It's all in the detail




Hello lovelies, how are you doing this first Friday of lockdown 2? It feels less worrying for me this time, probably because Tresco in the winter has a lockdown look to it anyway. There are so few of us as winter residents that you can walk around the whole island without seeing a soul sometimes. The other thing that makes it feel different is that we've got a finish date this time. Of course, that may change nearer the time, but somehow a month seems less ominous than the open ended nature of the first lockdown. 




When I say, It's all in the detail, I mean about the double breasted fastening on the jacket with those iconic buttons and the contrasting stitching as an accent colour on the jumpsuit and belt. These are such a simple features and yet are often the reason why I'll opt to buy one piece over another. This fabulous peach coloured jacket by Dsquared was a prize purchase from TK Maxx some years ago and has become like a faithful friend now. The buttery soft leather has moulded itself to my shape and feels like a second skin when I put it on. The pale colour has the downside of showing up ever knock or mark, but I'm learning to live with these signs of age, much like I am with my own!




The belt is preloved and the jumpsuit is by Tu at Sainsbury's and was my final purchase before I started my 12 month shopping ban. I'm on month 9 now and haven't faltered yet. Having said that, my Christmas wish list is very specific with details of longed for pieces being sent to each member of the family. This project has been wonderful for sharpening my focus on what's lacking in my wardrobe or what's in dire need of replacing. It's quite a relief for both my husband and son to be pointed in the right direction this year I can tell you! And with my birthday coming up in January I'll be dropping some more hints too.








I'm sporting Radley sunglasses again today, along with a jewel encrusted shark's tooth necklace in rose gold (purchased from Charlie Dodge jewellery). My gold ring was a gift from a friend as was the peach perspex one.




It's a joy to bring out these ASOS brocade boots again. I've lost track if they are two or three years old now, but I store them boxed up between wears to help preserve their shape and keep them pristine. I wore them a couple of times with dresses in the autumn and they always had a few admirers. Brocade is a great example of detail too. The ornate stitchwork is what they're all about.




The winning feature of a jumpsuit surely has to be the one piece nature of it, but that's also the downside when nature calls - advance planning is what's required to allow enough time to undo all of those buttons! I have a similar all-in-one which has a zip and therefore it gets more Brownie points.




I'd love to report that I've had great week away from work, but the plan and reality were quite a distance apart. Some winter works have cropped up and therefore I've spent most of my holiday so far beetling away packing up artwork. I think that by the end of today I'll have completed that and my time off can commence. In the meantime, I've still managed to make time for my daily swim and also Fiona and I have started up our winter walking regime over lunchtime. The island is blessed with lots of hills and sharp inclines which are ideal for bursts of speed as we both declare "Bums and thighs!" in the hope that our energies are directed to the right spot. If intention and results work in correlation we'll be toned up and perky by Christmas. One can but live in hope!

                                                                                           Anna x

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My fave summer frock does autumn!


Hello lovelies! How are you? Today, I'm revisiting my favourite summer frock by adding the style trick that I discovered in my previous blog post. The simple addition of a jacket and boots are seemingly all that's need for this seasonal transition. What do you think?


Earlier on this week I posted a look that relied less on bright colours and more on pattern and with today's outfit I'm once again playing with patterns and a muted palette. Peach and apricot shades can be very flattering for those with paler skin like mine and I must admit I love how this has all come together, and I just adore how it makes me feel too. The maxi dress makes me feel uber feminine, in fact the whole ensemble made me feel so good that in this pretty backdrop it has created one of my favourite photo shoots of all time.





A sun-drenched woodland track might not be my usual habitat, but it was certainly conducive to creating a great backdrop for the swoosh series of day.


So, the outfit details are like this - dress from Zara (still available here), boots from Office, leather jacket by DSquared and sunglasses are by Quay Australia. I do hope that the look might inspire you to try this easy bit of transitional dressing.


I remember buying these brocade boots from Office a couple of seasons ago. In fact I bought these and another dark green pair and felt quite extravagant at the time. I also was pretty confident that even if these went out of fashion, they would always be on trend with me. Thank goodness for that gut instinct eh?



The gold wire rings were charity shopped.



Steve and I were lucky to have a sunny afternoon on Sunday making this a sweet interlude in what is normally a busy at home day, full of to-do lists and chores. I'd enjoyed a lively swim on Appletree Bay at high tide earlier in the morning when I was bounced about in the swell amid a fresh onshore breeze. And isn't it amazing how a spot of sunshine can make all the difference to how we perceive things? This photo shoot would have been much less pretty had we been in the middle of a cloudy day. And my swim in the turquoise waves might have felt much more threatening under overcast skies too. Hurrah for some autumn sunshine!

                                                                                    Anna x

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More sock boots!



Excuse the huge cheesy grin, but I'm loving these sock boots and thought you would want to see them too. I know this is going to look like yet another Zara promo feature, but it honestly isn't! Yes, the boots are on offer (see here), but that's just a coincidence - I love them regardless of the price. 




Check out the sparkle on these heels! 




I love the comfort factor, I love the colour, I love the stretch, but most of all I love the crazy angle of these heels. Steve warned me to be careful with the sharp slant as I maybe need to perform a risk assessment before I step out in them. Hahaha! Don't ya just love a little input from yer man?




This is my "I'm not amused face". 

So anyway, by the time you read this I'll actually be on the mainland, at the dentist once again, boo-hoo! Another tooth drama, as I've cracked a tooth and think it may have opened up a root canal. It feels a bit groundhog day I must admit. I worry that at this rate I'll have no teeth left and will have to suck all my meals through a straw! 




In the meantime, I hope you enjoy seeing this combo of culottes and boots with this butter soft leather jacket. 




Steve thinks the angle of these heels is a bit too weird, but I like the quirkiness - what about you? Would you wear them?




Outfit details - jacket: DSquared, trousers and boots: Zara, shirt: Sainsbury's, sunglasses: Quay Australia, rings: Sainsbury's.

Sorry to be brief this time, but I've still to pack a bag this evening as I've got to catch an early boat tomorrow morning. This is probably the only time I envy mainland life - how simple it must be to jump in the car and drive to health appointments. I'll leave you with this lovely poem by Pam Ayres who captures my sentiments completely...

Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth!

Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth,
And spotted the dangers beneath
All the toffees I chewed,
And sweet sticky food.
Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth!

The rest of the poem can be seen here.


Wish me luck at the dentist. See you soon, and keep brushing those choppers!

Anna x

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Suede, leather and sunglasses

I'm making the most of these last sunny days before grey skies become the norm. We've been lucky over the past couple of weeks with golden mornings accompanied by a cool easterly wind making our photo shoots look more balmy than they actually are. Lately I've been swanning about in this cute little ruffle top which I just happened to come across in the big clothes changeover recently. It's not actually mine, which I suppose might mean it belongs to my darling daughter who may just have left it behind when she moved out. I'm quickly having a flirt with it before she rumbles me (sorry Sash) and requests its return.


I've paired the top with these vintage suede flares that I bought in Etam many, many moons ago (last seen here). They were in the sale and cost me £25 at the time which was a huge amount of money. And as if that wasn't madness enough, they didn't even fit me! I fell in love with them and bought them as the proverbial dieters carrot. One day I'll be able to wear these, I promised myself as I handed over my hard-earned notes. Some 30 years later and here they are, fitting perfectly and thanks to the durability of the skin they've not aged a bit (wish the same could be said of me). 










The other item worth a mention has to be this nude leather jacket. I bought it in February while in London see here and am so pleased to have the opportunity to wear it again now that the temperatures have dropped. I rarely need a jacket here in the summertime as work and home are litterly a few hundred paces apart, so it's quite exciting to have a root through the jacket section of my wardrobe and choose an extra layer to finish off an outfit.

Polly leaves the island at the start of November and I wonder if I might manage to recreate some of the light hearted moments she and I have shared? I'm thinking that I might set up my tripod in this same spot and switch on the camera's timer to see if I can dash about changing poses without her prompts and intermittent barking "shu'up!" that brings on my laughter. We're busy trying to fill my draft box with lots of outfits before she goes. (Sob, sniff, sob).

Outfit details - trousers: Etam, boots: River Island, jacket: DSquared, top: unknown. necklace: charity shop, watch: Michael Kors, rose gold bangle: Kate Spade New York, rings: old, sunglasses: Tu clothing at Sainsbury's.


Anna x

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