How to Style a Pink Buba With a Mini Skirt: Alex Unusual’s Loving Itohan Look

Alex Unusual’s gold grillz, crystal floral choker, and cherub-accented sunglasses.

Who says a buba has to be paired with a wrapper? Nigerian actress, media personality, and reality television star Asogwa Alexandra A—popularly known as Alex Unusual—is giving us another way to wear the traditional Yoruba top, and her look for the premiere of Loving Itohan makes a strong case for pairing it with a mini skirt.

The actress chose a bright fuchsia satin buba with wide half-sleeves, styling it with a fitted mini skirt made from emerald-green and magenta floral brocade damask. It’s an interesting way to rethink the familiar iro and bubacombination: keep the traditional top, swap the wrapper for a shorter skirt, and let the difference in fabric and colour give the outfit its character.

The smooth finish of the pink satin against the patterned damask also shows how to wear two statement fabrics without making them compete. The trick is to give each piece a clear role, with the pink buba providing a bold block of colour and the brocade bringing in pattern and texture.

Alex Unusual puts a modern spin on the Yoruba iro and buba with a satin top and brocade mini skirt.

The mini skirt also gives the outfit a contemporary take on the Oleku silhouette, which traditionally pairs a loose or fitted buba with a wrapper tied above the knee. Alex’s version plays with that familiar proportion, using a fitted damask skirt in place of the wrapper. If you are wondering how to wear a buba and mini skirt without the proportions feeling off, the secret is balancing volume with structure. Because a traditional buba comes with a relaxed cut and wide sleeves, tucking it cleanly into a fitted, high-waisted mini skirt defines the waist and keeps the silhouette neat rather than boxy. Mixing textures intentionally helps too—pairing a plain silk, satin, or AsoOke top with a patterned damask, jacquard, or beaded mini skirt lets both pieces complement each other rather than clash.

Alex Unusual in her contemporary Yoruba buba and mini skirt outfit for the Loving Itohan premiere.

She carried the damask into her gele, which was wrapped high into voluminous, sculptural folds. An oversized gold lip-shaped brooch secured one side, adding another detail to the headpiece. Using the same fabric for the skirt and gele also helped bring the different parts of the outfit together, while keeping the pink buba at the centre of the colour story. It’s a styling idea worth borrowing if you’re working with patterned damask and want your accessories to feel connected to the rest of your outfit.

Alex Unusual pairs her damask gele with cherub-detailed sunglasses, layered gold jewellery, and custom grillz.

Alex’s jewellery and accessories added even more detail. She layered a crystal floral choker with a long gold lariat necklace featuring a stirrup-style drop, then added chunky gold cuff bangles on both wrists and sculptural gold rings. Custom gold grillz gave the traditional-inspired outfit a more personal touch, while narrow, rectangular gold-rimmed sunglasses with miniature cherubs along the top bar introduced a retro detail. She finished with a metallic gold crescent-shaped clutch and hot-pink ankle-strap platform heels, the latter picking up the colour of her buba.

Alex Unusual’s gold grillz, crystal floral choker, and cherub-accented sunglasses.

For anyone styling a pink buba, Alex’s choice of accessories offers another useful idea: bring in a second colour from the outfit through your shoes or bag, then use metallic jewellery to tie everything together. She kept her beauty look relatively understated, with defined brows, soft neutral eyeshadow, a hint of emerald liner, and glossy nude lips. Long, neutral-toned nails completed the look.

lex Unusual shows off the back tailoring of her fuchsia buba, damask mini skirt, and sculptural gele.

Alex Unusual in a pink satin buba, brocade damask mini skirt, and matching gele for the Loving Itohan premiere.