Anna's Island Style: Besson white leather boots

My new watch from Storm

Hello and how are you? I had a mini break on the mainland last week which has taken me a bit of time to recover from, but here I am resplendant in my peapod trouser suit to wow you with my latest accessory, gifted from Storm Watches. The Elexi gold watch in Lazer Green is an absolute beauty of a watch - see more about it here - Storm Elexi Lazer Green Watch

When the watch arrived on my doorstep the first thought for me was about the outfit of course and what would showcase it the best. Some of you might say I would be spoilt for choice, but it soon became obvious that something as stylish as the Elexi watch deserved to be paired with my most stylish of outfits - my aqua trouser suit from the H&M collaboration with Iris Apfel.

It's months since I strutted my stuff in these threads and oh, how I'd forgotten how great this co-ord makes me feel! It wasn't by chance that the colour of the satin lining of the suit is the same as the watch face - that was the main reason I opted for this ensemble.

I first wore my beautiful suit back in 2022 with shots from this very same spot and styled not so differently either - see here. Today I've added a simple white vest top from Primark, my Besson white leather boots (recently purchased from Vinted), white pearl belt from Amazon, lemon Dune handbag and pre-loved rings. The mixture of old and new is so very me.

And so, on to the watch. The STORM Elexi is a statement watch with a 21 karat gold plated strap and unique cut glass dial. This sophisticated watch has a deep green jewel face and a two-tone brushed/polished stainless steel strap. The perfect fashion watch for day or evening wear.

STORM watches are made from high quality sustainable materials which are responsibly sourced and recyclable.

My friend Jodie did he honours with the photography for this shoot, helping to set the right tone for this feature. Thanks Jodie, for doing such a great job!

The Elexi comes in four other colourways, even aqau which was quite tempting, but I love the bold rich green of mine and will wear it often.

Thank you as ever for dropping by to catch up on my news. Next time I'll give you all the latest from my trip off-island, including the big reveal of my shopping spree!

Anna x

Hello lovelies, how's tricks? I'm still knee deep in artworks, battling my way through the art upgrades in our holiday cottages. Today it's been Wigeon that has come under our attention. Mel and I have been planning the distribution of paintings across the final six cottages and this is certainly testing the grey matter as we try to balance the needs of each house with what we have at our finger tips. Here's some examples of rooms we've dressed so far -

This trilogy is by Ellie Verrecchia - see more here.

On the right is a painting by Chris Hankey (more here) and on the left, one by Iona Sanders - more from her here.

These three are by Cornish artist Maggie Matthews see more from her here.

Art for interiors is always fun as you sweep in at the last hour adding colour and character to each room, hopefully enhancing the soft furnishings and making the best of the room. No two rooms are finished to look the same and of course the gamble of adding bright contemporary art into old houses may not be to everyone's taste, but we love the finished looks.

My outfit of the day was very plain and simple. My turquoise corduroy dungarees are from Enjoy Clothing in Truro and have been aired on the blog previously. I've paired them with a bright orange roll neck, second hand from Vinted at only £5. My third addition are my white patent boots, quite old now, from TK Maxx. No rings (totally impractical when hanging art) and no necklaces for the very same reason.

Sunglasses are my old favourites from Quay Australia.

I'll leave you with the spectacular view afforded from the lounge in Puffin Cottage. We'll be working our magic in there tomorrow - wish us luck!

Anna x

So there was I bemoaning the fact that I've still not got my autumn/winter clothes out of storage and then Joe Browns comes to the rescue, sending me a lovely clothes parcel. I've been gifted some lovely pieces of autumn/winter wear to share with you and goodness, how fab are they are! This full length maxi dress is the first to be showcased.

This is the Fabulous Folky dress and already it's proved to be a winner on their website. The design is simple; a pull-on dress with no buttons or zip in a medium weight jersey fabric with a round neck, dropped waist and a deep hemline frill. When I unpacked it the dress was wrinkle free and ready to wear - in fact this is me half an hour later, so excited was I to receive it.

I opted for my Besson white leather boots and thick black tights to pair with the black dress with all its autumn colours. I must admit I'm pretty much in love with this maxi dress already. The cut is generous, roomy enough to layer my go-to long sleeved M&S thermal top underneath and fluid in movement for the full swish factor.

I may be on leave for the next month, but I can see that this will be a lovely dressing up outfit for when I tire of jeans and joggers at home. You can't go wrong with a bold floral print can you? I'm wearing an orange perspex ring (pre-loved) and a silver and gold ring by Emily Nixon.

I don't know why, but a long frock always seems more feminine than a shorter one, don't you think? It lends itself to swooping and swishing around. Or maybe that's just me?

The mild temperature here means that I only had to add this little jacket to complete the outfit. It's fake suede and was a long ago purchase from TK Maxx.

I took these photos on Monday last week and such a lot has happened since then, namely that the gallery has closed for the next month allowing me to have some time away from work, yay! The other thing is that I had my booster jab (the Moderna) on Tuesday and by Thursday was laid up at home with a raging fever, headache, shivers, back pain, pains in my ribs, shooting pains in my hands and other flu-like symptoms. I also lost my appetite but not my sense of taste. My previous two vaccines were the Astra Zenica and apart from a sore arm in the jab site I felt fine. How very naive of me then, to think that I would sail through this booster. It's now Monday morning and this is the first of me being able to get up off the sofa to test my strength and frankly I feel as weak as a kitten. I know we are all having different responses to these vaccines, but I didn't realise that they varied so much from one to the other. Does this big reaction signal a good response to the vaccine I wonder? Is my heightened response a sign that my immune system will be better prepare for Covid19? Oh I do hope so.

Anna x

Hello again!

I've seen on the weather forecast that parts of the UK have been having snow over the past few days, brrrrrrrrr! Well, not here thank goodness, but we're still feeling that brisk north wind. So much so, that I've dug out a scarf to go with my latest outfit. I rarely wear scarves. I'm just not a scarf person. I struggle to make them part of my look; they seem to stick out at funny angles or just sit in a big lump under my chin in the most unflattering of ways.

Yesterday however, as I was making a dash for the door, I thought I might get away with not wearing a coat if I topped things off with a cosy scarf. And hey-presto, this one seemed to work! After a bit of a jiggle and windy round thing and then a looping through thing it looked like this. Get me, with a scarf, eh? A bit of personal blogging history being made. I'd bought this colour co-ordinated gem in Primark a few years ago and of course, this is the first time I've worn it.

This is only the second time I've worn my Adidas corduroy trouser suit and I'm happy to report that I'm still in love with it. I love the colour - coral or blush or salmon pink - call it what you like. The fabric too is ace; soft and cuddly and best of all the trousers have a touch of stretch meaning that they don't bag at the knees after the first time you sit down.

I opted for black and white as my accent colours by way of this gingham blouse which ties in nicely with my white and black boots. The blouse is very old indeed, but came from Asda and has worn well. The sleeves are very feminine don't you think? My sunglasses are old faithfuls from Quay Australia.

My rings and leather belt are all pre-loved items. The handbag was a Christmas present from my son, as were the pink leather gloves in the first shot.

I love the ribbon go-faster stripes down the outside of the trouser legs. My boots of the moment are here again - white patent leather boots (by Besson) - cos they work well with this look.

And yes, the update on the camera situation is that I bought a replacement last week and here it is in action. Lora is back working with me for a couple of months and she was very happy to take my photos. I feel I may have to look into pricing up a heavy duty expanding tripod for those times when I have to go it alone. I've had an expensive month as my washing machine broke down and I had to buy a new one last week too. Sometimes life's just like that, eh?

Thanks for swinging by again. I'll be back on Monday!

Anna x

Hurrah for the weekend!

This weekend I'll be helping out with the Red Cross collection that's taking place on the island. We have a container in place at our Community Centre and a few of us will be taking it in turn manning this to receive boxes and pack them up ready for shipping to the mainland. This little event took place last year in January and I recall being in the Truro Red Cross shop in February and was tickled to see some of my own donations on display. Well done to Ruth and Sasha for making the arrangements.

Today's outfit brings together a vintage Country Casuals cardigan in this lovely colourful argyle pattern with these new to me wide leg jeans. I bought the Diesel jeans over a year ago and it's taken me all this time to finally take the hems up. A little sewing success in the middle of my upholstery project!

I added this multi print Boohoo shirt (pre-loved) to further enliven this weekend look.

The bold blue rings are both pre-loved too. The pop of yellow by way of my Quay Australia sunglasses adds another zing to the look.

Another vintage piece is this gold buckled navy leather belt. I loved the style advice (maybe) from Trinny and Susanna many years ago who advised that if an item has belt loops then you ought to wear a belt to finish the look off. I'm more often a rule breaker, but this appealed to my tidy nature.

My white leather boots are by Besson from TK Maxx. Steve bought these online for my Christmas under my guidance which was a winning move. I'm planning a trip to the mainland in May for some health appointments and wonder how I'll feel to be out for the first time since the virus took hold a year ago. Will I feel safe enough to go shopping in my usual haunts such as TK Maxx and my favourite charity shops? Will I have had my second dose of the vaccine by then? I suppose I'll have to weigh it up at the time.

Monday is my first day back at work so I'll let you know how that goes in my next post. In the meantime, enjoy your weekend!

Anna x

Another spring like day, hurrah! I may be obsessed with the weather, but I think that comes from living on on island with no cars, therefore we're always steeped in the depths of what mother natures sends our way. This week has been mostly wet and windy, so this sunny day was all I needed to get dressed for a brisk walk around the island.

This mustard wool coat was a purchase from TK Maxx a couple of years ago and has been a firm favourite ever since. It's like a cuddly teddy bear and really has that snuggle factor. Worn over jeans it's a lovely casual look. The jeans are rather ancient - snow wash denim was maybe an 80's fashion - but were an amazing bargain at the time of purchase, only £1 in sale rail in charity shop in Exeter and are still going strong.

The view behind me is pretty stunning isn't it? The vista is looking down Tresco Channel out towards Cromwell's Castle and the big blue yonder.

The handbag is another preloved purchase, this time from my shopping trip to London in 2019 - gosh that seems like so long ago now!

I was trying out my new tripod for these photos. It's a flexible tripod that takes phones or cameras. I was able to prop it up on uneven surfaces such as the granite wall and the grassy bank. I've since used it wrapped around my bicycle basket and even moulded around a rock when I was making a swimming video (see that here).

I've not worn fuchsia with mustard before and must admit I rather like it. The cashmere polo neck sweater is from M&S. It's soft and fluffy and toasty warm so what more could you want? The buttery soft leather gloves are a great match. Jamie bought them for my Christmas. The sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

The jazzy little handbag is not only cute but roomy enough to hold my tiny new tripod so that's a bonus. My white patent leather boots are by Besson and were from TK Maxx. My Christmas wishlist was an absolute winner for me this year meaning that I had lots of lovely new things that I really, really wanted.

These photos explain my late posting today. Regulars will know that I normally post on a Friday, but I've been a bit obsessed with my sewing project and couldn't stop until I got this far. I have another chair to do next...

I'll be back again on Monday with our Style Not Age challenge so please do swing by for that.

Anna x

Anna's Island Style

My new watch from Storm

Workwear with no frills

Joe Browns to the rescue!

That cold north wind doth blow!

Wide legged jeans for the weekend

Mustard and fuchsia - a sunny combination