#Ping Pong Post no 8

Welcome to another edition of Ping Pong Post, the feature where one well travelled item of clothing brings me and my blogging friends together for our monthly style challenge. This month I'm delighted to announce two additional guests to the feature by way of fellow bloggers, Sheela of Sheela Writes and Greetje of No Fear of Fashion. Both Sheela and Greetje have followed the feature with great interest since it started (see here) and were very keen to join in for this special edition.

The dress/tunic this month is from my wardrobe and started its journey from the Isles of Scilly to Holland in April, then travelled to Texas, Hong Kong and finally on to bonnie Scotland a couple of weeks ago before heading back home to me. So let's see what this diverse collection of bloggers made of the green shaggy beast shall we?

Here's Samantha from Fake Fabulous, one of our regulars. This shaggy dress caused quite a dilemma for her, but in the best possible way (I think) as it presented so many possibilities. She opted for a simple, neutral palette to offset what is quite a flamboyant, fuzzy top. Samantha has given this green monster a classy, chic look that I wouldn't have thought possible. Bravo, my dear! Follow Samantha on Instagram here.

Details -

DRESS: H&M (Anna’s)

TIGHTS: Levante

BOOTS: Duo (now Ted and Muffy)

CARDIGAN: Urban Outfitters

POLONECK: Redoute

NECKLACE: Oliver Bonas

SOCKS: M&S 

Our other regular, the very creative Ann, of Kremb de la Kremb has done her typical Ann thing and turned the piece right on its head, and oh how gorgeous does she make the shaggy shawl look? (Such glowing skin - it shouldn't be allowed!) I love all of the ornate jewellery she has accessorised it with. Go to the top of the class girl! Follow Ann on Instagram here.

Details -

Sunnies--Forever 21

Earrings--Ben from Jardines Bazaar, Hong Kong

Shrug--Anna's dress

Brooch--Banana Republic

Ring--India

Shirt--Gap

Leather Shorts--Forever 21

Jungle Bag--Louella Odie

Anklets--La Jolla Beach, California 

Booties--DIY on an old Forever 21 pair (http://www.krembdelakremb.com/diy-painting-scuffed-shoes/) 

And here we have the ever so cool Sheela of Sheela Writes. Sheela lives in Houston, Texas where she exploits her stark,urban backdrop to contrast her downright outrageous outfits. My readers may well think I have an extensive shoe collection, but they really need to check out some of the amazing footwear lurking in this lady's closet! Follow Sheela on Instagram here.

Details -

Leather Top - StitchFix

Belt worn as necklace - JCrew

Clutch, Booties, Sunnies & Leggings - thrifted

Ring - a gift from Eve

Yellow Cuff - courtesy of Unearthed

This vision of elegance is Greetje of No Fear of Fashion. Greetje too, has a rather amazing collection of shoes and boots, and these are a particular favourite of mine - those heels are something else aren't they? Greetje features not only her fabulous clothes on the blog, but also the local sights both in Holland as well as on her various trips away with girlfriends that seem to be a regular occurrence (lucky lady). Follow Greetje on Instagram here.

Details

skinnies: Closed, 

booties: Eijk Amsterdam, 

shirt: Marco Polo (old), 

pendant: through Heleen Tuinman.

So here we go with my take on this shaggy beast of a top. These shots were taken at the end of March and seemed to be my typical mix of elements that made the outfit very me. However, the fly in the ointment was when Samantha diligently returned the top last week which was a terrible trial for me. You may well have noticed a couple of pairs of jacquard boots making their debut on the blog recently... Well, I really wanted to re-shoot wearing a pair of those, but time and weather put a stop to that. Maybe another day. In the meantime here's how I styled it -

This extended edition has been such great fun. Thanks to all of my blogging friends for taking the time and effort to present their own version of this crazy green top/dress/shawl. It's been really interesting as usual, and I do hope it was worth a visit for you, the reader. Next month we have an offering from Samantha which is currently under the care of Ann as she considers her options. I fancy her creative juices are already flowing with some marvel or other. If you'd like to, then please follow me on Instagram here.

My outfit details are -

Dress: H&M

Disco pants:H&M

Polo neck: eBay

Shoes: Office

Pendant: Vivienne Westwood

Sunglasses: Quay Australia

Watch: Michael Kors

Rings: old.

I'm asking if I may be excused games tomorrow Miss! Well, what I mean is, I'm having a day off from my regular Friday post, but will be back again on Sunday. Amuse yourself with a dip into some old posts I say, as I'll be setting questions for your assessment soon!

Anna x

As suggested by...Joan

Here we have one of my favourite features of the month. My readership really matters to me and for this reason I run this regular item where you decide what you want to see me in. This month my new friend Joan has chosen to see this blouse again which hasn't been out for a long time. Joan has been a great supporter recently, emailing me with her thoughts while I was having my blogging wobble (see here), so thanks for that.

My daughter Sasha brought me the blouse back from her travels in south-east Asia a couple of years ago. I love the unusual pattern as well as the colours which lend themselves to all sorts of mix and matching in my wardrobe. There were so many options to go with it, that I had a problem deciding what today's offering should be. I can see it's going to have to come out again to show you another variation on the theme.

I'm gradually getting into the swing of things now that I've come to accept the change in season, and one of my renewed pleasures has to be the rediscovery of my beloved brogues. These ones were a late winter purchase and therefore may be new to some of you. Pewter is a great colour to wear with this shirt, and as a neutral will be an ideal mainstay to play with this season.  And the other item of note has to be this silver Tiffany necklace which I bought from a charity shop in Ireland a few years ago. How lucky was I to find that?

I fancy that Joan may have had an idea how this outfit would turn out today, but I do hope that I've surprised her. Always looking to reinvent myself through the medium of clothes, I view them as my artists palette, my mode of creativity. My father and grandfather were both amateur artists, and I used to feel a bit frustrated that I couldn't emulate them. Now I can see I just needed to find my own path, my own creative voice. None of this is particularly groundbreaking stuff, but it does give me immense pleasure to find something new within the old.

Outfit details are - shoes from Office (on sale here), tights: old, skirt: charity shop (H&M), blouse: gift, belt: old (H&M), pendant: Tiffany(not current), rings: old.

Anna x

Pretty woman dress

I recently saw another blogger feature her "Pretty woman" dress and it made me think of this one hanging in the back of my wardrobe. I loved the scene where Julia Roberts wears this dress at the races and decided to give my own spin on that today. This is me dressing up to the nines you might say. That's a little joke for a special someone after her comment on Facebook x

I'm so lucky that my job allows me the creative freedom to dress how I please day in, day out. I love the opportunity to wear something classic like this one day and something completely funky the next. Like this for example. 

These pewter brogues were a late spring arrival (makes them sound like a long awaited baby lamb, doesn't it?) from my most favourite of brogue suppliers, Office. I blame my Scottish upbringing for this unquenchable passion. I've lost track of the number of pairs of these I have, yet there's always another slightly different pair to be lusted after. I'm trying to avoid the Office sale which is currently on see here but that doesn't mean you have to as well. Although I would appreciate it if you at least let me know which ones you've bought behind my back.

So the two outfits are made up like this - spotty dress is from Wallis, jacket by Tabitha, shoes BCBGeneration, necklace from Debenhams, rings are old, rose gold bangle is by Kate Spade, flowery bracelet is from Dorothy Perkins, crocodile handbag was from a charity shop. The trousers are from H&M, jacket is by Michael Kors, top, rings and handbag are from a charity shop, shoes from my beloved Office, sunglasses are by Quay Australia and socks from Primark of all places. Sorry for the lack of follow through links to all of these products. Am hosting our first summer show today, therefore am slightly like a headless chicken this morning. Wish me luck!

Anna x

All in black today

I've only worn this fab jacket once before (see here) and thought I really ought to be trying to get the cost-per-wear down. As you probably know, I don't wear a lot of black as I'm a big fan of bright colours, but sometimes it's good to mix things up and do something different. So here we go with basic black spiced up with a touch of orange.  

I hate to be predictable in my dressing, but more than that, the worst thing anyone could ever say about me is that I'm boring. I may, in fact, be a clothes bore, but that's something I can happily live with! My motto of "Let's bin the beige and have fun with colour" comes from the notion that beige is the most boring colour in the whole spectrum. (I do accept that the beige tones when sported by the the uber-classy Victoria Beckham and her genre can look beautifully understated, and I was one who in her younger years felt comfortable in beige too.)  Middle age however, for some women, heralds the onset of a loss of identity and verve for life often resulting in the birth of the beige years. I know this is a gross generalisation, and if you're a fellow blogger, then we know it won't apply to you, and by virtue reading this, that excludes you too, as you must have an interest in colourful clothes otherwise you'd surely not be part of my readership. In all honesty, I don't level this at anyone I actually know. This generic, beige-wearing, identity-less, style-less, post-menopausal ghost of her former self, is in essence, the me I dread becoming. It's what drives me to suck the marrow out of life; to dress wholly for myself, be the most honest version of me, the flamboyant, colourful self that makes my heart sing when I look at the veritable kaleidoscope of colours hanging in my wardrobe today. 

This look of surprise and delight is because my favourite doggy-driver, Charlie, has just appeared. Polly managed to capture his wind-swept look as he zoomed around the corner towards us. First photo-bomb of the day!

So, to give you a quick run down of the outfit - Michael Kors jacket which I bought from TK Maxx in Feb; harem pants were a purchase again from TK last September and have only been featured once as here; frilled and pleated orange shell top is from Coast, but picked up in charity shop in Harrogate; the boots are new from the sale at Office last month; the Madonna inspired handbag was a find in a charity shop in Truro last month. Rings are charity shop finds too.

Linking with

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb 

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style 

Anna x