leopard print and velvet

These next couple of weeks are the best ever for bringing out the sparkle without looking the least bit out of place. My wardrobe is pretty well stocked with sequins, lurex, velvet and metallic shoes of every hue, all primed for stepping out over the festive season. But before I go any further I'll let you know that my outfit for Friday's party was the blue dress. I spent most of the day thinking I was going to wear my Friday's suggestion see here. It was only on Friday evening when I saw a TV presenter wearing a red sequin dress that I realised how effective that simple shape with a riot of sequins could look. It's about perspective sometimes isn't it? I was too close to see how lovely this was I suppose. Anyway I paired it up with the shoes and bag from the other outfit and bang, that was my party outfit. I went along with Kate, my utterly gorgeous niece and we had a lovely evening. Sorry Judy, for the lack of photos but my camera was at home on charge!

Friday was also Christmas Jumper Day here in the UK, a great fundraiser event in aid of Save the Children. The workforce from the island is encouraged to don their best Christmas jumper for a photo shoot followed by donations to the cause accompanied by all sorts of delicious cakes and mincepieces. 

If you're having problems finding me, just follow the ladies striking a pose in the name of blogging and I'm to the right - thanks gals for entering into the spirit of things!

Today's outfit is a mixture of old and new. The new, being these beautiful velvet trousers which come from F&F at Tesco's in the recent sale for only £9 and the old being this gold lurex cardigan which is so old I can't recall where I bought it. My sister Sandra gave me the lovely silk blouse which ties in with all of the luxurious fabrics. The gold loafers are from New Look (old), the rings too are old/charity shopped and the sunglasses are from Quay Australia.

Tuesday will be the 20th of the month and therefore time for another edition of Ping Pong Post. The festive item being styled is a fabulous sequined top from Ann in Hong Kong and I do hope you'll come back to see how we did.

This week I'll also be linking with -
Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb
Patti of Not Dead Yet Style
Jess of Elegantly Dressed and Stylish

Anna x

September's shift

And suddenly it's September! Not only September, but according to the weather guys, we're now in autumn. Well, just hang on there! I'm so not ready to pack up my summer clothes yet. In my world, summer continues until the weather breaks and that's usually October here on the islands. Expect prolonged periods of sleeveless tops, drifting into summer frocks with outbreaks of bare legs and the occasional silky jumpsuit in this corner of the UK. Any isolated areas of raincoats or heavier wet weather gear will not be making it onto the blog this month, oh no.

I wore this shift dress to work yesterday in an attempt to style a shift without looking like I'm off to a wedding. Maybe it's ended up looking more like a clubbing outfit this time? As you can tell I'm pretty extreme in my judgements of myself - my protective instinct I'm afraid, to say the worst thing before anyone else gets the chance to. A terrible insight into my psyche at this time of the morning, but let's not open that particular can of worms today eh? I do in fact like this combo of matchy-matchy bag and shoes with my default setting of pattern clashing to give it my own stamp of approval.

I wish you all a happy Friday and hope that you have a great weekend. I'll leave you with a couple of images from my Instagram this week showing the view from my backgarden one evening as the sun set and the other from the deck at the Ruin Beach Cafe where I joined Sasha and Polly for cocktails. These islands are idyllic during the summer, hence my inablility to give up on my favourite season despite what the the forecasters say.

Dress from F&F at Tesco (old), shoes and bag by Roland Cartier (thrifted), sunglasses by Quay Australia and all jewellery thrifted.

Anna x

Last year, this year.

If you're a long term follower you may well remember this jumpsuit from last summer. I wore it to an opening night party at the gallery see here. This year I've drafted in a whole lot of long gowns for my partying and therefore this has been demoted from posh to everyday. I'm sure this is what we all do isn't it? The dress that starts out being for a special occasion, once the event is over can't keep it's place at the top of the heap forever, can it? Granted, if it's all sparkle and sequins, then it may always remain as evening wear, but aside from those, I'm always happy to demote so that I can get the wear out of it.

To change things up I've added some different accessories, namely this colourful beaded belt which I'm wearing with the clasp at the back to give the rear view a bit of interest. While we're on the subject of rear views, I just have to say how unflattering this jumpsuit is in that department. Let's see, I hear you cry, but no! A woman has to have some pride, please. Suffice to say that I appear to have yards of arse in this ensemble (sorry if that was a bit coarse). If I'd know how this area was not to be highlighted I wouldn't have drawn attention to it by adding this back to front belt. Hey ho, the deed is done. The daytime debut of the jumpsuit was warmly received with lots of compliments on the fabulous cut and print. Early on in the morning I started off wearing my black and white floral jacket too, but it was soon warm enough to dispense with the extra layer. The other difference I introduced this time is the accent colour of turquoise which seems to work well against the russet tone. Last year, this year, I think the styling works well with both, but I prefer this latest version. What do you think?

Jumpsuit is from F&F at Tesco (this one is nice), jacket from Zara (I like this new version), shoes from New Look(similar), handbag charity shopped, sunglasses from Quay Australia, belt by Tu at Sainsbury (sold out) and my jewellery is old/charity shopped.

Linking with 

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish. 

Sammy of Bargain Baglady 

Anna x

#Ping Pong Post 4

Welcome to the fourth instalment of Ping Pong Post. For any new readers you can chart the progress of this feature back to the start here. This months challenge has been thrown down by Ann of Kremb de la Kremb fame and I have to say it has been the most difficult one for me so far. And yet when the dress arrived I fell in love with it. The white flowered voile looks so utterly romantic, don't you think?

I was pretty confident that I could style this up in a flash. The fact was, it took me three attempts to find a look worth photographing. But hey, let's gloss over that for a moment and move on to the vision that is Samantha of Fake Fabulous. 

Samantha picked up on that romantic feel too and wears the dress very demurely. I think she could be giving a bit of a modern spin on Downton Abbey. I had hoped that she would invite me over for afternoon tea and a glass of bubbly too, but no luck. The gorgeous hat really sets the whole look off making it feel very authentic for that period. Samantha has kept the palette to white and neutral which adds to the understated look. Very classy Samantha! And yet a cheeky little flash of thigh ensures a youthful vibe too. 

Follow Samantha on Instagram here.

Samantha's details are -

Dress: Ann's...from forever21

Slip: M&S
Hat: old
Shoes: Clarks
Nails: BarryM
Toes: Mavala
Necklaces: Various gifts and vintage pieces
Belt: Topshop
Glasses: Vogue

Ann opts for the other end of the dressing up spectrum with a beach babe look. We can always rely on Ann to raise the temperature a notch or two with her sexy take on these challenges, and hey who can blame her? If you've got it, flaunt it! Ann's theme of black and white works so well with her dark hair and sunkissed skin. I think I would love to have some of those shell anklets for my next beach day too. Perhaps you can pop some in the post Ann?

Follow Ann on Instagram here.

Ann's details

White Maxi Dress--Forever 21
Leopard Bikini--ASOS
Jean Shorts--Paige Denim
Puka Shell Anklets--Puka Beach, Boracay
Turkish Towel--Bowl and Pitcher
Sun Hat--Forever 21
Sunglasses--Target
Beach Bag--Bali

As you can see my take on the dress is a bit of a half-way house between the other two. Yes, it lends itself to a beach setting, but I had the same idea as Samantha with the short dress too. Initially I had tried this with a white linen maxi dress underneath, but it looked like I was heading for my boudoir! My next effort was with white linen trousers and an orange vest top, but somehow that seems to detract from the sheer effect of the overshirt. Finally I decided to try this floaty little beach dress in pastel hues of pink, tangerine and lemon. A matching necklace plus an armful of golden bangles all finished off with my neutral sandals completed the look. Once again, I can honestly say this has been great fun to see how these other two fashion bloggers created their own outifts from this challenge, and I look forward to next month when we'll be back on Scilly soil with my next offering.

Details for me are

Overshirt: Ann's -  Forever 21

Dress: Florence and Fred

Sandals: Bertie

Necklace: Magpie and Butterfly

Sunglasses: Quay Australia

Bangles: charity shop

Gold/nude ring: Boots

Cream floral ring: charity shop.

Linking with

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Cherie of Style Nudge 

Anna x