I added black and purple round studs to this cool Blade Runner bag that I bought off of Etsy.

A very easy way to change the look of your clothes, and to make them more your own, is to stud them up. This is something that is way easier to do than it looks. I actually taught myself how to do it over thirty years ago by using the tip of a sharp knife to create the holes in a leather jacket for the stud tines to go through. I’m lucky I didn’t stab myself.

These days it is so much easier to get the tools and studs that you will need for such a project than it was way back when. Etsy is an excellent place to find studs, and my favourite stud shop StudsAndSpikescom even sells a kit that includes an awl and a tool to push down the tines so that you don’t hurt your fingers. The only thing that I will tell you to watch out for when searching for studs on Etsy are the drop shippers that send studs directly from China. I would choose a UK, European or US shop that ships directly to you so that you don’t have to wait weeks for a package that may or may not show up.

I added some purple round, black pyramid and skull studs to these straps of my Angry Itch boots.

The photo above is what I did very recently. The leather was quite thick so it warped a bit when I did the stud work. This happens less when the material you are working with is more thin, such as fabric. The warping never bothers me because it looks DIY and not manufactured.

I’m so proud of how well this turned out.

The above is a Punk Rave dress, whose high collar I removed. The top of the dress is made of two layers of cloth so I used some studs to attach them back together at the now lower neck. I also added some random studs around the bottom to give the dress more depth. I think adding touches of neon green really makes this dress stand out more and not look so plain. Since my whole style is Blade Runner meets Mad Max nothing needs to look perfect, and that actually gives me a lot of creative freedom.

I hope this has given you some ideas and some encouragement to start your own projects. Doing DIY studding is seriously a lot of fun!