Paganoonoo: Magical Boro Inspired Jean Jacket with Belt Closure

Friday, November 6, 2015

Magical Boro Inspired Jean Jacket with Belt Closure

Hello, I'm Michelle Paganini a fashion designer addicted to "upcycling", transforming existing goods, such a clothing, into something more desirable than the original materials.

This upcycled jean jacket was inspired by Japanese Boro clothing. I find the utilitarian nature of the garments appealing and the patchwork and repair process fascinating.

I ran across a white waffle robe with a Stanford University logo and thought it would be a good foundation for building a kimono jacket. I did not have garments that need extensive repair, but did have jeans in different stages of life. I decided to use them to build this Boro inspired jacket by piecing them together on top of the waffle robe.

The rugged nature of the jacket called out for a complementary closure so I used part of a man's belt.

Read more about the process in the original post.

I'm featuring the garment again because my husband George

just took professional photos from all sides.

The thing that is amazing, even magical about this jacket is that it looks good on such a wide variety of people. I wish I'd taken pictures of all of the men and women who have tried it on and it seemed to look just right on large, medium and small people of both sexes. I will get some pictures of it on folks in the future.

I really love the subtle color blocking from the

different shades of the jeans.

The circle on the upper back is to hide an ugly a grease stain.

I always try to turn a stain into a feature, LOL.

Here is the inside front of the jacket. The original waffle robe lining only extends part way down the sleeve. This is so the bottom of the sleeve does not become too stiff and retains fluid movement. A pocket was added using an original jean back pocket. The red stripe is bias tape used to finish off the join between the lining and jacket facing.