Stylesheet 015: In the summertime 🌞 • Restyling a blue silk top and tan sandals

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to read this new Stylesheet post. 🌟

image 1: An Asian woman with shoulder length dark hair. She is wearing a blue silk top, and a black and white checkered skirt with a tie detail. She is smiling and has a hand on her hip, and is standing on the sidewalk next to a big tree trunk.
Short, straight hair for this one 😄

I’m sharing an outfit that is a little similar to my outfit in In the springtime, which is from October 2020. I actually can’t believe that was well over a year ago.

image 2: The same woman in the other photos on this page, with longer hair, wearing the same blue silk top, but with beige pants and a sky blue cardigan, and different sandals. She is holding a small gold clutch and standing on boardwalk with her hand on her hip.
Styling the same top in 2020

The thing I wanted to start off with is my sandals. One of the most important things for me with shoes is comfort – which should come at no surprise, given how many times I write about comfortable shoes on my blog. 😅 I no longer own the sandals in the above picture. Because I wore them so much, the sole became too soft and unsupportive. It was easy to bend the shoe in half with my bare hands.

I did buy a pair of white sandals intended to replace them. They’re a pair of platform sandals I really enjoyed last summer. I wore them a little bit this summer, but found that they rub my foot uncomfortably on the side, and cause some heel pain. Perhaps I didn’t make the best decision to purchase them because they are made of synthetic, somewhat non-flexible material. So they were cheaper, but you definitely get what you pay for. This was an outfit, Sun angel, that I wore them in:

image 3: The same woman from other photos on this page, with longer hair, wearing an asymmetrical top, white skirt, and white sandals, and black sunglasses.
White sandals worn in January 2021, a year ago

I stopped liking the platform sole as well, and decided that although it was cool to begin with, I think it is a little chunky for my liking. I enjoy the colour, but it’s a little hard to find pure white sandals. So I decided to purchase a new pair in a tan colour, since the pair I used to own just worked so well with most of my clothes. I like the contrast of the white and tan, and the fact that the heel is a subtle wedge and not a block. I’ve found that sometimes block heel shoes can reduce my balance and I can misstep – having a flat sole just rules that out entirely.

I also didn’t love the height of the heel since it felt just a tiny bit too high. These ones, especially due to the wedge heel, make them feel less high, and visually look less like a “heel”.

image 4: The same woman in the same outfit as image 1. She is sitting on a wooden edge of a garden and has her ankles crossed and legs outstretched. She is wearing tan coloured sandals. She is holding a pair of sunglasses in one hand.
Enjoying my new tan sandals

I thought about it for a while, wondering if I should stick it out with these white ones, but it was too painful and I just don’t stand for uncomfortable shoes, so I purchased this pair when they were 30% off. They are incidentally called the Georgie sandal. What a perfect match. 😉 They are from the brand Easy Steps, an Australian brand that designs shoes for a comfort fit. I don’t have wide feet, but the average shoe can be quite tight on my toes, so the comfort fit really, really helps. I actually find these sandals just a hair loose, but they are still incredibly comfortable and soft to walk in.

Another small detail I like about this sandal is the strap that covers the toe. The front of it isn’t completely straight like a lot of sandals, and tapers a bit, which I think looks nicer on my small feet.

image 5: The same woman in the same outfit as image 1. She is standing on a boardwalk with her hands on her hips.
I like how this is a simple outfit but has nice details and fabrics and textures

Although I loved this blue top to death back in 2020 when I bought it second-hand, I have reached for it less this summer. But I think it’s still worth keeping and I think I just need to try and wear it again with other pieces of clothing to keep it fresh. I think the main reason I’ve reached for it less is because I don’t always love to tuck it in – I wear high-waisted bottoms a lot, so wearing crop tops makes it easier to get dressed. The other reason is that I don’t often wear a bra with some of my clothes, or I’ll wear a simple bralette, but with this top I want to wear nipple covers but I often just can’t be bothered doing that, so I reach for this less. 😂

I purchased the skirt somewhat recently – I have an affinity for checkered print. I have heard that apparently it was “trendy” and is now out of style. I laugh because I got my checkered shorts over a year ago and first shared them in Paper Doll, before I even renamed this series from Fashion Friday to Stylesheet. And I’ve worn them frequently throughout both winter and summer. They became a staple in my wardrobe because they were so much more than a pair of shorts, or a pair of solid colour shorts. The checkered print really suited what I was looking for in a “neutral pattern”, and with my neutral colours being black and white. And even though I’ve moved away from angular, sharp-patterned pieces, I find a checkered print sits on the more subtle side. So when I thought about this skirt, I had it in my mind that I was going to get rid of some of my existing skirts that don’t suit my style anymore. I was confident this one would be a winner and I’ve worn it a bunch of times since I bought it. You know it’s a sign when you want to wear a piece of clothing immediately and you’re not sitting there with any uncertainty.

image 6: The same woman in the same outfit as image 1. She has black sunglasses on top of her head, and is standing on a boardwalk. She is posed with her hands joined together.
Always wearing blue 💙

Something I particularly like about this skirt is the wrap detail. It’s not technically a wrap, just a feature, so I was a little worried that the body of the skirt would still not fit well around my big bottom and thighs. They actually fit well! I spotted a similar skirt on Sezane that was made of cotton rather than polyester, but I didn’t want to risk getting the sizing wrong, and then going through the trouble of returning it internationally, when I had this option that was shipping locally and would be easier to return. I’m happy with my purchase and love the way the skirt fits and looks! I prefer to tie the tie of the skirt in a single knot; I did try a bow but I didn’t like it as much.

I kept my hair sleek and straight because I sort of like to keep it that way right after I wash it. I usually curl or wave it the following day, or just later on. 💁🏻‍♀️ With my necklace, I just chose my silver edgy one that I bought last year. I hadn’t worn it in a while and I wanted to try something different to my usual herkimer diamond necklace. I also wore my bright blue watch band to match my top. I haven’t changed my watch band very much recently, but it’s nice to change it when I want to make a small improvement to an outfit.

image 7: A close-up of a woman’s hand on her hip. She is wearing a black and white checkered skirt. Her nails have pink and green plaid nail art, and one pink glitter nail. Her wrist has a couple of bracelets.
Plaid and check might be two different patterns, but they complement each other.

I didn’t intentionally match my nails to my outfit – as most of you may know, I just pick nail wraps that I like, or I choose colours that already automatically match with my outfits or wardrobe colours. I was a little nervous about the pink colours in the plaid pattern because I don’t like pink, but wearing it in small amounts doesn’t bother me too much. I had the glitter pink left over from a previous set of nail wraps and thought it matched well with the plaid ones.

I’m a little more keen to trying wearing the blue top different ways, now that I’ve realised I still like it and just need to try it in other combinations. Have worn it with jeans sometimes, but I might give that another go. It’s definitely a piece worth keeping and I’m glad I got it second-hand so I’ve definitely got my money’s worth now. 😊

Outfit details

Footnotes

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

I named this outfit In the summertime, referencing my other outfit In the springtime. 😅 I’m aware that this is also the name of a song from about fifteen years ago, which hasn’t aged exceptionally well, but that’s alright.

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