Drawing Inspiration: The Story of Doodle Dandy

We don’t chase every trend that hits the runway – only the ones that speak to us, that feel genuinely Double D Ranch. And boy, did this one ever speak to Cheryl.

You probably don’t know this about our designer, Cheryl McMullen, but she is a grade-A doodler. By the end of any meeting, she’ll have a list of things to do, completely surrounded by flowers or paisleys or some image that just came to her that she wants to put on a scarf.

So when we started to see this increasing presence of doodled-on denim, it was a no-brainer to decide, “Yeah, we gotta do that.”

The trend of doodled-on attire originally dates back to the early 1900s, with students of Purdue University drawing on their corduroys, skirts, and caps, denoting everything from their class year to their club membership, and sometimes just inside jokes or a nod to the university. The garments became wearable works of art and badges of honor, and actually, pretty visually appealing. Its presence in fashion has waxed and waned, but sartorial sketching is currently back on the runways.

Of course, we had to put our Double D spin on it. In our Doodle Dandy collection, we drew motifs that are authentic and important to us – Americana, Native American images, and all things cowgirl. We put it on summery white fabrics, and opted for muted retro colors – blue-greys and rusty reds – rather than stark, in-your-face red, white, and blue. We decided to call the print Doodle Dandy; it was something that just kind of rolled off our tongue, and felt perfectly patriotic for this summer collection.

DOODLE DANDY