Lovely Leather our SNA challenge for February

Hello and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge for February, chosen by Hilda this month, and the theme is Lovely Leather. Apologies for my poor submission, but life has been stacked against me this month and I didn't manage to get my chosen outfit photographed. So here's my new Laidback London leather boots as a poor offering. But let's move swiftly along to see what the ladies of the style collective have for us...

Jacqui is showcasing her faux leather trousers from Tu in this season's favourite mocha shade. Her leopard print trench is imitation suede and is a great finishing touch to the look. See the full details on her blog Mummabstylish. 

Hilda's fabulous full length leather coat is a dream in cream! I too had planned to feature a long leather coat and, like hers, mine was a charity shop find. Do swing by her blog to read more about this beautiful coat on Over The Hilda blog. 

Emma's sporting faux leather culottes with knee high boots and a fabulous orange coat for this challenge. Like me she's not entirely happy with the outcome, but hey, you can but try eh? Read her backstory on her blog Style Splash here. 

My sheepskin lined leather boots are from Laidback London, a purchase earlier on this winter when I was having pain on the top of my foot and couldn't find anything to make me comfortable all day long. They're called the Setsu Crochet boot (see them here) and are available in lots of different colours. The brand has a 40% sale on currently so it might be worth a look.

These photos are from a visit to Hell Bay Hotel in January when I was involved in stocktaking all of the art collection. The weather wasn't the best, but I felt my new boots were worth capturing. The sweater was from Vinted and black jeans and socks were from Primark.

Nothing new with these sparkly rings - both are charity shopped from years ago.

I'm not sure if this has been our best style challenge but as Emma has said, it's good to experiment even if it doesn't always work out! Please do drop by again next week and I'll be giving it another try.

                                                                    Anna x

Are you a lemonader?

Hello there! I'm so happy to report that the veil of depression has lifted and it's business here as usual. I'd forgotten how quickly I sink into despair with any (small) physical setback. It only took some kind words of encouragement to remind me who I really am - a strong willed, capable and resiliant woman - and I was on the way back up. My sister Sandra sent me this link from Saturday's Guardian about Lemonading. What particularly struck a chord with me was this; (Lemonaders) infuse quality and enjoyment into everyday experience. This does indeed summarise my aim in life and could be my mission statement.

Another reminder of who I am came from a friend who prompted me to go back through my Instagram feed as if it were someone else. She pointed out that the images are not just of my outfits but of my joy at living where I do and squeezing as much happiness out of the everyday as possible, joy which others might overlook. The view across a bay, although familiar, is still a source of absolute delight for me. I can find pleasure in the smallest of things from a tiny shell found on the shoreline to the first page of a new book which holds such promise. Gratitude is an eveyday ritual, to be repeated often as these pleasures arise.

And so, on to the outfit. The sun shone sharply on Saturday, shaming me into getting out of my pit of despair and wallowing in the mini drama I was inhabiting and to look beyond the comfort of the sofa. I needed to shower and find some joy in colourful clothes. This is what I came up with - a bright medley of soft shades of pink, purple and coral with a dollop of turquoise to finish it all off. You'll laugh at the fact that I opted to walk to my intended photo site wearing this gold jacket as I believed it to be low key compared to the feather jacket thrust inside my tote bag.

The feather jacket was from Vinted last year, costing £5 - ridiculous but true! The jeans are from Primark, blouse and waistcoat are both from Vinted, as are the fabulous patent boots.

The cotton waistcoat is by Erika Classics Clothing in case you wanted to search for it. I've got a penchant for patterns of all sorts currently and this one ticks all the right boxes for me. I have a pair of pink trousers that will work really well with this as the weather heats up.

Simple accessories this week - sunglasses (old) from Radley London and my new ring by Emily Nixon along with silver and gold band (it says In Heaven On Earth) by Diana Porter.

This was colour therapy at work here, that's for sure. I'd moped around in grey old joggers and a brown wooly jumper for over a week so it was almost transformational to not only get outside again, but to feel bright and confident in gorgeous colours and textures. Of course, we all have times when illness and/or depression take us over, but that light at the end of the tunnel has to be pursued when it shows itself. I'm so grateful to be on the mend and to have had loving support at a time when I needed it.

                                                                        Anna x

Hello again!

Hello and thank you for coming back to see me! I've been awol for a little while. In my last post I mentioned that I was going off to the mainland but didn't tell you that I was having some minor surgery to remove two skin cancers on my back. The upshot is that I was allergic to the sutures which in turn created an infection. Once home and despite having had the stitches removed the infection raged leaving me feel quite poorly and just to add insult to injury the wound burst open leaving a nasty crater in the site. I'm waiting for some new medication to treat the wound and am on strict instructions to rest. Anyway, here I am and just wanted to say hello.

This was my birthday outfit and it truly was a case of all dressed up and nowhere to go! A day after my op and I was simply happy to be at home. The fur coat isn't new, but is still a big favourite of mine. We've had some very cold weather here on the islands this winter so I've not looked too out of place wearing my various fur coats. The oatmeal coloured cardigan (note how I've swerved the colour beige there) was from F&F at Tesco while I was away. It has matching trousers too which I also bought and is from their loungewear range. Underneath the cardi is a cream lace bodysuit that I found on Vinted and I added these faux leather leggings (from TK Maxx) with my gold leather boots (Topshop) for this rock chick vibe.

For those of you who visit Tresco I just wanted to share my joyful discovery of this little nook that offers such a lovely backdrop. The crab chairs on the lawn (near the Ruin Beach Cafe) have a low wooden table which works perfectly for my camera on its stand.

I added this old pearl necklace and Radley sunglasses to complete the theme of lace, leather, fur and pearls. 

Excuse me for this cat who's got the cream shot, but I'm flashing my new ring, bought by my lovely husband to mark not just this birthday, but the many others that have been missed by him over the years. The man came good this time, sending me off to Emily Nixon's Studio in Cornwall to have a trying on session with some gemstone rings resulting in this beauty being my 'many birthdays ring'. See more of these fabulous rings here. 

So that pretty much winds things up from me here. I'm signed off work currently so am not sure if I'll have any new outfits to show you soon, but in the meantime - look after yourself!

                                                                    Anna x