A YouTuber created a complete outfit using 3D printing, but the aspects of comfort and cost are more intricate than one might assume.

      YouTuber Matthew Trahan has built a career around 3D printing increasingly unique items. He has created musical instruments, bedroom furniture, and in one particularly notable video, even a replica of himself.

      His most recent endeavor involves crafting a complete outfit, including a shirt, shoes, a belt, and glasses. Apparently, he wasn’t informed that 3D printers are generally intended for creating engineering prototypes or impractical structures, rather than for use in fashion shows.

      But how did the project turn out, and what was the expense?

      For his latest video, Trahan had a list of ten items: a shirt, shorts, shoes, socks, a belt, a hat, a wallet, a bag, a tie, and glasses. However, he was unable to successfully print all of them.

      The shorts, specifically, resemble something one would expect from a Minecraft character. Some of the outcomes were genuinely intriguing, particularly the Waveform shoe design by Stephen Drunks.

      Regarding costs, the figures present a complex narrative. The filament expense totaled around $100, which might seem reasonable until you include the Prusa Core 1L printer he required specifically for the shorts, which costs $1,999. He utilized multiple machines throughout the project.

      Matthew Trahan / YouTube

      Is this the future of DIY fashion?

      In addition, Trahan dedicated 33 hours to modeling the various items. However, that’s not all—he also spent 560 hours, approximately 23 days, printing them.

      According to a power cost estimator, the electricity cost for the 560 hours is roughly $13.30 at the average US rate of $0.16 per kilowatt-hour. The EIA's April 2026 figure is slightly higher at $0.19 per kWh, while Californians face a rate of nearly $0.38 per kWh (via Gizmodo).

      In total, we’re looking at $100 for materials, $1,999 for equipment, 593 hours of time, and a pair of questionable shorts. All the patterns remain accessible on MakerWorld if you’re interested in attempting it yourself, but it could end up being quite costly.