There is no secret that I am a lover of Gucci. The Italian fashion house tops my list of all time favorite luxury brands. And with Creative Director Alessandro Michele at the helm, Gucci has arguably become one of the most sought-after, universally appealing and must-have brands since he took over.
I have been obsessed with the fashion house since getting my first Gucci bag in high school. Before Hermes and Louis Vuitton were ever attainable by the masses, Gucci was that one luxury brand that everyone coveted at one time or another. To me, the brand represents old world classic style.
Yet, Michele has turned that on its head by defying all the rules and totally going against convention. His fantastical and romantic collections are adorned with intricate florals, whimsical embellishments and clashing colorful prints. Honestly, Michele’s Gucci, unlike when the brand was led by Tom Ford, is not for the faint of heart.
For all my love of Gucci, you’d think I would be upset that the brand doesn’t make clothes in my plus size 16. Actually, I’m more than happy they do not. Why? Because if I could wear their clothes, I’d surely be broke, divorced and homeless. So what’s a girl to do? Make her own Gucci-inspired clothes.
Gucci’s denim collection is amazing. The jeans with the embroidered snake are my faves. However, that $1100 price tag is NUTS! I’d never pay that for jeans. So instead, I made my own version and you can too!
My jeans are a cropped pair I bought from ELOQUII a while back that I couldn’t wear when they arrived. ELOQUII’s denim runs a bit smaller than their pants and I seem to always forget that. So I ordered a 16 and had to wait until I dropped a few pounds to actually wear them. I thought they’d be perfect for this DIY project.
The Gucci jeans feature an embroidered flower and slithering snake. Inspired by nature, Gucci’s Michele imbues his collections with animal and floral motifs. The snake emerges as one of his most recognizable signature details in his collections.
With the re-emergence of embroidered patches in fashion, a quick Google search returned quite a few snake results. I wasn’t really into the flower so I nixed it from my DIY jeans. Just to have options, I ordered a few of the iron-on patches that looked strikingly similar to the Gucci snake in red and in green. I found the perfect placement for the patch and ironed that sucker right on. I also added a cute little flying insect patch on the back pocket for a little more pizazz. The rest is Gucci-inspired plus fashion success!
I paired the jeans with a cropped sweater from Torrid and a few of my favorite Gucci accessories. The handbag, the knitted skull cap, the sunglasses and the shoes are all authentic Gucci pieces. I’ve listed some similar items below if you are interested in shopping the look.
The entire look came together perfectly! The ease with which I was able to iron on the patch means more NikkiFreeStyle DIY projects ahead. As always, thanks so much for stopping by! I’d love to hear what you think!
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