Plus Size Daisy Dukes

Origin of Plus Size Daisy Dukes

Daisy Mae Duke was a young female character on the 1979-85 TV series "The Dukes of Hazard." Daisy wore very short cut off jeans, a midriff-bearing shirt and cowboy boots. Her short shorts became known as "Daisy Dukes" and were a style trend in the early 1980s when worn with a shirt tied to expose the midriff as well as cowboy boots and a western hat.

The 2005 release of the "Dukes of Hazard" movie revived the Daisy Duke trend. Since that time, cowboy boots and skin-tight denim short-shorts have become a recurring summer trend.

How to Get the Look

Plus size short shorts, such as Daisy Dukes, are usually hard to find in retail stores and online. The denim shorts and skorts offered are usually longer, often to the knee or below.

It is easy to make your own Daisy Dukes. Here's how:

• Find a pair of jeans that fit your waist, hips and upper thighs.
• Put on the jeans and stand in front of a full-length mirror.
• Use a piece of chalk or dressmakers straight pins to mark the final length that you want for the Daisy Dukes.
• Remove the jeans, being careful not to smudge the chalk line or dislodge the pins.
• Decide if you want a hem on your Daisy Dukes or if you want the bottom edge to be an unhemmed, frayed edge.
  • For a hemmed edge – Cut the jeans one inch below the chalk or pin line. Turn the edge under one-half inch and sew. Turn the edge under one-half inch for a second time and sew.
  • For a frayed edge – Cut the jeans one inch from the chalk or pin line. Coat the cut edge with white glue to minimize the fraying of the denim.

Some costume and lingerie stores offer a plus size Daisy Duke costume. The costume usually includes a pair of short shorts and a cowboy hat. For example, Flirty Dreams lingerie store offers a two-piece Daisy Duke costume that fits to size 18.

Trendy plus size stores such as Torrid and Alight.com offer denim shorts during the summer that can be shortened to achieve the "Daisy Duke look."

Daisy Duke Accessories

To complete your "Daisy Duke" look, be sure to add the appropriate accessories:

• Cowboy hat
  • The Hat Store – Fitting and hand shaping hats since 1915
  • Web Hats – Very inexpensive straw and fabric hats
• Cowboy boots
  • Shoebuy.com – Offers western boots to size 12 in medium and wide widths
  • Sheplers – Selling western boots and apparel for 60+ years
• Midriff-revealing shirt
  • Alight.com – Trendy fashion separates at low prices to size 30
  • SizeAppeal – Trendy fashion separates to size 4X
• Leather belt
  • Woman Within – Leather belts to size XXL
  • Lane Bryant – Leather belts to size 26/28