Continue the pattern by cutting off each layer one by one. A tip for keeping track of what color/print goes where is to draw a numbered copy of your cutoffs on a sheet of paper.
~ Keep up with these steps until you have traced the entire design on your shorts.

~  Optional: Take your glow-in-the-dark fabric paints and add a dime-sized squirt of glow-in-the-dark paint for extra glow power.
~ Place a paper plate wrapped in plastic wrap under each leg to avoid paint seeping through.
~ Create a color pattern and paint accordingly.
~ Repeat this step three times for a brighter finish and a stronger glow.
~ Remember that to glow these shorts must be activated by light. Natural sunlight or a black-light will create the most vibrant glow, but as seen below you can still achieve a bright glow with exposure to florescent or incandescent bulbs.
~ Glow will last longer due to quality of paint used and length of time exposed to UV light. 


For the most style impact wear these shorts with a neon colorblocked bra/crop top to a day-night festival or event to take advantage of their glow-in-the-dark paint job.