We're open for business again!




Yes, here we go again with another season! On Friday 1st March the Gallery re-opened for business and this was my outfit of the day. No points for guessing where I found this fabulous jumpsuit - Vinted, of course! I've been selling consistently as part of my ongoing clear out and that's given me a bit of a healthy piggy bank with Vinted which helps when I find something as lovely as this.




Sasha introduced me to not only the joys of Vinted over a year ago, but also the Lucy & Yak brand. I'm very grateful to her. My jewellery is all old, the necklace was from Topshop and the rings are charity shopped. The orange stretch belt was from Amazon last summer.




The mustard jacket was a charity shop find from a couple of years ago, the brand is Boohoo. The whole look is very autumnal I know, but these colours do work for me. 




The orange ankle boots are rather fabulous and were from ASOS. I've broken them in over the past year and they're now all-day long wearable, hurrah! I do wonder if this penchant of mine for orange will eventually take over my entire wardrobe and I'll be dressing like a member of Hare Krishna by the time I'm an old dear.




And that pretty much winds things up for this week. I'm busy having training in the workplace as we update our computer systems. The challenge has been made even more, well challenging, given that my trainer is my daughter. Having the tables turned after a lifetime of thinking I can give her the benefit of my knowledge is a very odd situation to find myself in. She's a very bright cookie, as sharp as a knife and a great educator, but golly I'm finding it hard not to feel stressed out by it all. Jointly we're struggling with time pressures amongst everything else, but hopefully by the time I come to report back to you next week I'll be feeling a bit more confident in my skills.

Wishing you a lovely week!

Anna x

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Red Alert! - our monthly style challenge for January.




Hello and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge! Jacqui has chosen Red Alert as this month's theme and it certainly was a fair challenge for me as reds are so few and far between in my wardrobe. Luckily I've been wearing this co-ord (old from Zara) that Sash passed on to me in December and it was perfect for the festive season, also great for the winter months generally as it's super cosy. But let's continue first with the ladies of the collective to see what they came up with...




Jacqui is looking fab in this feather topped jumpsuit (borrowed from her daughter) with her black oversized jacket, finished with blood red shoes and lipstick red handbag. Find out more on her blog Mummabstylish. 




Gail has brought out all of the reds from her closet to great effect. In particular, I love her second hand coat from Coast, tres chic! Read all the latest from her on Is This Mutton blog.




Emma's tomato red top and trousers are from River Island topped with a vest from Principles. Her funky bag steals the show however, don't you think? It's from Jayley. Catch up with all her latest on The Style Splash




HIlda's red trousers and yellow cardi tie in perfectly with her leopard print courts and what a statement this ensmeble makes - I love it! Follow Hilda on Over The Hilda blog.




My chunky knit two-piece has been aired quite a lot during December and January, mainly because it's so blooming comfortable! The pull on trousers have an elasticated waist which has been ideal for the post-Christmas tum and the long tunic top hides any such evidence too!




My massive Koi boots in cow print (from Vinted) are a brilliant pairing for the outfit as the whole thing is quite over-sized. The chunky heels and platform soles help to balance out the weightiness of the co-ord . 




Necklace, rings and sunglasses are all old, but work really well with the colourscheme of today's outfit. Again, red isn't one of my oft worn colours so it was a bit of a rummage that took place to find these. The sunglasses are my old favourites from Quay Australia.





Our Red Alert challenge has brought forth a lovely and diverse range of outfits to hopefully inspire and entertain you. Many thanks for dropping by and I look forward to chatting to you again soon!

                                                                            Anna x

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Blue Monday post




Hi there! Thanks for swinging by again. I'm posting on Blue Monday, allegedly the most depressing day of the year as we're all supposed to be in a full post-Christmas slump, but hopefully it's not been too much of a trial for you. This year it's on the 15th of January which is my daughter's birthday (she's 35). We met up with Sasha yesterday to have brunch with her in one of the Seagarden Cottages where she's enjoying a few days of luxury as a gift to herself. I dodged outside to take a few shots of my outfit, but couldn't find the right spot either out of the sun (too bright)... 






...or in the shade (too dark). The view was pretty spectacular though!




I've been itching to wear this wonderful waterfall tulle skirt since I bought it recently on Vinted. I can hardly bear to tell you how much it cost. What do you think? Would you believe that even though it's brand new it only cost £5? Honestly! The rest of the outfit is from my wardrobe, nothing new. The waistcoat is years old and may not ever have been shown on the blog, but do tell me if I'm wrong. The blouse is ancient, was a charity shop buy from years ago, boots are from ASOS, sunglasses are from Quay Australia and cream tights are very old indeed.




Later on I swapped the waistcoat for this fitted jacket (very old). I really like this look; the yellow tweed jacket has a gold fleck to it and works so well with the soft fluid nature of the tulle and chiffon. The chunky boots toughen the look up without being too overpowering.




The broad tan leather belt is another way to add an accent without it becoming too much of a focal point. For me this outfit is all about the skirt, so hopefully the balance with the other pieces works to allow the tulle to remain at centre stage.




Nothing new with these citrine rings - I've had them for years now - they were gifted to me as part of a collaboration with Gemporia way back in  2017 (see here).










No doubt you'll see this skirt again and again and again this year. It's an obvious piece for summerwear, but I so wanted to try to winterise it successfully and think I did. Do you agree? I actually wore my cream cow print fur coat over the top of this as it was so chilly - sorry I forgot to get shots of that but we were running late. It's great to have your company again - many thanks and have a great week!

                                                                                         Anna x

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Dressing up in December




Regardless of the month I'm always prone to a bit of dressing up, so December is no different I suppose. Fur coats are my coat of choice this month and this one, full length and luxurious, is my favourite. It's been hanging behind my bedroom door for weeks waiting for the opportunity to come out to play. Last weekend we had a glorious dry day (for a change) and by the time I had found my photo spot the sun came blasting down too. It was a scorching day for this time of year and an absolute bonus too.




The cream and mocca cow print coat was from River Island, bought by the family for my birthday almost a year ago. I'm not a huge fan of winter, but the upside is to get the chance to wear this fabulous coat again. 




I've opted for a neutral palette for the overall look which is very different for me isn't it? But this kind of neutral works thanks to the glamorous combination of fur and lace. I've shopped my closet for the whole look: lace body and trousers from Zara and boots from Asos.




Nothing new with my jewellery either. The rings are both charity shopped, necklace from Primark and sunglasses are by Quay Australia.






The pleather paperbag trousers are a lovely easy to wear fit thanks to the elasticated waistband. Pockets too make for an ultra casual look.




So, how has your weekend been? I've been busy at home mostly with cooking for the freezer. At this time of year I like to catch up on batch cooking so that I have meals ready to microwave at the end of the working day. Lighting the fire as I come home from work and having a homemade meal ready for Steve makes me feel that I'm making his day more comfortable. I've had a couple of sea swims too, which were good but challenging too due to the recent drop in air temperature. The sea doesn't seem to change much from day to day, but we had a cool Easterly wind blowing on Saturday morning which did make for brisk dressing when I got out of the water. Tomorrow's plan is for another morning swim and then to catch up on some housework and hopefully to get some online Christmas shopping done. Wish me luck!

                                                                                           Anna x

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Power Dressing, this month's SNA challenge




Hello again! Can you believe it's the last Monday of September? Man, where did that go? Anyway, here's what's probably going to be my favourite autumn/winter outfit this year. I love to find an out of season piece that I can put away in readiness for the months ahead and that's what this was. But first let's see what the collective made of our monthly Style Not Age challenge, the theme for which has been chosen by Emma so let's take a look at what she's wearing.




The double breasted purple jacket with big shoulder pads and shiny buttons is everything that power dressing ought to be, especially with the addition of purple trousers. Emma does a lot of clothes shopping while abroad, that's where she found the Zara two piece. Check out her blog for the back story on Style Splash.




Another trouser suit comes from Jacqui of Mummabstylish, this one from H&M last year. Neutral and black work well together and the unstructured shirt lends the whole look a more casual style. Catch up with all of Jacqui's news over on her blog here




Gail did her homework to check the current definition of Power Dressing which led her to coming up with this punchy look where she's using cream to offset the red jacket and contrasting green handbag. Find her whole story here on Is This Mutton blog.




I'm more than a tad envious of Hilda who seems to have a rich seam of clothes at her disposal thanks to her local boutique, which is where this sleek navy trouser suit comes from, on loan, I have to add. She's added a fab pop of colour with her phone bag and courts to finish the look off. See more from her on Over The Hilda blog.




I'm bubbling over with excitement about this fabulous co-ord that I bought months ago when I was in Taunton. I found it in Primark where this beautiful pink and orange tweed suit was in the summer sale. The jacket was £20 and the lined shorts only £14 - I honestly couldn't believe my luck! The orange lining gives the ensemble a luxe look not normally associated with Primark. I'm a huge advocate of savvy shopping, of rooting about in the most unlikely of shops to find stylish tailoring like this. Vintage and charity shops are other obvious places not to be overlooked, especially as we're still in Second Hand September.




Of course, not everyone would agree that a 65 year old woman ought to be wearing shorts to work, but I'd respond by saying that coloured tights in a good denier can help to carry this look off. I've bought 80 denier pink tights as another option and will showcase these within the next month or so. These sizzling orange tights are from my favourite Penzance haunt, Number 36 boutique. The orange leather ankle boots were a purchase from ASOS in the spring.




My new orange handbag is from Oliver Bonas and is called Emma East to West. Not only is it all kinds of fabulous in colour with these multicolour straps, but if you follow the link you'll see that inside is a detachable clutch in a contrasting green along with another detachable zipped wallet too. I bought this recently when I was marooned in Paddington Station for 15 hours during train disruptions as Sash and I tried to travel back to Penzance. It was a little ray of sunshine on what was a very dark and stressful day.




My shirt is second hand, the brand is Lands End, and was a charity shop find many moons ago although this is the first time I've worn it, but hey, doesn't it work well? I'm always happy to add a bit of fun with pattern play. The leather belt was also a charity shop buy as were the rings.




The gold linked necklace was from Primark a couple of summers ago and my sunglasses are by Quay Australia, not new. 




My thanks go to Emily for stepping in as photographer this week. Didn't she do a good job!




This month's challenge came at just the right moment for me as the weather is changing and turning more like autumn, therefore making it a legit move to pop on this glorious tweed two piece. I'm so looking forward to wearing this over the next six months and do hope you'll enjoy seeing it often too!

Many thanks from us all on this month's style challenge. I do hope our five interpretations of Power Dressing have entertained and maybe even inspired you.


Have a great week!

Anna x

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Citrus colours for summer




Hi there! Here's my favourite work outfit from this week. The dress you'll have seen before, a yellow linen number (with pockets) that I found in TK Maxx, perhaps last year? I've worn this several times on the blog I'm sure, but that doesn't detract from how sunny and bright it is and such a joyful piece to wear.




I've pepped up the outfit with these fab orange sandals, new from ASOS this summer. They're ridiculously high and I'm only able to wear them for half a day at a time as I've not broken them in quite yet. But heck, aren't they totally wonderful? 



 
The orange elasticated belt is also new, this from Amazon only last week. You may recognise the other accessories here as I wore them with my orange dungarees recently (see here), but they're so perfect for this outfit too. 




I couldn't resist including this photo as I seem to have one like this every time I take my blog photos. I wonder if subconsciously I'm trying to audition for a shampoo advert? Hilarious, eh?










My thanks go to Mel, my seasonal assistant for taking these photos. I hope to feature her and my admin assistant Emily soon as we've got a staff meal coming up next weekend and will endeavour to get a shot of us all together. 

I'll leave you with this beautiful beach shot from glorious Tresco.



I hope you're enjoying this lovely weather!

Anna x

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