Why tie dye is not just for summer, its a way of life

It’s the ultimate wardrobe pimper, but more than a fashion statement, more than a festival vibe, more than a wavey house night uniform. Tie dye is a creed, a code of conduct: life is tie dye, tie dye is life.

You should know that tie dye never really goes out of style because it was never truly in style. Think about it. You think people in the 1960’s were probably being a little bit ironic with their tie dyeing too, using their garms to take the piss out of the establishment conventions. That, and they must have realised tie dye looks really cool on strong acid.

wavy

Then, in the late 80’s/90’s – commonly known in circles as the Silver Age of TD – things went full circle because it became so ironic that all irony was actually lost. TD is above the system. The main strength is that it looks completely ridiculous and you, by wearing it, are beating the system of clothing stereotypes and prejudices

It started small at first. A pair of jeans I couldn’t wear anymore because of cherry burns and dodgy stains. I decided to try an old method my father had mentioned. It’s fucking simple: tie as many knots in your jeans as you can. Knots are good because they reduce the surface area of the exposed fabric. Only the exposed fabric is bleached so patterns arise from the knots.

In many ways the natural dicolouration of clothes is a form of tie dye. We are playing God with the fabric and transcending our wardrobe to an immortal ageless plain of different colours. Anything can be tie dyed once it has run its course as a normal item of clothing. You can then either keep it for yourself or for unsuspecting friends.

The skill is in the knot tying and the bleach die timing. The knots are what create the pattern – with practice there are funky ways to tie a pair of trousers to cover up certain parts. Some things like jeans might need an overnight soak for colour to absorb or be stripped but others can “fade nicely” in half an hour.

The ultimate tie dye hero is a model who because of a skin condition actually has “tie dye” skin called Chantelle Brown-Young. She uses it to her advantage in an artistic way.

How to complete your look

Homemade or dedicated TD company only. No TTD (Topman tie dye). By buying from dedicated retailers (good quality in almost any style often for under a £5) you are both giving ageing hippies a livelihood and helping anarchist resistance money laundering operations.

When someone comes up to you and says “nice top” or “nice jeans” the only correct response is “I know; peace brother/sister”.

You are representing TD. If you are wearing a bright baby blue and pink swirley t shirt, you look like an extra big dick if you act like one. So it’s generally best to keep a “chill attitude”.

I hope to see more of you representing freedom, liberty, peace and love by wearing tie dye as much as possible. I always TD at important moments in my life. I have an anecdote for every piece of TD clothing I own.