Jazzing up January

If you're a regular reader of mine then you'll know that January is one of my least favourite months of the year. It's not so much the post-Christmas/New Year slump, more that the grey and cold weather tends to get me down. But hey, cold weather is a green light for bringing out a fur coat again, so here we go -

The orange fake fur is quite old now, was from TK Maxx and yet is still a firm favourite of mine. The scarf was a Christmas present and is beautifully soft, also big enough to act as a shawl when required. I have, in fact, reached the stage in my life when I'll happily go to bed early simply to have more time with my book of the moment which also means I enjoy draping a cosy shawl around my shoulders as I sit up to read. Plonk a frilly bonnet on my head and I'd probably look like an ancient grandma, but hey, since when did I care!

Orange and yellow certainly pepped up my working outfit the other day, although not many people saw it as I was working alone. This does support my ethos of dressing up for myself, not to please others. 

Preloved orange perspex rings are my only concession to jewellery that day and my sunglasses from Radley London are quite old now too.

My sweater is by Heyton, a brand-new-with-the-labels-on purchase from Vinted in the run up to Christmas. I'm having a rather intense love affair with fairisle patterns on sweaters and waistcoats currently. I bought a rather fab one from M&S last month but it's probably not going to appear on the blog for two reasons - the first being that it's brown and second because it fits so well and is so blooming cosy that I've worn it to the bobbling stage already. 

The corduroy skirt was a charity shop find in December, but has no label. My rather fabulous Argyll tights are very, very old but seemed to be the perfect ploy for this outfit. My orange leather boots aren't new, the brand is River Island and yet they too work very well with the look.

A final word or two before I sign off. I spent this morning thinking it was Tuesday, but it is in fact Wednesday - but not just any Wednesday, it's Wednesday the 15th of January which just so happens to be my daughter's birthday. Shame on me - one of the locals whizzed past me on his bike at lunchtime and called out to ask it it was Sash's birthday today. No, said I with confidence, it's her birthday tomorrow, Wednesday. It is Wednesday he replied, stiffling a laugh as he continued home for lunch. I could blame it on my working alone, or that I've already sent her money or that she's off-island at the moment, but honestly I'm simply a failure of a mother!

                                                                Anna x

Another big round up

Happy New Year to you! I do hope you've had a great time over the festive period. I certainly have! We had lots of family time together, time to relax and chill out and eat some of our favourite Christmas meals. I dodged in to work for a couple of days during the Christmas and New Year weeks which was very civilised and allowed me plently opportunity to veg out.

This was my Hogmanay outfit, a great mix of old and new pieces. The jacket is by Michael Kors and is quite old now, but still rather fabulous, don't you think? My kilt (£4.50) was a recent charity shop find in Penzance when I was there in December - it's a vintage M&S buy when they were know as the St Michael brand. 

The tartan boots are also from M&S but not quite vintage. I love how they work so well together. 

I'm wearing my green orb pendant by Vivienne Westwood along with two preloved rings. 

I worked on New Year's Eve so went halfway with my dressing up. The green faux fur coat is old, seen many times on the blog before. 

My grey woollen sweater with pearls was a Vinted find recently and perfect for his semi-party look. The sequin trousers are the same ones that I wore when I went to the ABBA Voyage event in London over a year ago - see the post on that trip here. 

The diamante Scottie dog brooch is a charity shop piece as are both of my rings. 

For the evening out at our local pub I wore my mermaid coat. I had two options and this was the first...

The Iris tulle skirt is by Eleven Loves - it's not new but they still sell this style but not in this colourway - see here for the olive green version. The sequinned bodysuit has languished in my wardrobe for ages now and at last had an airing. The pearl heart necklace was a present from my sister Dianne.

And this was option two, the one I actually wore. It was sequin overload, I know, but I did love it! The coat was from Topshop, the top is from Zara (through Vinted) and the trousers from Shein. My silver boots are by Buffalo.

I went out with my son that evening as both Steve and my daughter were full of the cold. I think it's inevitable at this time of year, but still rather annoying to be ill over the festive season. I met up with my sister-in-law and her family where we danced and drank until midnight. It was a lovely evening. So here we are in 2025 now and I do hope that we can all look forward to a good year with peaceful times, happy times too with family and friends.

                                                                        Anna x