Style Not Age does Comfy Casuals



Welcome to our monthly Style Challenge!

Thank you for joining us for our end-of-month challenge, this time being that of Comfy Casuals which is very pertinent under the current circumstances. Jacqui chose the theme this month and it really couldn't be more relevant as the majority of us are housebound and therefore are spending our days in comfy clothes. I'm sure that when we exit lock-down from the Covid-19 crisis, one of the most noticeable things for us all will be the effort we make in our appearance once our normal routine comes back. I, for one, can't wait to get back to my daily dilemma of what to wear - what a lovely problem that will be again!




Jacqui starts us off with her comfy chiffon camo top with elasticated waistband paired with 3/4 length chinos. See her backstory on her blog Mummabstylish.




Gail from Is This Mutton blog is looking very sporty in her casual gear. I love those leggings and reckon they'd be pretty inspiring to get you up and at 'em!




Hilda is looking quite sparkly in her diamante bows sweater and neat checked trousers. Do catch up with her take on comfy casuals on her blog Over The Hilda




Emma of Style Splash mixes comfort with style here. Sparkly Peter Pan collar and metallic espadrilles are a lovely counterpoint to her utility trousers. 




This is a great easy to wear outfit and fulfills my requirements for comfy casuals: I like to feel comfy, but also want to have a splash of colour to help buoy up my mood. Everything here is relatively new (bought within the past 6 months), but hadn't made it to the blog as yet. The entire outfit came from TK Maxx (sobbing quietly as even their online store is closed). 




I particularly love these trousers for lounging about due to the elasticated waistband and voluminous shape. These also wouldn't look out of place on some exotic holiday would they?




Steve and I walked to the bird hide along Pool Road for our photo shoot, but again were prey to the mixed light that kept changing and making our shots a bit challenging.




Minimal jewellery today, just this ethnic necklace (charity shopped) and a ring from a girlfriend.




This was the first outing for these funky Converse boots. Soooooo comfy!





 Sunglasses by Radley.




The mustard jacket was also from TK Maxx last year and I'm very pleased to showcase this Orla Keily bag that I was given as a Christmas present from my dear friend Bo. We share a love for the colourful designs of this iconic brand. Cheers Bo!


I hope you've enjoyed this month's challenge and maybe been inspired too for your stay-at-home outfits? Please make a note in your diary that I'll be back at the end of the week with my latest ensemble for Dressing Up Friday. See you then!

                                                                                        Anna x

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Dressing up Friday


Hurrah for Friday!

Thanks for joining me for my first #dressingupfriday. Recently I've noticed some other bloggers and Instagram friends making an effort to dress up on Fridays and thought it might be fun to join in. As my husband has said before, "My wife will get dressed up for the opening of an envelope". Indeed that's about as much excitement that's happening in my life (and probably yours) at the moment. 




We took these shots last weekend, but the weather was cloudy with milky skies and ever changing light. No two photos had the same tones, but we just had to make the most it. The most important thing was surely the punchy colours and over-the-top frills that lifted this outfit out of the ordinary. The chiffon blouse is vintage, the skirt second-hand (it was a ridiculous bargain at £3) and the bubblegum pink sock boots are from H&M. I've worn all of this before, but not together which makes me wonder why as I love this colourful combination. The glittery waistband of the skirt could be mistaken for a belt but is actually just a stretch waistband.




I suppose I could have called this post "All dressed up with no-where to go" which I'm sure would resonate with many of you at the moment. I fancy that we're all tiring of lolling around in our joggers/PJ's as we sink further down that rabbit's hole known at Netflix. I've succumbed to that trance-like existence some days, but am fighting back now. Indeed, my next door neighbour Kate wowed us all last night when she turned up in her posh pink frock and zingy orange shoes to take part in the weekly clapping for carers. I clearly missed a trick there and also didn't have my camera to hand to capture her deliciousness! 




I'm pleased to report that today's to-do list is almost done: daily exercise, hand washing - all the way to the bottom of the laundry bin, hand sewing repairs x 3, hanging a photo montage with dodgy fixings, blog work and finally some hoovering meaning I'll be finished in time for dinner, hurrah!




My jewellery is a mixture of pre-loved and pieces that were gifts from friends.




My son bought these boots for my Christmas a couple of years ago and I've worn them regularly ever since. The trend for sock boots may well be over, but that makes no difference to me.




The gold coloured chain was another present as were the Radley sunglasses.




I'll be back on Monday with the monthly feature from our Style Not Age Collective so do please pop back to see what we've all been up to. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a lovely shot taken from just outside my house the other evening. Another moment when I stopped to count my blessings.




Stay safe everyone and take care!

Anna x

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Jumpsuit joy!


Hello and welcome!

Since I did my wardrobe overhaul last week I've been able to find a lot of inspiration in my closet, the first being this combination of gingham dungarees and sheer spotty sleeved top. I bought the dungarees last summer from Topshop and they were a mainstay both at work and play last year. I'm delighted to bring them out again, this time with a top that I bought in February from TK Maxx (the brand is Wild Flower). I bought a black version of this too and will showcase that in due course.






Steve and I headed along the beach to Saffron Cove on Sunday afternoon during the last of the sunshine. It was a glorious end to the day. We took our time, wandering through the high tideline looking for treasure as we enjoyed the view. I've always got my eye out for sea glass and found a few colourful pieces to add to my collection.






Simple pleasures.




Back to the jumpsuit. I changed the buttons as I so often do. The previous ones were a nondescript, brownish colour which didn't work so well. I'm a hoarder of buttons and tend to remove any good ones before I get rid of old clothing that's on its way to the bin. I have a button jar, but have just recently found a wooden box while spring cleaning that I'm going to recycle to make it my button box, just like my gran used to have. 




I particularly like the big, oversized puff sleeves of this top. The body of it is a ribbed sweater with these fabulous chiffon sleeves acting as a wonderful contrast. Next time I'll be trying to dress this up with my off-white smart trousers and perhaps some silver or gold sandals.




Rings are both pre-loved,




... sunglasses are by Quay Australia,




... and trainers are by Puma.












We walked back along Farm Beach collecting more sea glass on the way. Many of you are visitors to Tresco and may appreciate this backdrop of New Grimsby harbour. Hopefully things will return to normal soon and we'll be able to welcome you to our island again. In the meantime, take care, keep safe and stay home.

                                                                             Anna x

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Ecru boilersuit from Tu


Happy Friyay!

Friday/Friyay, whichever, I'm still happy to be on the cusp of the weekend. Even though I'm furloughed, I do love to have that Friday feeling where the weekday pressure is off. My weekdays are proving to be much more challenging than I expected. I thought I'd be bouncing out of bed at 5am, galloping off to the beach and then swirling around the house like a hyman tornado, spring-cleaning every nook and cranny before lunch. And yet, it's not like that at all. My sleep is disturbed and my very early mornings often result in a mid-morning slump. I'm trying to avoid the news as it's my main source of stress, but I'm like a kid with a scab on its knee who just can't help going back to it. But, from what I can gather, I'm not alone with this lack of productivity. The simple truth is, we're not quite sure how to deal with these most extraordinary times, are we?




But, one thing that's well within my limits is dressing up! I saw the TV advert for Tu Clothing in March and immediately fell for the charms of this ecru boilersuit. The colour, the elasticated waist, the cut, the fit - all are perfect for my colouring and shape. I seem to be having a bit of a moment with cream denim of late, but that's no biggie is it? I can happily report that the boilersuit is still available online here. At £35 I consider this to be value for money as well as being practical and stylish. Ideal for simply lounging around indoors or for striding out for the daily walk, it really is a great buy.




I opted to add orange as a feature colour to the ecru (mainly because I thought Steve would pass a comment about me looking ready to do a bit of painting and decorating). 




The orange resin necklace is ancient, the orange leather belt and across the body bag are charity shopped as are the rings. The sunglasses are by Quay Australia.




The orange embroidered trainers are by Replay from TK Maxx. Comfortable and very in keeping with today's easy-to-wear look.




I'm very happy to report that I've at last finished my clothes changeover. It took longer than usual, but I've done a fair bit of downsizing and reducing the actual volume of clothes I have available for spring/summer season. 




This year I've chosen to colour co-ordinate the pieces rather than group them into dresses, skirts etc. The shoes underneath reflect the colours above.




I have under-the-bed boxes and on-top-of-the wardrobe boxes housing summer shoes and sandals too. Winter shoes and boots are packed up under the bed too.




The run of colours goes from light to dark. The smaller shelves are home to handbags and scarves. (Not colour grouped I've just noticed.)  A lot of the handbags have smaller ones stashed inside each other.




On the far right are my jackets, tops and trousers, and casual footwear.






Jumpers and jeans are housed on the far right shelving system. The whole run of wardrobes is fronted with mirrors allowing plenty opportunity for self criticism. There's a whole load of angst goes on up here before you guys get to see the outfit of the day!

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

                                                                                       Anna x

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Easter chick


Happy Easter!

Dear readers, I hope you're having a happy Easter - well as happy as it can be under the circumstances. Steve and I stepped outside our house yesterday to capture these shots of my take on being your Easter chick (forever tongue in cheek, that's me!). As you can see, it was a beautiful sunny, hazy day. 




In the midst of this, our local Church Warden, Rachel came along with some palm fronds on her way to decorating the outside of St Nicholas Church. Rachel was also working alongside the Easter bunny, helping to scatter some chocolate eggs around the churchyard for the island's children. 




And not to be outdone, our local delivery driver turned up keen to photobomb our session - Hi Barek!




I've been busy this week doing my clothes changeover, dragging bags and suitcases out from under the beds to bring my spring and summer clothes out again. The remit this time has been a bit different as I'm not actually at work, therefore lots of my clothes are redundant at the moment - particularly my opening night party clothes are still unpacked for the moment. 




Yesterday was supposed to be the first exhibition of the year, our Easter Show, at the gallery and this was the outfit I would have been wearing during the day for our first phase of the meet and greet. The trouser suit is by JD Williams, one of my favourite buys from them last year. I love wearing it, love the sunny colour and the instant togetherness of wearing a trouser suit. The trousers may be a tad snug, but they do have a bit of stretch which does help. I've linked through to a similar suit on their website currently, modeled by the gorgeous Andrea who I worked with during my stint with the brand. Happy days!




I styled the suit with these New Look kitten heel boots for a bit of a retro look. I bought them a couple of years ago and they've been so useful, lending a real statement to any outfit. The white ruffle shirt was from TK Maxx. I've added a stretch belt which was a charity shop piece. 




Bangles, rings and necklace are all pre-loved and much loved by me too.




These long time favourite sunglasses are by Quay Australia - note they reflect my reluctant photographer. Poor Steve, has ended up being my one and only photographer by default currently! 




He may be reluctant, but he still does a very good job. Thank you darling!




This is the view from my washing line and it's often remarked that I have the best vista ever for such a mundane chore - I have to agree.






Thanks for joining me again today. I hope you're all having a chocolate-fest kind of a day and that the sun shines on you during your exercise break! And in the words of the great Crosby, Stills and Nash - "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with..."

                                                                           Anna x

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