French girl style, our SNA challenge for May

Hello and welcome to our Style Not Age challenge which this month has been chosen by Gail - French Girl Style being her prompt. This wasn't something that easily came to mind, so I did a bit of online reseach and found two themes, ruffles and cowboy boots - this is my resulting look. Let's see how my fashionable friends tackled this one...

Gail's suggestion led her to showcase a typical gamine style of dressing - slim, boyish and elegant. She carries this off perfectly in her skinny jeans and masculine cut jacket. See more on her blog Is This Mutton. 

Elegant comes to mind again when I look at Hilda's French Style offering. Red and beige work well together in this chic look. See more from her in Over The Hilda blog.

Emma is certainly oozing that certain Oo-la-la here, don't you think? Her jacket is by Kooples, a French brand so that kicked things off well. The entire look does say Parisienne. See more on The Style Splash. 

Wide legged trousers and a fitted jacket say French girl style for Jacqui. Neutral shades echo that Parisienne elegance too! Read her back story on Mummabstylish.

My interpretation of French girl style is clearly not in the same vein as the others, but I'm never one to run with the pack am I? I'm delighted to have the opportunity to wear this ruffled delight again and pairing it with these white textured cowboy boots by Allsaints gives the whole look a stylish edge I think.

My cream jeans jacket is by Jack Wills which I've customised with a sprikling of brooches. I've added a neutral belt for definition and also the give a finished look - the leather belt was a charity shop find. Tonal rings are both old and the diamante crusted shark's tooth necklace is also old as are the Radley sunglasses.

The backdrop to my photoshoot is the beach path where I come off of Green Porth beach, my favourite swimming spot of late. It was the perfect corner to catch the evening sunshine and was quite private too which helps when one is posing in front of a camera on a tripod as one pulls various poses and facial expressions.

My final nod to French Girl Style is this bag by Christian Dior - Sasha passed it on to me, but I fancy it was from a foreign marketplace rather than the Champs-Elysees. I do hope you've enjoyed this month's challenge and maybe we've given you a dash of inspiration too!

Wishing you a fab week ahead!

Anna x

New jeans

Hello, and how are you today? Here's a weekend look from me this time. The jeans are a recent purchase and I won't even bother telling you from where... Anyway, I'm really happy with these as a fabulous addition to my wardrobe. I love anything funky and these really do fit the bill!

The fit is high waisted and baggy over the hips and thighs which makes them super comfy and easy to wear, perfect for the weekend when lounging around is top priority. 

The jeans boast every kind of embellishment; from diamante strands and hearts to rough patchwork, bleach splatters and everything in between. It's a retro look that has huge appeal to me. I've cinched the waistband with a bejewelled belt and accessorized with a diamante heart ring, a flower enamel ring and two rose gold bangles - none of them new.

The bright orange jeans jacket is by Forever 21, bought from Vinted, of course. It's a great little jacket that I'm sure will be very handy over the summer months.

One of my go-to pieces this year is a white ribbed bodysuit from Primark. I think I've got three of these, all exactly the same. The best thing about them is the cut around the rear - they don't ride up and are generously cut, almost like granny pants which stay put not matter what I get up to. A thonged bodysuit is my idea of torture!

My new pale aqua sandals with floral and diamante trim are also from Vinted, cost me £5 and were brand new - so an absolute bargain in other words! The insole is padded for comfort - a word I seem to use a lot at the moment.

The rectangular sunglasses are old, from Quay Australia. The gold coloured chain was a purchase from Accessorize last year - it's stainless steel and was advertised as being perfect for everyday wear for swimmers. I've not tested it out as I don't want to find it doesn't live up to the promise.

I was out watching the sunset from this vantage point just above Appletree Bay. We've had a mixed bag of weather recently ranging from scorching sunshine to thick fog with a sprinkling of showers too. I'm making an effort to get out after work and at the weekends to enjoy the lovely weather while it's here.

                                                                              Anna x

One suit, three ways

Hi there! Today's suit is yet another sewing accomplishment for me, not that I actually made it, merely did a fair bit of adjusting to get it to fit. The suit itself came via Vinted, and the the brand is Zara. I instantly fell in love with it and paid little attention to the fact that it wasn't my size - the jacket is a large and the trousers extra large - but that wasn't going to stop me.

When it arrived I discovered that the trousers were a good four inches too big in both the waist and hips. I took a clothes peg and cinched in the extra material at the back and could see how they would work, provided I could do a bit of fine tuning. I proceeded to remove the waistband and discovered that the boucle material was uber fragile and very quick to unravel - eek!

I must point out that the colour of it is more of a zesty lime colour but seems to be coming across as a yellow hue. Anyway, I took two inches out of the front seam of the trousers and then an inch off of each dart at the back. This left me with excess fabric in the waistband which I used to create a tab to accomodate a button hole. All of this did take three attempts I hasten to add, but perseverance is becoming my middle name where sewing is concerned.

Not sure if the colour shows up any better in this shot.

So to summarise the look: I've added a ribbed bodysuit (from Vinted) along with these rather fabulous Dr Marten boots in floral canvas (again from Vinted) with an orange stretch belt (from Amazon) and the flower ring (a gift from a friend) and the other is an Emily Nixon one, paired with a gold coloured chain from Vinted. These sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

So that's look one, the fun version I'd call it thanks to the boots.

The second version is more restrained, smarter I suppose. I'd bought these boots especially to wear with the suit and they're almost the very same colour. 

The frilled blouse had just arrived that day, a gift from my sister who bought it from a charity shop in Inverness. That frill surely had my name on it when she saw it in the window! The overall look is more formal (in my eyes) but may still be quite flamboyant for others. 

The belt (from Primark) and necklace (from Vinted) go very well together don't you think? I've worn my old favourite mirror sunglasses from Quay Australia this time.

The brand of the boots is ASOS and I just love the retro square toe design! 

And this is version number three, a more summery look thanks to the sandals. 

This graphic bodysuit was another Vinted purchase, bought with this look in mind. I do like the staying-put nature of a bodysuit meaning no need to keep tucking it in, although sometimes they do try to migrate up into one's nether regions if they're a tad on the small size.

This was Friday's work outfit, aka version number one and it did earn lots of compliments. The weight of the fabric means the suit hangs well and I do love the gilt coloured chunky buttons too - they just give it a style edge. The natural coloured belt is stretchy and came from Primark a couple of summer's ago, the sunglasses again are by Quay Australia.

These orange sandals were from ASOS last summer and even though they're ridiculously high I still adore them. They're what I class as pre-lunch wear as by post-lunch my feet have always swollen and complain at being pinched into anything as tight/high as these ones.

My final accessory of the day is my swish orange handbag by Oliver Bonas. I've used it almost every day since I bought it last September. I love the detachable inner pouch which I can swap into any other bag so easily - such a clever idea!

Do please leave a comment to let me know which is your favourite version. As for me, I love them all!

                                                                            Anna x

My new River Island summer duster coat

Hello! As promised, here's another of my sewing successes, this time a fabulous River Island lightweight summer coat that I bought on Vinted for £15. It arrived and despite saying a size 12 it was much too big generally and badly fitting most of all around the shoulders. I was so thrilled with the colour and fabric that I decided to set about fixing it. Well, I must admit that I had to enlist help of a local guy who, on retiring, took up sewing and now makes his own jeans and most of his clothes. Dave Inch has lived on Tresco since the 70's, working first of all in the New Inn and then moving on to become Propagator at the Abbey Garden, retiring some five years ago.

Over the course of four sessions, Dave and I worked away at solving the fitting issues of the coat. He pinned and advised and then left me to sew, regrouping the following Saturday morning when we'd review what I'd achieved and then puzzle over the next step. I took fabric out of the centre back seam to reduce the overall size of the coat, then we pinned the shoulders first to amend the outline and finally adjusted the sleeve seams where they joined the body. This took a month of gentle adjustments as each bit of sewing impacted on the overall shape. Without his guidance I couldn't have worked this out.

The final flourish was for me to create button holes where there weren't any before and then make fabric buttons to match. I'm delighted with the completed item. I'd just returned from the hairdressers when I took these photos (with Fiona's help) and was a bit like the cat who got the cream.

The rest of the outfit is a chiffon blouse (charity shopped), orange tights from Snag and the shorts are a recent purchase from Vinted.

 

Jewellery comprises of new rubber necklace (from Vinted) and rings, both pre-loved and sunglasses from Radley London.

The overall styling is one of exhuberance and excitement and on reflection, maybe not the best footwear as the coat would maybe benefit from higher heels to balance things out a bit better. The boots are from MOMA New York, created from recycled sari fabric and are an absolute joy to wear as they not only look fab but are super stylish and comfortable too. And hey, I'm delighted to have this coat as part of my summer wardrobe and you'll defintely see it again!

                                                                        Anna x