The perfect beach holiday dress


Yes, it's that time of year again when our thoughts turn to packing for our summer holidays and I've found the most perfect dress for you. This vibrant floral print dress is an easy care crinkle fabric that can be rolled up for travelling and simply shaken out on arrival, popped on a hanger and it'll be ready and waiting for your holiday adventures.




I've been gifted this super frock by JD Williams and am honestly thrilled with it. The fit is roomy and very comfortable, with a pretty square neckline, gently elasticated waist and a deep hemline frill. I'm a big fan of bright colours as you probably know and love that I can accessorise this with so many accent shades of pink, orange, yellow and citrus green. Today I've chosen to show you the dress in a simple styling with only a bracelet, necklace and sunglasses - this would be a great look for a day at the beach or sight seeing.



The maxi could be dressed up for the evening by adding a pair of strappy wedges as I've done or even some pretty flat sandals. The waist can be accentuated by adding a pop of colour such as this pink stretch belt. I swapped the coloured beads for a gold chain added a pink bangle and an orange ring and finished with a clutch to hold lipstick, hairbrush and phone - et viola, you're ready for an evening out!







There's nothing better than a maxi dress for holidays, in fact I love them for summer wear generally. The elasticated waist flatters the figure without being too tight, and there's lots of fabric to waft about, to keep you cool in hot climes while feeling very feminine. Slip it over a swimsuit as you walk to the beach and it won't spoil if it gets wet while you do a bit of paddling. (This photo shoot took three days to capture and the dress got wet each time.  I simply hung it over a chair to dry overnight and it was good as new by the next morning.)


I love the crochet trim at the neckline and the mini pompoms are a fun addition to the wide sleeves - this dress is all about comfort meaning it's going to be a sure favourite for me over the summer months. I can just scoop this up as we set off to a desert island beach for our days out. This is Samson island, one of many uninhabited islands here on the Isles of Scilly and is only a five minute boat ride from shore to shore between home and beach - yes, how lucky am I? We often grab a beer and head to the beach at the end of the day during the summer. It's our special time when we forget about work and chores and all of those other bits of reality that we like to escape from. Our time on these desert islands are about our plans, our hopes and dreams for us and our children and also a time to acknowledge how amazing it is to have all of this on our doorstep. A beer for Steve and a swim for me and all is well with the world.


Steve has done the winter repairs to our motor boat, Leah Dancer, making her ready for another summer of picnics and jaunts. He'll also use the boat to accompany me as I start my longer swims again now that the sea is starting to warm up. I plan to swim back home from Samson one evening. Home is at the top right in the photo and only takes five minutes in the boat - I'll let you know how long that takes for me to swim!



We all need a little sanctuary in our lives and Samson is ours. Close enough to see from home and yet far enough away to feel removed, it's all that we want, all that we need. 

Details -
Shoes H&M
Bead necklace, market in Cape Town
Bangle, belt and ring, preloved
Sunglasses, Quay Australia
Clutch, preloved
Gold chain, Primark

Please note that this is a sponsored post, but all opinions are my own.



Thanks for dropping by!

Anna x

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Less colour, more detail


Further to my post on Monday where I placed myself well out of my comfort zone by wearing top to toe beige, I decided to run with the theme of less colour but more detail today. My default setting as you know is to turn the volume up colour-wise at every given opportunity, but the positive response to the March Madness feature gave me cause to consider the value of more neutral tones.


Less colour doesn't necessarily mean less fun though!


What is fun, is the fact that even though I'm in my 60's I am still learning about clothes. If Hilda hadn't come up with that particular challenge I would never have pulled those random separates together to make my homage to beige. 


The starting point for today's ensemble is this snakeskin jacket which has been gifted to me by JD Williams. The fabric is a suede effect making for a very soft finish, comfortable to wear and more lightweight than if it were real suede. I'm a big fan of biker jackets, so when the offer came to through to choose something from their current range, I was happy to see this one. I don't have a patterned biker jacket in my ever expanding collection so this seemed to be the ideal opportunity. Made to the usual specifications the jacket has zipped pockets and zips on the sleeves plus the slanted zip across the body. The fit is good - I'm a size 10 and this was as expected. My favourite points have to be the pattern (snakeskin is always on trend in my books) plus the cool look of a biker jacket crosses all age groups. 


I decided to pair the biker jacket up with black work trousers to give a less rock chick look, but as usual I couldn't settle for plain old black trousers could I?


These eyelet trim trousers were from Zara last year. They tick the right boxes for me when I need a well fitting ankle length black trouser that keeps me out of the boring zone. The sock boots were from Zara too. I suppose if you don't feel this adventurous you could indeed wear plain black trousers with simple boots or even a pair of sandals with this look - see some ideas for sandals on the JD Williams website here


In my quest to wear less colour I've gone big on accessories, bringing out a new handbag which I bought in a tiny boutique in St Andrews in January. The turtle shape plus all of these sparkling gemstones had that quirky appeal for me and was also in the sale coming in under £40 which suited me too. I've been saving the bag for a special outfit and this seems to be the perfect one. Tonally the jacket and bag work so well together and the black ties in with the trousers too. I really like this mixture of black trousers saying work and biker jacket saying rock chick - it's all about being an individual, isn't it? This may not be a conventional work outfit for some, but it would be great for a lunch out or after work drinks with the girls, don't you think?


The final touches for today's look are this statement necklace from Topshop along with these gold coloured rings, both of them pre-loved. 

Before you go, let me confess that I had to give this gorgeous snakeskin jacket the true Anna's Island Style treatment and dressed it up with a mega splash of colour here -


Leave me have your votes please for which look you prefer. Either way, I'm a winner!

Wishing you a fab week ahead!

Anna x

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The JD Williams spring campaign is live!


Yes, after much nattering on from me, I can at last share some of the final shots from the spring campaign which has now gone live. Watch the TV advert here. Paulina and I weren't used in the commercial this time, but can be seen over the social media campaign.


If you recall, this was day two of filming at the Dairy Shed just a 20 minute drive outside Cape Town. This was the middle of the day and the temperature was in the early 30's.


The wedding scene was set against this fabulous floral archway with all of the cast wearing pale pink and nude outfits. 



When the filming was done the stills photographer Elisabeth Hoff stepped in to take my shots. Once again it has to be said what a privilege it is to be photographed by Elisabeth. If you check out her profile you'll see that she's very much the photographer of the moment with recent subjects being Mary Berry, Marco Pierre White, Emma Willis and Davina McCall, to name a few. Elisabeth is making her name as a modern day David Bailey.




Elisabeth gives strong direction, thank goodness, and yet also helps to relax her subject with a great playlist. I have a funny clip on my phone of me drifting off into a bit of a reverie when the music had me dancing and singing as if I was on a music video - Elisabeth soon brought me back into the moment! 





The brief video above (working or not?) is from the JD Williams Instagram feed and can also be seen here

And so, back to reality. I've returned from my short trip to the mainland. Storm Gareth tried his best to disrupt my plans, but I arrived on the mainland, diverted to Newquay instead of Land's End and was slightly shaken not stirred from the flight. I had an appointment at the hospital for a bone density scan and will get the results anon. So what on earth did I manage to do with myself for the rest of the time? Shop, I can hear you all shout out. And shop I did! Below is a veritable rainbow collection of shoes, boots and separates to bulk out my already busting-at-the-seams wardrobe. When the big seasonal clothes changeover takes place I'll be turfing out the least worn pieces to go the next charity event locally.



The jacket from Primark (£15) matches a pair of trousers I bought recently and will make a fabulous summer suit.


The brand is Boohoo, price £7.99 and was a TK Maxx find.


Topshop had a sale on... these were reduced from £42 to £20.


Another TK Maxx scoop - River Island trousers at £9.99 instead of the ticket price of £40.


The New Look sale this time, and these sandals were £8 from £22.99.


TK Maxx again and the brand is Vera Moda, price £9.99.


A culotte jumpsuit by Spense, found at TK Maxx for £24.99.


Another TK Maxx bargain, from Zara at £15.


Ethnic print trousers from TK Maxx £12.99.


Topshop jumper reduced from £25 to £10.


Topshop polo shirt reduced from £15 to £9.


Various vest tops in the Topshop sale for £2.50 each.



New Look sandals reduced from £22.99 to £11.



Paint splattered deck shoes by Sioux Grasshopper at TK Maxx £20.


Stradavarius jumper from TK Maxx £5.99.


Black patent boots from Topshop reduced from £70 to £35.


White kitten heel boots from New Look £7 from £25.99.


Frida Kahlo tee shirt from Primark at £6.


Yes, this was me in the changing rooms at Topshop seeing what the camera had to say about this outfit. It said yes, obviously!

It's great to be back home again, back to work where Polly and I are still licking the gallery into shape as the first trickle of customers come in to see us. I'll be back soon with some work outfits made from these new separates. I hope you've enjoyed this image heavy feature and look forward to seeing you again next time!


                                                                                         Anna x

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