Denim for dummies

You too can look like Katie Holmes in distressed denim shorts: Get to the Goodwill and grab a pair of scissors, and you'll be all set!

My quest for the perfect T-shirt (that's a whole 'nother post for a different day) recently took me to Old Navy, where I laughed out loud when I saw the table full of distressed, frayed denim shorts.

There were a few reasons for my giggles. One, I lived in cutoffs in the summers of my high school and college days. Longer, cuffed, frayed, you name it, I wore it. I especially liked to pair with an over-sized Polo shirt, you know, to keep it preppy and sharp.

I dabbled in bleaching and tie-dying the denim shorts as well. Not always with a lot of success.

But the reason I didn't get too bent about the dye jobs gone wrong, was that all of my cutoffs started as denim pants, and all came from Salvation Army or Goodwill thrift stores.

There's no reason to buy faux distressed when you can get the real thing for $3 a pair second hand! All you need to make a pair of rescued jeans into cutoffs is a decent pair of scissors and a mirror.

You'll be chic in a minute. And your style will be even sweeter since you saved a bundle.