This was a bit exuberant for school pick-up but I hardly had time to think about it.
All I knew is I wanted to wear this Maxim skater skirt with its groovy pattern, high waist and twin zips at the front. I honed in on the Target strappy sandals then found this cropped, sequinned singlet, an op shop special that got its first outing today.
And here is the thing nobody tells you about sequins: they are not an evening fabric. We have just decided they are. Wear them the way you would wear any other texture and they behave themselves perfectly well at three in the afternoon outside a primary school.
Why the skater skirt does most of the work
A skater skirt is one of the kindest shapes in fashion and I will argue that with anyone.
It sits at the smallest part of your waist, then flares away from everything you would rather not have hugged. Hips, tummy, the bit at the top of your thighs. All of it is skimmed rather than gripped. You get shape without compression, which is a rare and beautiful combination.
The high waist is the whole trick. It cuts you at your narrowest point and hands the rest of your body a longer leg line for free. Drop that waistband even five centimetres lower and the same skirt starts working against you.
Two things I would say if you are buying one:
Watch the length. Just above the knee flatters almost everybody. Much shorter and you have to commit to the whole leg-out look, which is fine but is a decision, not a default.
Watch the weight of the fabric. A skater skirt in something limp will collapse instead of flaring, and then you have neither the shape nor the swing. This Maxim one has enough body in it to hold its own in the wind, which around here is not a small consideration.
Sequins in daylight, without looking like you are going out
The mistake with sequins is dressing them up to match. Sequinned top, sparkly shoe, glittery bag, and suddenly you look like you took a wrong turn on the way to a ball.
Do the opposite. Put the shine next to something completely matter-of-fact and let the contrast do the talking.
Here that means a cotton skater skirt in a busy print, and flat strappy sandals from Target that cost less than a decent lunch. Nothing else in the outfit is trying. The singlet gets to be the only thing in the room saying anything.
Other pairings that work on exactly the same principle:
- Sequins with denim. A sequinned top and jeans is the single most reliable day-sparkle outfit there is.
- Sequins under a plain knit, so only a strip of shine shows at the hem and neckline.
- Sequins with a leather jacket thrown over the top, which drags the whole thing straight back down to earth.
The rule underneath all of it: one thing shines, everything else stays quiet.
A cropped top is not only for flat stomachs
I know what some of you are thinking, because you tell me.
A cropped top with a high-waisted skirt is not the same garment as a cropped top with low-slung jeans. There is no gap. The waistband of the skirt comes up to meet the hem of the top, so what you actually get is the illusion of a crop, the proportions of one, without any skin showing at all.
That is why this combination turns up on women of every shape and age. It reads young and a bit playful, and covers you completely.
If you want to be extra sure of it, buy the top slightly longer than a true crop so there is a centimetre or two of overlap. Then you can lift your arms at school pick-up without conducting an audit.
Where the sequins actually came from
The op shop. Of course it was the op shop.
Sequinned pieces are one of the great op shop categories, and the reason is a bit sad and very useful: people buy something sparkly for one party, wear it once, and give it away in perfect condition. Which means the racks are full of barely-used sequins while everyone walks past looking for jeans.
When you are hunting them, check three things. Run your palm across the sequins to feel for gaps where they have come away. Turn the piece inside out and look at whether they are sewn or glued: sewn survives, glued does not. And check the lining, because a good sequinned piece is always lined and an unlined one will scratch you into taking it off within the hour.
That is genuinely it. A few seconds of checking is the difference between a $6 treasure and a $6 mistake.
(A note from 2026: the prices in this post are from 2013 and those exact pieces are long gone. The hunting method has not changed a bit.)
Why stick with one when you can have triple the fun
Mauve, diamante and silver, all stacked together.
Bangles are where I break my own quiet-everything-else rule, and I am at peace with it. A stack works because it reads as one accessory rather than three. Your eye takes in the whole wrist at once. One lonely bangle looks like you forgot the rest.
Mix your metals and mix your textures. The matched set is the thing that ages an outfit, not the mixing.
Three ways I would restyle this today
Because a good skirt should not get one outing a year.
For work. Same skater skirt, swap the sequins for a plain shell top and add a blazer. The skirt stops being a party piece the moment the top above it goes quiet.
For winter. Opaque tights, ankle boots, and a chunky knit tucked in at the front only. The high waist survives being covered, as long as you tuck.
For an actual night out. Keep the sequins, lose the flat sandals, and add a heel. That is the whole change. The outfit was always a night outfit wearing sensible shoes.
If working out those swaps for your own wardrobe is the part you find hard, that is precisely what a personal styling session is for, building outfits from what is already hanging there before anyone spends a cent.
Feet are up on the recliner now and I am about to rub in some Scholl Eulactol Heel Balm Gold. This stuff is amazing. It has made my parched, cracked summer heels baby soft. It cost less than $15 for the small tube back then and it seriously works. Rub it in, pull on cotton socks for a while, give it a week and you will see seriously great results.
I can hardly believe how much I packed in today, cooked Jules Oliver’s spaghetti recipe, which has no less than seven vegetables in it; baked a chocolate, caramel and nut slice for tomorrow; cleaned the house, two loads of washing; picked up a clothes rack at the shops; and went for a walk and run. It was so humid sweat just poured off me. Yes, lovely I know!
And now you’re Looking Good Girls!
“But whoever listens to me will live securely and be free from the fear of danger.” Proverbs 1:33.