My friends and I think ripped jeans are awesome, but our parents freak when we buy jeans with rips or bleach splatters. They give us total grief about wasting our money. What is the best way to get that look, if we get cheap jeans and do the ripping and bleaching ourselves?

I’m sure Mom and Dad will approve your do-it-yourself approach, especially if you get your jeans for just a few dollars at a thrift shop.

Here’s how to get that awesome distressed look, courtesy of John Eshaya, designer of the seriously destroyed JET jeans, a favorite of celebrities such as Nicole Richie and Cameron Diaz.

For ripped jeans:
Lay the jeans on a flat surface.

Make a small incision where you want the rip to be. Cut at a slight angle, not straight across. Take care to cut through just one layer of fabric.

Insert your fingers in the hole and rip slowly until you are about one inch away from the side seams.

Turn inside-out and wash in cold water to get rid of dangling threads.

For bleach-splattered jeans:
Lay the jeans on a flat surface, outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. Don’t use jeans with spandex, as bleach will destroy the stretchy fibers.

For big splats, take a small amount of bleach in a cup and carefully splatter across the jeans. For smaller splats, cover most of the mouth of the bleach bottle, then shake out a sprinkling of bleach droplets.

For drippy splats, hang or prop up the jeans. Put bleach in a spray bottle, and set to mist or spray, depending on how big you want the drips to be.

Wait for the bleach to turn white on the jeans, then turn inside-out and wash in cold water.

This year the ripped jean is making its come back for both women and men. I have never liked this look or ever bought into it. Some stores sell some to the point where too much leg is showing and it ends up not even being jeans anymore. The look of having holes in your pants is never flattering and never makes anyone look good.

Even if you think you are pulling it off, you aren't. If there is a little rip near the pocket that is okay, but to the point where your whole knee cap is showing makes it look like you have had those jeans for years and can't go out and buy new ones. There are ripped jeans for upwards of over a hundred dollars.

Spending even twenty dollars is too much. It seemed to have been gone for a few years but then made a big come back. I suggest staying away from this trend and investing in a nice pair of jeans that won't go out of style and will cover your leg.