There was a time when writing on any piece of clothing was considered forbidden. The most you would see was your kid’s name written with a marker on the insides of their clothes so they would not get mixed up. When you were sending your children to camps or summer schools, you would write their names on all their clothes as well as their accessories so that they would be able to keep an eye on their belongings. But these writings were only meant to be seen by your children and maybe their supervisors and caretakers. Nobody else knew about this or cared about it.
Now is the era of custom-made clothes. People want to wear something personalized. People want something to wear that nobody else has.
What to do?
You get a heap of clothes like crop tops, jeans, and stylish leather jackets with all types of doodles and inscribing on them. This could be tattoos of their favourite celebrities, lyrics to their favourite songs, their favourite cartoons, their favourite quotes, or anything else in between. It has become a huge trend nowadays and people are going for it in a major way.
We have seen all types of clothing in this regard. Whether you look at wedding leather jackets with the spouse’s names written behind them or jeans, jackets, shorts, and tees fuming with drawings about everyday life. There’s also historical and political slogans written across them as well as florals that will melt your heart.
Jacket Doodles
Various artists have drawn everything on jackets ranging from Harley Davidson to the Hawaiian snail as well as drums, guitars, pictures of Elvis Presley, and everything else that you can imagine. There are jackets with anime characters displayed front and centre. And it’s not something that can be done by anyone; It takes a master to complete these intricate designs drawings. Jackets and other clothing items like these have really started to turn up everywhere like Amazon, Walmart, and even Etsy, to name a few.
These are popular not only in the United States but as far away as Japan and other parts of the world where the younger generation is all about expressing themselves and getting it out there.
A History of Drawn On Clothes
This is not the first time that we are seeing drawn on clothes in high demand. This trend has come and gone throughout history. In the 1970s, we saw rebels and punks who would hand paint various anarchist symbols on their leather jackets. These are still available and you can buy jackets online if you want to create a 1970s punk look. We see in universities as students and alumni wear the school’s name, mascot, and the graduation year on their jackets proudly.
Senior Cords
One of the earliest and the clearest proof of drawn-on clothes can be seen in ‘senior cords’. These were pants that first came out at the Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. These came out around the early 1900s and the trend went up and down the state. It quickly became a fashion statement and students from other universities picked up on it. The senior cords were pants made of corduroy and they were heavily patterned with doodles that spoke of the wearer’s interests, personality, and achievements. Think of them as a snapshot of your life. There were senior cords with things like a car accident and the word ‘accident-prone’ written on it as well as a picture of a knight in armour. Other doodles might include a saxophone if you played that in your university’s band or anything that you wanted to tell others about yourself.
If the ‘senior cord’ historians are correct, the trend started when some seniors from Purdue University saw a yellow corduroy fabric in the window of Taylor Steffen Co. They liked the fabric and wanted to have trousers made from it. From that point on, the yellow corduroy pants became a staple in the University. It started spreading to other schools and colleges across Indiana.
In the beginning, senior cords were only for the seniors. It had become a rite of passage for them as they left their schooling behind and stepped into the adult world.
In the beginning, the corduroy pants were either plain or they would have signatures of the wearer’s classmates on them. But as time went on, innovation happened and the new fashion started changing. The drawings became more personal and the pants would display the school mascots, various cartoon characters, clubs that the wearer was a part of, and sports, to name a few. This way, each pants was custom and each of them told a story.
What It Is Now
All you have to do is to head on to TikTok and you will find the creators wearing all types of clothes like crop tops, hoodies, and custom leather jackets that have all sorts of drawings on them. We also saw Kim and Kanye wearing leather jackets on their wedding with the words ‘Just Married’ inscribed at the top. And let’s not forget Beyonce’s ‘Black is King’ music video.
Do you want to make a statement? Do you want to share your achievements? Want to share your personal interests and more? Get a leather jacket and start drawing. Or you can get a custom leather jacket and have them draw whatever you want on it.
Also Read: The Crow Costume: Style Guide to Dress Up for Different Occasions
