My 60's style

Hi there! Are you well? Hope you're doing fine. All's good here, busy of course, now that it's July, but that's as it should be. This was yesterday's work outfit, homage to the 60's, first seen here on my birthday. Bright colours and psychedelic prints were popular in the 60's just in time for me to find my first influences. I cut my fashion teeth on Mary Quant and Pan's People as I grappled with mini skirts, flares, skinny rib tops and fringed waistcoats in suede.  

 

I love the soft pastel shades of this two piece (from Asos). I've added a simple white vest top and pink stretch belt to the outfit plus my pink and orange cowboy boots to give the look a bit of an edge. See the boots here.

White sunglasses are the ultimate accessory for this 60's look - these are a charity shop find, for the bargain basement price of £3. I remember saving up my pocket money to buy the perfect pair of sunglasses in my early teens, mine had orange frames and I thought I looked fab wearing them.

Steve and I had just returned from a drinks do and so I cashed in on the fact that he was a bit tipsy and asked him to take my blog photos. I plonked myself on our front wall and he clicked away, regardless of whether I was actually in the shot or not! Luckily he captured me a few times.

Necklace is from Zara, this season and rings are both old.

Looking back at my birthday shots you may notice that my hair was a bit shorter. I've decided to let it grow this summer although am still having it trimmed to try to maintain some sort of style. I thought I'd try something longer for a change. What do you think? The wind did make it look a bit scruffy didn't it?

                                                                                Anna x

My 60's vibe

Hello again! 

I'm writing this as the National Anthem plays on the TV and my ever hopeful husband sits transfixed as The Football Match of the Year (The Euro Cup Final) commences. Will England bring it home? I do wish them the best of luck for this historical game. Oh heck, they've scored! A goal within the first two minutes!!!!!

Anyway, here we go with the outfit of the moment. I wore this to work one day this week and honestly have no idea what day that was. Early starts in joggers and jumper at 5am are followed by breakfast at nine and a quick change of clothes ready for serving the customers. The days are passing in a blur of hello's, lovely to see you again's and yes, of course I can ship that you to. I love this time of year when the culmination of my artists efforts are rewarded by brisk turnarounds, sometimes with a painting only on the wall for half a day before it sells. 

Last week was a bumper week for quite a few of my best selling artists which makes me so happy that we're getting it right. The best art for our clientele at this time of year is something I've been fine tuning for years and this summer is looking like another winner for us all. So far the women are selling well; Marie Mills, Lizzie Black and Amanda Hoskin have all had a great week, selling over a dozen paintings between them. See the entire line up on offer at Gallery Tresco here. 

As I was saying, this was an outfit of the day last week. The 60's ensemble was created around this wonderful vintage top by Diane Freis in polyester georgette. The bold print is typical of this designer who embraced colour and pattern through all of her ranges. I picked up this top a few years ago in a charity shop and this is the first time I've actually worn it. Unable to bypass a bargain (this was only £2.50) I knew that it would be a useful addition to my wardrobe at some stage.

Teaming the psychedelic blouson top with straight yellow chino's (again charity shopped) and white kitten heel boots (New Look) completes that 60's vibe.  The look is fun and funky and makes me feel good, which is surely what it's all about, eh? I can pin down the day to when one of my readers, Tessa, popped into the gallery to say hello. It's a rare treat to have the chance to meet up with my followers and she enjoyed a day on the island, finishing with an appointment to visit the gallery. We had a speed catch up about all manner of things which was lovely. She scooted off to catch her boat without much time to spare, so much so, that her husband rang to tell her to hurry up in case it left without her! On the mainland another bus would follow in due course, but here if you miss the last boat there won't be another until the next day.

I added persex rings and a 60's plastic and metal geometric necklace to compliment the look, along with these fabulous yellow sunglasses by Quay Australia.

Being time challenged at the moment, today's photo shoot was located in my back garden which will look much more pretty when the Agapanthus burst into bloom. I decided to ignore the glimpses of phone lines and Sky dish that festoon our back door. Within the next week these flowers will be looking at their best so I'll revisit this again to show you. Thanks so much for dropping by. I'll be back soon!

Wishing you a fab week!

Anna x

Rocking 60's fashion in my 60's

What a glorious day we had here on Tresco yesterday! Hurrah for the signs of spring too. These daffodils have been greeting me as I cycle to and from Appletree Bay for my daily swims and what a wonderfully joyful sight they are.

It's cause for celebration for me today as it's exactly 12 months since I bought my last item of clothing. My year of not buying clothes or shoes, bags or accessories, be they new or pre-loved, is over! Ta-dah! I know that for many of you this may be pretty much a reflection of the current restrictions and how you're responding too, but last summer when lock-down finished and the shops were back trading I felt a terrific draw to have a retail splurge. But hey, I didn't and to my doubting sister-in-law I hope she is duly proud of my restraint.

I had a good old rummage to find something to party in and came up with this homage to the 60's. The vintage psychedelic top is not dis-similar to one I had at the end of the 60's. It's a charity shop find, but goodness knows when or where I bought it. Oh to be organised and keep a record of these things!

The orange satin disco pants are from the Conscious Collection by H&M from ages ago. And the groovy white boots are from New Look and were a ridiculous £5 in their sale a couple of years past.

The Lulu Guiness Union Jack purse was an amazing thrift shop purchase one time I was shopping in Harrogate. I love the fact that it opens up and converts to a shopper. That said, I daren't use it for shopping as I cherish it too much! I have a big collection of colourful plastic rings that are great 60's jewellery. My round framed sunglasses are from River Island and the two tone metallic necklace was a boutique purchase.

I popped out during Sunday lunchtime to take these shots, convinced that it would be a quiet time to set up my tripod in the middle of the road... In the space of the first 5 minutes, I had encountered two golf buggies (3 passengers, 2 dogs), 4 joggers, a young couple having a romantic stroll and the local Church Warden. So much for a peaceful session! But hey, you can't really blame them as it was such a beautiful day! We're due for another dose of wild winds and wet weather soon so it was probably a good idea to top up on our vitamin D while we could. 

Hope you have a lovely week!

Anna x

That 60's vibe

Increasingly I seem to be drawn to the fashions of the 60's. I'm beginning to wonder if this is because that was the decade I was cutting my fashion teeth on as a girl. Do you have a penchant for the trends of your youth? Perhaps you do, but maybe you put up a bit more of a struggle than I do!

Today's look is strong and funky which is good enough for me. You may have seen the boots from my previous post when I'd hit the sales in Truro big time. The boots were a consolation prize for me. I'd missed buying a pair of white leather boots in the January sale at Topshop and have been hankering after something similar for weeks. 

I'm breaking fashion ground here as personally I really don't like white boots. I think they (and all white shoes) were classed at tarty by my mother when I was a young girl and that prejudice had remained with me for many, many years until just recently when I bought some white summer sandals. Maybe they opened the floodgates and are responsible for these kitten heeled boots from New Look. I would have preferred them to be leather, but I suppose you can't expect that for £7, can you?

So, last weekend I also did a tad of charity shopping and this skirt was one of my favourite finds. There's a new charity shop opened in Truro for the Cornwall Air Ambulance - a lifeline for the islands too, so I decided to pay it a visit. The shop is well laid out and seems to have quite a lot of new clothes with labels still attached. This skirt and a blue and black version were both brand new from Marks and Spencer. I paid £10 for it and don't begrudge that amount for this local cause. We never know if ones nearest and dearest may need the services of the Air Ambulance one day.

The skirt is a lovely fit, hip skimming and tummy smoothing, but best of all is the flap at the front, fully lined and sewn down to spare ones blushes. I also like the two pattern effect of the hounds tooth print. Sometimes M&S manage to surprise me with their designs. I would never have guessed the brand by just looking at it.

My black and white sunglasses by Quay Australia came into their own with this outfit - always a nice feeling when these things happen. The necklace was a purchase from a Truro shop last year, but not a charity one (I forget the name, sorry) and the rings are both old, real silver and from different shops, but again not charity ones. The polo neck sweater was however, a pre-loved purchase, new with labels on and chosen for these gilt buttons at the cuffs - adding a touch of class I think.

Our weather had improved this morning compared to the gales of late. Polly and I are having to be a bit more creative as to where to take our morning photos and if you look behind me you'll see why.

Yes, the entire frontage of the gallery is decked out in scaffolding in preparation for the builders to descend on us soon. The gallery roof has been leaking for some time now and at last we are having some work done. It does mean that Polly and I will be scouting around the area nearby to capture the outfit of the day. 

As Monday is the last one of the month, that heralds our Style Not Age challenge, so please do come back to see what we're all showcasing for you. I've found this one to be a bit of a difficult one, due to the lack of specifics - sometimes the abstract can just flummox me! Anyway, I've plumped for something bright, that's all I'm saying. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Anna x