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

We're open for business again!

Yes, here we go again with another season! On Friday 1st March the Gallery re-opened for business and this was my outfit of the day. No points for guessing where I found this fabulous jumpsuit - Vinted, of course! I've been selling consistently as part of my ongoing clear out and that's given me a bit of a healthy piggy bank with Vinted which helps when I find something as lovely as this.

Sasha introduced me to not only the joys of Vinted over a year ago, but also the Lucy & Yak brand. I'm very grateful to her. My jewellery is all old, the necklace was from Topshop and the rings are charity shopped. The orange stretch belt was from Amazon last summer.

The mustard jacket was a charity shop find from a couple of years ago, the brand is Boohoo. The whole look is very autumnal I know, but these colours do work for me. 

The orange ankle boots are rather fabulous and were from ASOS. I've broken them in over the past year and they're now all-day long wearable, hurrah! I do wonder if this penchant of mine for orange will eventually take over my entire wardrobe and I'll be dressing like a member of Hare Krishna by the time I'm an old dear.

And that pretty much winds things up for this week. I'm busy having training in the workplace as we update our computer systems. The challenge has been made even more, well challenging, given that my trainer is my daughter. Having the tables turned after a lifetime of thinking I can give her the benefit of my knowledge is a very odd situation to find myself in. She's a very bright cookie, as sharp as a knife and a great educator, but golly I'm finding it hard not to feel stressed out by it all. Jointly we're struggling with time pressures amongst everything else, but hopefully by the time I come to report back to you next week I'll be feeling a bit more confident in my skills.

Wishing you a lovely week!

Anna x

Inspired by Autumn, our Style Not Age challenge

Hello and welcome to November's Style Not Age challenge, chosen this month by Hilda. Inspired by Autumn suited me down to the ground as this was my work outfit from Friday showing my version of autumn delights. Burnt orange is a favourite seasonal choice of mine, but let's catch up with my blogging friends first to see how they interpreted this one...

Well, it looks like Jacqui and I were singing from the same sheet this time with our orange jackets, floral dresses and boots. Her jacket and dress are both from Bonmarche and boots are Clarks, handbag gifted from Teddy Blake. Catch up on her latest news on Mummabstylish.

Emma has shopped her closet for this stylish outfit - jacket and handbag were both from eBay, trousers and boots from M&S and top was from Joanie Clothing. The rich burgundy velvet jacket certainly says autumn to me! See more from Emma at Style Splash blog. 

Hilda's weekend look is indeed in autumnal hues. She too has shopped her closet for the challenge adding the only new item, a bright red scarf to finish her outfit. I love her boots and jacket and will be hopping across to her blog for more details - OvertheHilda. 

Zingy lemon and orange are Gail's autumn colours, and golly how fab they are together! The coat is from ASOS, scarf and top are from Kettlewell, leggings from M&S and boots are from Office. See more from Gail on Is This Mutton. 

Details of my ensemble are: fur coat from TK Maxx, dress from Joe Brown's (gifted), roll neck, old and charity shopped, boots from ASOS, belt from Amazon, gloves (old), sunglasses from Radley London, resin necklace (very old). 

To keep out the November chills at work I donned this extra layer - another autumnal offering by way of this fairisle cardigan (charity shopped last year). A woollen layer is what my mother-in-law always urged me to wear if I ever complained of being cold. It tickles me that I now pass on these wise words to workmates whenever they remark on our draughty workplace.

I'm still breaking in my new orange leather boots (from ASOS), but did manage to wear them all day long this time. The heel isn't terribly high, although the pointed toes do eventually tweak by the end of the day.

No new jewellery here, simply orange rings and necklace from my collection. Stretch belt was from Amazon earlier this year.

Despite the Gallery being closed for the winter, I do still like to make an effort and dress up for work. We have our winter schedule in place which means we have artists' residencies running over the next few months so I do see a steady trickle of them over the course of each week. Me dressing up is another way of conveying the fact that I take my role as Gallery Manager seriously; I do like to still have an air of professionalism about the place. 

Thanks for dropping by for our monthly challenge - I do hope you've enjoyed it!

Anna x

Vintage frock goes out to dinner

Hi there and thanks for dropping by. As promised, here's some pics of our staff outing where I was joined by Emily (centre) and Mel for our dinner at the Ruin Beach Cafe last week. 

Emily has worked in the gallery for the past two years as my admin girl. It's probably no surprise to you to learn that in a previous life she was a catwalk model after being approached as a teenager, continuing for three years before moving on. 

Mel and her boyfriend Pete have lived on Tresco for a couple of years making it their base while they've been touring Europe. They come from New Zealand, land of the travellers, and have just left Tresco for another jaunt abroad. Next year Canada beckons them.

This was the view from our table for our lovely dinner . 

The photos are a tale of two halves. This and the following were taken by my daughter before I met up with the girls and as you can see, I had the prettiest pair of shoes on (old from Primark) to match my vintage dress. I had teetered up to the top of the hill where she and I met, and afterwards decided that I ought to carry my shoes to the venue and wear something more practical, hence the first photo shows me in red cowboy boots. In the flurry of changing footwear and reapplying lipstick I somehow managed to leave my shoes behind!

I added my very old green Benetton jeans jacket to the floaty frock along with my orange stretch belt. I've had this dress for some time now, but it was only recently that I decided to customise it by adding some silk flowers to the skirt. If I ever stop working then this customising of old clothes would be my ideal past time. Upcycling unwanted items and turning them into unique pieces would be a great environmental and creative project.

  

The dress was much admired and I must admit it felt gloriously feminine to waft about in this gauzy frock for an evening out. I'm not much of a party girl, but it was so good to cross the island and enjoy great food in an idyllic setting.  We really had a super time.

My fab leather handbag was a vintage find many years ago when I was on holiday in Ireland. Red and green aren't the easiest of colours to weave into an outfit so this was the perfect opportunity to give it an airing. My rings are all old, not charity shopped for a change, but various gold rings plus my engagement ring bought by my husband over the years.

The gold floral necklace is also very old, a purchase from Gallery Tresco when we used to stock Magpie Vintage jewellery. The jury's out as to whether it was too much for this summer look, but hey, that's what I wore! Sunglasses are by Radley London.

I go away on holiday later this week so will be off-grid for a wee while. I'm going to spend time with family and will be back with all the news soon. Until then, look after yourself!

                                                                       Anna x