Bleachy Ombré High-Waisted Shorts

Okay, so last summer I did another tutorial about double dip-dyed high-waisted shorts (say that three times fast). Now, I recently came across a completely amazing hole-in-the-wall in Berkeley. In case anyone who reads this lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, this place is called Slash. It's right off College Ave. in Berkeley in the cute foodie and shopping district there. There's also a Lululemon close by, just in case you were wondering.

Anyways, this filthy, but wonderful, little shop has it's own little organizational appeal, of billions on billions of vintage and new Levi's. Yes, my friends, you heard correctly. They have tubs of shorts, racks of denim jackets, and stacks of pants. Every cut. Every color. It was basically like a small paradise of jeans.

I picked out two beyond gorgeous pairs of high-waisted shorts! One of them I am leaving as is, because I just love the acid wash effect on them, however the others (top in the photo) are a dark blue, which means it's time to play!

What I wanted to do was bleach the top of them, and leave the rest dark blue.

What ended up happening is that I bleach the top of them a light denim and left the rest a middle denim. 

It looks super cool and I absolutely love them!

Okay, first things first: Put on some gloves, get a large bowl, and a bottle of bleach. Have a hose ready and a piece of concrete or a plastic tarp down where you can get down and bleachy. Also throw on some old clothes, since you're probably going to get it on you.

Pour some bleach into the bowl. Not a ton, but like a solid amount. (Guesstimate: 7 cups? I don't know)

Fold the shorts in half (hot dog style, so there's a back pocket on either side), turn them upside down, and dip them in. The main thing to watch here is you don't want a straight perfect line from the bleach. so dip them at different angles, take them out, fold them the other way, then redip, etc.

Now lay them out on your concrete or tarp and let them sit there. Inspect them and make sure you like it. 

From here, you can stop, or you can keep on going if you messed up like I did. I let them set out for a couple minutes and watched the bleaching process start taking effect. When you see it start going, pour some bleach directly on the bottom part of the shorts that haven't been bleached. Do this on both side and let them sit. Now you have two shades.

Wait for it, wait for it, NOW GRAB THE HOSE AND START SPRAYING.

Wash, wash, wash, and wash off your concrete too.

Take them straight from there and throw them in the washer with some white towels and wash with detergent. Take them out and viola: you have a fabulous new shorts. Whoop, whoop.