Painting On Clothes and Accessories With Textile Paints: The Pros and The Cons (Outfit proposal of the day: Magnenta with red accents)

Look at that happy grin on my face. What I could be so happy about? Well, I discovered a new cute spot by river Bunica. One could say that  I'm living the 'be a tourist in your own area' phrase and applying the philosophy behind it to the fullest. One of my favourite ways to apply this philosophy to my life is by exploring the area I live in by foot. I'm a firm believer in the benefits of hiking. In addition, long walks (be it in urban area or nature) have many benefits. Sedentary way of life hides many health hazards, so remember that and go for a walk. 

As long as I'm talking about this area, If you are thinking about visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina, do not neglect the area around Buna river (only 14 km from Mostar!). Buna and Bunica are two small rivers that join at one point and then they flow west for about 10 km and into the famous Neretva river. The area around these two rivers is lovely. I already wrote about this place a dozen of times on my blog, so not to repeat myself, I will leave you link to my previous visits and you can check them out if you're interested.

1. You can read about one of my earliest visits here (2013)
2. You can read about my encounter with Hoopoe bird here (2013)
3. You can see an outfit post with Buna in the background here (2013)
3.You can read about spring time and my love of flowers here (2017)
4. You can read about my most recent visit here (2017)
5. You can read about winter magic in Buna revisited post here (2016)
5. You can read about summer magic here (2015)

Recently I've talked about how ways to dress more feminine during Winter (here). I've stressed that accessories can play an important role in making our outfits look more feminine, stylish and polished. Take this clutch for example. I don't know what it is about clutch bags, but somehow they always feel very feminine and chic to me. I know they might not be the most practical item, but a nice clutch bag always adds something to an outfit. Speaking about this clutch, you may notice that I hand painted this one.

The title of this post is Painting On Clothes and Accessories With Textile Paints: The Pros And The Cons  and that is what I will be talking about today. The pros of this DIY project are pretty obvious. When you paint on clothes (or/and accessories) you end up with a personalized item. Who wouldn't want that? What are the cons? Well, one of the downsides of painting with fabric/textile paints is that  you might not be happy with the result. This DIY project can actually turn out less  then satisfactory. I know, this might sound odd coming from someone who is always cheering for DIY projects and writing about them, but I'm also all for honesty. I don't regret painting a single clothing item or accessory but before you do it yourself, ask yourself will you regret it? Obviously, there is always a choice that a DIY project will not end up well. What is my advice? Think about what you really want. 

http://modaodaradosti.blogspot.ba/2015/05/diy-how-to-give-old-bag-make-over.html

I'm no stranger to colour and pattern, it's something I've always enjoyed, it's a part of my style, so when I do DIY projects connected with fashion, it is only natural that this 'love for colourfulness' translated to my fashion style as well. If you sense of style is more minimal and classical, you'll probably have to think for a bit, to figure out about how this project of DIY painting of clothes can work for you. If you're not too keen on colour, you might want to use only black and white textile paints. Similarly, if you're not into bold designs and print, keep your 'painting' minimal. Here I am wearing a pair of jeans with a flower print I painted myself, a bag with a heart print that I painted myself and a coat that has leopard print details. That's a lot of print. If you're not really into prints, there are many ways to keep your DIY painting more minimal. You can for example write something with textile paints, or you can create a more subtle effect by layering neutral colours lightly.

How beautiful is this spot btw? Since I moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina, I really discovered the meaning of the phrase 'river magic'. I've fallen in love with river, streams and lakes here. Alright, now that you have seen the new spot, let's go to the old spot, the one you'd the chance of seeing many many times. There I'll show you the rest of my outfit, what I'm hiding under my coat (but not in a cheeky way!), you know just what I wore under, in this case a black blazer. Basically, the idea behind this post was to talk more about textile paints, and to warn you that once textile or fabric paints are applied, there is no going back. If you wash your clothes at 90 degrees Celzius, the fabric/textile paint will probably come off but most clothing items are not supposed to be washed at that temperature so this obviously posses a problem. Another possible downside is that you might regret it.  Here you can see what this pair of jeans looked like before I hand painted it. I don't regret painting them, but since I painted them they are definitely more 'loud' and less suitable for dressing things down. Once you personalize a clothing item, it becomes more 'special' but at the same time you end up with some style limitations. As they say, you can't have it all. Here you can see a similar pair of jeans, another pair that I have painted myself. There I used black textile paint, so the 'painting' is a bit less loud. I already wrote about painting with textile paints, so I'll just copy paste that section if you don't mind: 

How to paint with textile (fabric) paints? Well, as I have explained many times, the process is fairly simple.  There are basically two ways to paint on clothes (or bags and etc.), depending on whether  you want to paint a design/pattern/whatever by yourself or whether you want to copy a design (if you don't enjoy painting or if you don't think you're good at it). So, if you don't know how to paint, you can still do it by using the second method (copying some design). There are different kinds of fabric paints available on the market, I tried quite a few and as far as I can tell, they don't differ much in quality. So, if you want to give this DIY (i.e. painting on clothes) a try, buy some textile paints and get started. The only thing you should be careful about is placing something under the textile you're painting on, just to make sure that the paint doesn't end up everywhere. 

Anyhow, the 'painting on clothes' dilemma often comes down to: Should we paint on our clothes? I love doing it but I'll be the first to admit that hand-painted clothes can be a bit challenging to style. When you hand paint something, you're basically adding both colour and print (in some cases pattern to it). I wrote a dozen of posts about how much I love painting on clothing textile paints, but everything comes with pros and cons. If you love some clothing item to bits, perhaps you shouldn't change it. Perhaps you should keep it the way it is. Perhaps painting with textile paints and similar kind of DIY projects work best when the clothing items we personalize (work on) are the ones we want to breathe new life in. Personalizing an old pair of jeans is always fun, but maybe we should think twice before painting on a brand new pair of jeans? Moreover, I'm always repeating how easy working with textile paints is - but I'm forgetting maybe it might not be so easy for someone who has never held a brush in their hand. Maybe it is better to say that it's relatively easy to use textile paints. 

You have got to love those 'sunny winter days'. Is there anything more lovely than soaking in sunshine on a sunny winter day? Not that I mind sunshine in any season, but during the Winter, the sun is definitely more welcome. It's has been a bit colder than usual here but the cold is only welcomed by most. The almond trees have already started to bloom and that is always a certain sign that Spring is near. So, I don't mind a bit of cold. I made sure I dress warmly that day, and I was indeed very comfortable wearing this. By the end of this walk, with sunshine and all, it got so warm I actually took my coat off, but we'll save that for another post. 

Coat: Bajina bašta
Blazer: Tailored for me
Jeans: Vintage+ DIY
Bag: Old+ DIY
Boots: Šimecki
Faux fur stole: old

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