How to Make Cut-Up Retro Shirts

If you want to get a retro 1980s look with minimal time and effort, cutting up your T-shirt is a great way to do it. There are a dozen books out there that give you hundreds of ways to cut-up, rip-up and deconstruct your T-shirts, but there are a lot of looks that you can do without patterns and complex instructions. One of these looks is a retro '80s off-shoulder cropped T-shirt. This look takes one minute and two cuts, and no careful planning. In fact, the rougher the cut and the sloppier the look, the more '80s it will be.

Things You'll Need

• T-shirt
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Choose a T-shirt that is at least one size bigger than what you usually wear. You want to wear it slouchy so it fits loose.

2. Make the off-the-shoulder cut. Take your scissors and make a single diagonal cut--moving from one side of the collar, across the top and below the opposite shoulder.
   Make sure that the cut below the shoulder doesn't cut off the sleeve entirely.

3. Crop the bottom of the shirt by making a single cut across the bottom, at least a few inches above the original seam.
   Don't worry about making the cut super-straight, the rough cut is part of the '80s look.

4. Put the newly cut shirt on, and pull it over a little to the side to totally uncover one shoulder.

Tips & Warnings

• If you accidentally cut the sleeve off in Step 2, go ahead and cut the opposite sleeve off right at the seam, keeping the shoulder intact. This will create an off-shoulder tank, which is also a great look. If you want the cropped bottom to run straight across, even when the shirt is pulled to the side, cut the bottom diagonally in the opposite direction of the shoulder cut.