all about ombre
We have seen ombre on the hair, on nails, and now– on our clothing. Ombre, two-toned, dip-dyed, whatever you want to call it... it is taking over!
Ombre is a French term meaning "shaded." it just means colour that graduates from light to dark. It has also recently started to evolve in less of a gradual fade, and more of a stark contrast in dip dyed clothing. It's subtler than the colour-blocking trend, and is perfect for those who are looking for an easy-to-rock trend without the hassle of picking separate colours to mix and match.
keep it simple. Pair your ombré piece with neutral clothing and accessories in shades of brown and off-white, blacks, and navys. The subtle effect will give your ombré item a trendy pop without being cartoonish.
Only wear one ombré piece at a time to avoid a trend overload. Dark denim jeans are also a perfect pairing for a casual ombré top. Whether it’s a subtle item or a statement piece, there is an ombré item out there to fit you. Try out this trend for yourself it'll add instant style to your entire look!
DIY Ombre:
you can use this on t-shirts, denim, collared shirts, pretty much anything...
fabric dye
salt (if your dye calls for it on the back)
a t-shirt
Stainless steel kitchen sink or bucket
warm water
fill your sink or bucket with 3″–4″ of warm water. Stir in some dye. We stirred in about 1/3 of the package, but use more if you want your shirt to be darker. We also stirred in about 2 tablespoons of salt.
Soak your t-shirt through with clean warm water and ring it out a bit.
Hold your t-shirt by the shoulders and carefully lower it into the dye until the color goes up as high as you’d like. Do not let the shirt linger in the dye, lift it right out. You don’t want a lot of dye to soak into the fabric on this dip, because this will create the lightest band of color at the top of the gradient.
To dye the middle medium shade of the ombré gradient, dip your shirt back in and make sure to keep the top third of the already colored section out of the dye. This time hold the shirt in the dye for 10–20 seconds to allow more color to soak in. Slightly swish the shirt back and forth while in the dye to make sure you end up with a smooth gradient instead of a sharp line where the darker shade begins. You can pull it out to check how dark the dye is, and leave it in longer if the color isn’t dark enough for you. Lift the shirt out when you are satisfied with the color.
Before dying the darkest part of the gradient, add a few more tablespoons of dye to the sink to make the color darker. Then dip only the bottom third of the colored section of shirt into the sink. Remember to swish the shirt a little like in step four. We held the bottom of the shirt in the dye for about a minute or so, but you can keep checking it and remove the t-shirt when the color is as dark as you want.
After dying, let the t-shirt sit overnight to allow the color to sink in. (covered the kitchen counter with a trash bag and spread the t-shirt out there.) The next day wash the t-shirt in hot water with just a little bit of laundry detergent.
Wear your totally awesome dip-dyed shirt.
