After I got my plum coloured shorts that I shared in my last Stylesheet, I couldn’t stop wearing them! They had been great for my trip to Greece, where it was summer, but I continued to wear them with tights during The Australian winter here (we don’t have much of a winter, though, it doesn’t get that cold). I think my love for shorts began when I bought a pair of checkered shorts and featured it in one of my old Fashion Friday editions, Paper Doll, but even more so when I wore that same pair of shorts during winter in my first ever Stylesheet post.

I think these plum shorts look really great with the colour black, or something with a black pattern. This top was also something I purchased this year, right as the weather started getting cool. A few years ago, I owned an off-the-shoulder striped crop top that I bought for $10 on eBay (a cheap designer find), that I really enjoyed wearing, but unfortunately got too small for me within a couple of years. I’ve since tried to find a similar off-the-shoulder top that doesn’t move around too much as I move my arms, and this one was pretty much perfect.

I’ve found that a lot of off-the-shoulder designs have a couple of features that I dislike, that end up being issues for me:

• elasticated sleeves, which I find uncomfortable from a touch/sensation perspective
• a fold-over top, or a very straight neckline along with the top of the sleeves, which means that the sleeves keep moving up the shoulder and stop being so “off the shoulder”
• the entire neckline and the top of the sleeves being elasticated together, meaning that any amount of moving your arms upwards will make the entire top move up and you have to keep pulling it down

The sweet spot for me is usually a top where the neckline and the top of the sleeves are wide enough to accomodate the shoulders, but not loose enough that it all falls off. Another important factor is that the sleeves are still partially attached to the body of the garment around the armpit area, which helps the entire thing keep its shape.

I suspected it was a sizing issue at first, but the other thing it could be is that my shoulders have a certain shape to them so some tops just don’t suit me. Either way, the fit of this one was so spectacular when I tried it on, that after I went home I kept thinking about it and decided to purchase it the next time I found myself in the store. Maybe the only minor gripe is that the straps are a bit too long, but that doesn’t bother me too much and the top still fits well. I am a short person, so it was probably designed at a length that is for the “average” person (and that is going to be taller than me).

I mentioned fun shoes last Stylesheet when I featured some colourful printed shoes from Rollie. The shoes in this outfit are also a derby style but they are made from a much softer leather. Now, if you have been reading my blog for a while, or know me well, you know that I pretty much dislike the colour pink and will go to rather large efforts to avoid it. I have to admit that in recent years I have opened up to wearing pink more, but finding a shade of pink that I feel comfortable with, as well as one that looks good on me – has been tricky. You will never find me in very light or pastel shades of pink; they wash out my colouring and I actually do feel gross in them. “Gross” or “icky” is the best way I can describe how I feel beyond simply “uncomfortable” and feeling very “not myself”. A pink that is slightly brighter – but not too bright – or deeper, is what I believe suits me. So you might be wondering why I settled on pink shoes?!

The metallic texture to the shoe was what really drew me to it. Metallic colours can feel or look obnoxious to some people, but can suit other people well. I think my situation is towards the latter. But metallic shades add texture, and don’t really add intensity to a colour, so the pink of the shoe actually feels a bit bearable despite my aversion to pink. There is also the widely known suggestion that you wear a colour further from your face if you want to experiment with something new. You might feel more comfortable if the colour is further from your face, since it may not look as obvious if it doesn’t suit you. Of course, above all, you should wear whatever you want and not necessarily follow colour guidelines. 😁

I have enjoyed wearing these shoes mostly with these shorts because of the shades of pink going well together. It also hasn’t looked too bad with black shorts. I chose to wear the patterned tights because I’d worn them before and I really like the deliberate “breaking of lines” and intentional colour-blocking. I have learned to break the rules and avoid suggestions like “wear one solid colour to appear taller”. Wearing one solid colour feels boring to me, and I learned that “appearing taller” is for the sake of an illusion – an illusion that doesn’t matter in the real world, because in the real world when I stand amongst other people, I will always be short anyways. The illusion is useless. 😛

My hair was starting to get a little longer than I wanted it to be, so I started doing it in bubble braids until I got my next haircut. I suppose it’s a very ’90s look? I don’t mind it too much. I actually got the idea from an Instagram video, even though I don’t spend a lot of time watching Instagram videos/reels. I generally like trying different hairstyles because it’s nice to have those in my back pocket for times I might feel like I’m sick of my hair.

Compared to my previous Stylesheet post, my eyeliner in these photos is a bit more perfected and closer to how I wear eyeliner these days. I usually like to draw another line from the tail of the eyeliner inwards, but keep it short, so it’s almost like an open wingtip, if that makes sense. I’ve found that doing that makes the eyeliner smudge a little less.

My nails have the Terrazzo nail wrap style from Personail, and I’ve found it to be one of my favourites in terms of how neutral it is in terms of colour. I also like that it’s a design that is interesting and not too plain. I’ve still got some spare nail wraps of that style, but I really wouldn’t be against purchasing them again!

I also wanted to point out my new sunglasses, which I purchased while we were in Dubai. The few pairs of sunglasses I have are from the brand Gentle Monster, who create experimental and unique glasses. Since two of my sunglasses are made of acetate and have bold frames, I wanted something just a little bit different, leaning towards metal frames. One of my acetate pairs of sunglasses has very round lenses, while the other is slightly square. I picked out this style because they were in a neutral but elegant colour – nothing too bold – and the shape was neither too angular nor too round. Although they require a bit more care than my acetate frames, I love them and I don’t mind carrying my sunglasses case with me or taking extra care of them. 🕶️

I didn’t specifically choose my bag for this outfit, but I did purchase this bag and write about it in Stylesheet 018, and I don’t like to own many handbags. So I already knew it would be a bag that I’d wear with pretty much any outfit, and that it would match relatively well with a lot of things in my wardrobe.

Overall I love the combination of everything in this outfit, and the bright colours and interesting pattern. I still tried to give it a polished look, which I think can be attributed to the slightly straight and sleek hairstyle, the black colour of the top, and the slightly formal feel of the shoes.

Outfit details

• Top: Kookai (Monique top in black)
• Shorts: Sezane (Rome shorts in Plum)
• Shoes: Rollie (Derby Super Soft Pink Metallic)
• Sunglasses: Gentle Monster (Bling 06)
• Nails: Personail [referral link for 20% off] nail wraps (Terrazzo)
• Handbag: Mansur Gavriel (Mini Tulipano in Ocean)

Footnotes

📸 All photography by Nicholas Cooke. (on my iPhone 12 mini)

I named this edition bubblegum plum because of the colour “bubblegum pink”, which my shoes reminded me of. I tied it in with the plum colour for assonance – assonance being the resemblance of sound between syllables of words, so not exactly rhyming but a match in sound. (I suppose similar to my last Stylesheet post Fun in plum.

Also, it’s a reference to the bubble braids in my hair! 🫧