My new spring coat by Masai

Hello and sorry for posting so late this week, but it's been a bit of a hectic one! I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say that I'm like the proverbial swan, appearing to glide along effortlessly while in fact there's a whole lot of paddling away underneath the surface. Anyway, I was really keen to share this rather wonderful new (to me) spring coat by Masai, a brand I've not come across until now. Well, I say now, when in fact I found this beautiful coat in a charity shop last autumn and I was wowed by not just the fabric, but also the oversized shape and of course the fabulous colour. Would you believe that it only cost me £10? Bargain of the year I'd say!

The lining too deserves a mention which is why I've turned the sleeves up to created these striped cuffs. The fabric of the coat defies my descriptive powers, but it's like a very tight crinkle type material. Hopefully someone out there will be able to tell me what that might be... The size is very oversized as it an XXL, but that is part of it's charm as far as I'm concerned as I do love the feeling of lots of room and it's perfect for wearing over the top of a big sweater or in this case over a suit jacket without it being a squeeze.

Another joyful element of today's look is my Jean Muir suit. It reminds me of my primary school teacher who always wore a woollen suit like this, but it was less flamboyant of course and always with a more fitted skirt. She referred to it as not a suit but a costume - it's funny how nearly 60 years on and I still remember that. Maybe she was a style influencer of her time.

Much as I absolutely love this suit I'm very aware that it could look a bit conservative for me, hence my adding this vibrant bodysuit to lift it out of the ordinary. All of the colours pop and leave no doubt about what this look is all about - fun!

The chunky yellow necklace also adds to the funky look along with my blue Oliver Bonas sunglasses. I was really happy with the final result.

I adore this cute little handbag. The beaded handles add character which I love. The brand is Dune but I found it in TK Maxx a few years ago. My rings of the moment are both by Emily Nixon.

My yellow tights were from Snag and trainers were from ASOS some time ago. They both work perfectly with the outfit. And best of all, wearing trainers to work kept my feet happy all day long.

So that's it! My new spring coat is bit of corker, isn't it? Much as I love summer I don't want it to come too quickly as I'd like to drift about in this dream of a coat for a little while longer.

I must add that on Monday we're about to face our Monthly Style Challenge for April. I've somehow missed the earlier prompts so I'm now off to search through my closet to see what I can come up with. Please do join me again for this. In the meantime, have a great weekeend!

                                                                                Anna x

My pistachio jumpsuit

Hello and how's tricks? This week I'm featuring my new (to me) jumpsuit from & Other Stories, bought from Vinted for £30. I've checked out their website and found one similar for £125 see here. I'm particularly pleased with this purchase due to the great quality of both the fabric and the construction. The fabric is a lovely weighty drape (polyester, viscose and elastane), quite thick too and holds its shape really well. I wore it for the first time here which was for our last drinks party of the season. Afterwards I joined the team at the pub for a celebratory drink and noted later how well the jumpsuit looked after sitting down in it for an hour - hardly a crease in it and no bagging at the knees either.

Rachel and I have hosted these Wednesday night gatherings since the spring with only a short break over July and August and it was with a feeling of a good job done that we rallied for the last time before we closed for the winter. Note that we are so in tune we didn't even have to send a memo about the colour theme for our photo shoot.

Another aspect of this outfit that particularly pleased me was the wonderfully matchy-matchy suede trainers, again found on Vinted (ASOS is the brand) and worn for the first time here too. I bought these at different times and couldn't believe how well they sat together. My usual ploy would be to choose my footwear in the same colour as my accessories but I love the leg lengthening effect of keeping it all in the same colourway.

Once again I'm showcasing my fabulous velour knitted bag here with its brooch by one of our jewellers, Caroline Kelly Foreman. I thought the use of orange as my secondary colour was a great choice. I replaced the jumpsuit belt too for an orange leather one, old, and my perspex necklace from over a decade ago makes yet another appearance along with an orange resin ring and silver scribble ring by another of our jewellers, Emily Nixon.

I've been itching to show you my new winter coat and here it is at last! The pea green cotton velvet coat is by White Stuff and came from Vinted at the cost of £30. You've no idea how much I love this coat already. Let me show you it on...

Isn't it cute? And doesn't it work beautifully with this outfit too? As hobbies go, this one of mine really does give me immense joy which surely is what it's all about. This dressing up for work and play is my passion and hopefully my joy becomes yours too as you join me week by week to see me ring the changes. Thank you so much for dropping by and I look forward to catching up again soon!

                                                                        Anna x