Fashion

DIY: CHANEL GLOVE

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by ali hoffman

Fact: When Karl Lagerfeld presented Chanel's Cruise 2013 collection in May, our eyes immediately scanned to the models' hands, where we hoped to see the most awe-inspiring manicure.

So when watching model after model strut by with polish-free nails, we felt--to be completely honest--a bit let down. 

Thankfully this disappointment only lasted about half of a second, which is the time it took our eyes to process what Mr. Lagerfeld's girls wore on their hands instead.

Enter the most stunning range of gloves we've ever  seen, with hand-embellished floral appliqués perfectly shaped like the fashion house's iconic double interlocking "C" logo.  A dreamy pairing of soft suede material  and candied pastel tones, they wouldn't be out of place in the Palace Versailles on the hands of Marie Antoinette. From that very first glance, we haven't been able to get them out of our head.

And today we finally decide to take a stab at making a pair of our own.

Here's how we did it:

Step 1: Using DYLON-Permanent Fabric Dye in "Bahama Blue," a stainless steel pot,  and a kitchen spoon, saturate a pair of white magician gloves until they turn powder blue (about 20 minutes).

Step 2: Wash the gloves in the sink with warm water and a touch of detergent.

Step 3: Let them air dry (do not machine dry!).

Step 4: Using card stock or any thick paper lying around, chose 3-4 different colors of your choice.  Cut the card stock into about 50 tiny flowers out (we recommend using a stencil to make this less painstaking).

Step 5: Using a pencil, outline your initials on the gloves. One letter per glove is definitely easiest.

Step 6: With a hot glue gun or fabric glue, paste the cut-out flowers one at a time, being careful to stay inside the outlined letter.

Step 7: Don't touch until the glue dries!

Step 8 (Optional): To make your gloves fingerless (like Chanel's), simply cut the tips off each of fingers with an x-acto knife. 

And--voila!-- you're ready for Versailles.