Inspired by Autumn, our Style Not Age challenge

Hello and welcome to November's Style Not Age challenge, chosen this month by Hilda. Inspired by Autumn suited me down to the ground as this was my work outfit from Friday showing my version of autumn delights. Burnt orange is a favourite seasonal choice of mine, but let's catch up with my blogging friends first to see how they interpreted this one...

Well, it looks like Jacqui and I were singing from the same sheet this time with our orange jackets, floral dresses and boots. Her jacket and dress are both from Bonmarche and boots are Clarks, handbag gifted from Teddy Blake. Catch up on her latest news on Mummabstylish.

Emma has shopped her closet for this stylish outfit - jacket and handbag were both from eBay, trousers and boots from M&S and top was from Joanie Clothing. The rich burgundy velvet jacket certainly says autumn to me! See more from Emma at Style Splash blog. 

Hilda's weekend look is indeed in autumnal hues. She too has shopped her closet for the challenge adding the only new item, a bright red scarf to finish her outfit. I love her boots and jacket and will be hopping across to her blog for more details - OvertheHilda. 

Zingy lemon and orange are Gail's autumn colours, and golly how fab they are together! The coat is from ASOS, scarf and top are from Kettlewell, leggings from M&S and boots are from Office. See more from Gail on Is This Mutton. 

Details of my ensemble are: fur coat from TK Maxx, dress from Joe Brown's (gifted), roll neck, old and charity shopped, boots from ASOS, belt from Amazon, gloves (old), sunglasses from Radley London, resin necklace (very old). 

To keep out the November chills at work I donned this extra layer - another autumnal offering by way of this fairisle cardigan (charity shopped last year). A woollen layer is what my mother-in-law always urged me to wear if I ever complained of being cold. It tickles me that I now pass on these wise words to workmates whenever they remark on our draughty workplace.

I'm still breaking in my new orange leather boots (from ASOS), but did manage to wear them all day long this time. The heel isn't terribly high, although the pointed toes do eventually tweak by the end of the day.

No new jewellery here, simply orange rings and necklace from my collection. Stretch belt was from Amazon earlier this year.

Despite the Gallery being closed for the winter, I do still like to make an effort and dress up for work. We have our winter schedule in place which means we have artists' residencies running over the next few months so I do see a steady trickle of them over the course of each week. Me dressing up is another way of conveying the fact that I take my role as Gallery Manager seriously; I do like to still have an air of professionalism about the place. 

Thanks for dropping by for our monthly challenge - I do hope you've enjoyed it!

Anna x

The joys of the utility jacket

Who'd have thought I'd be excited about a utility jacket? I never cease to surprise myself! This beautiful floral jacket is from H&M (via Vinted, surprise, surprise!) and is my latest guilty pleasure. New, the jacket would have retailed at £39.95 and I paid £10 for it. Sorry if I'm beginning to sound like an advert for the second hand site, but honestly it's a source of some pretty amazing bargains. 

As is with all of my clothes, I buy them because I love them and this jacket is my latest new love. Even my husband is impressed by it. I think its appeal for me is the wonderful juxtaposition of a traditionally masculine style adorned with these perfectly feminine florals. This was its first outing, a stroll out on my day off to capture the simple stylish nature of the jacket whilst out in nature. Too cheesy? Sorry.

I've shopped my closet for the rest of this outfit. The shirt is old, from Primark, the fairisle tank top is an old charity shop find, the Levi's jeans are also pre-loved. 

The chunky chelsea boots were from Primark, bought a year ago and are super comfy for yomping about in the countryside. 

The jacket sports four big patch pockets, large and roomy with enough space to do away with a handbag if you wish; phone goes in one pocket, wallet in another, hairbrush and lipstick in the third and tissues in the last - perfect! My only accessories today are my Radley sunglasses and a simple gold chain.

 

I'm pleased as Punch with this new addition to my wardrobe. Winter walks will take on a new stylish attitude with this fabulous jacket.

My new working regime for the next few months is that of a four day week now. I've saved my annual leave up and am taking long weekends off to catch up at home. It also means that I'm able to fit in three consecutive days of sea swimming which is great for me at this time of year. I really do rely on my swimming to help stablise my SAD symptoms and it's held me in good stead for years. I'd love to say that I can manage to swim every day, but the shorter days are a challenge to fit it in either before or after work. In addition, the intermittant storms do impact on when it's safe to swim, but all in all I'm doing well. If you click on the tiny link above, just to the right of the About Me tab, you'll be able to see my latest swimming clip on Instagram.

I'll be back next Monday with our monthly Style Not Age challenge so do pop by if you get the chance. 

In the meantime have a great week!

Anna x

Jeans and Jewels, our Style Not Age challenge for October

Hello and welcome once again to our monthly Style Not Age which this month is led by my choice, that of Jeans and Jewels. I must confess that I stole the idea from the very talented professional Photographer Elisabeth Hoff who posted the details of a photoshoot on her Instagram account recently - see it here. I'm huge fan of Elisabeth's since we met on the JD Williams set some five years ago. I view her account often as she photographs a huge variety of famous models and actors. Elisabeth was incredibly kind to me, helping me to settle into this rather daunting role as fashion model. I worked with her on three campaigns for JDW and she even stepped in to change my outfit on our last shoot together in South Africa as she didn't think it reflected my character. See Elisabeth and I together on location here.

Emma built her Jeans and Jewels look on this fab vintage denim dress embellished with beads to which she added her statement necklace. Catch up on all of her news on her blog Style Splash. 

I love the layering that Gail has done with her jewels for this challenge. Her Georgian style necklaces are from Etsy and her jeans jacket is from Amazon. To get all the details of her outfit see her post on Is This Mutton blog. 

Hilda's given us a double dose of jewels with her jewel bright coat along with a totally bling necklace (inherited from her daughter). See more from her on Over the Hilda blog. 

A glitzy necklace and beaded jeans are Jacqui's offering from this month's challenge, capturing the essence of this contrasting theme perfectly.  Read her back story on Mummabstylish blog.

My jewels are all old pieces, some vintage, others that have been lurking in the back of my jewellery boxes for years since I started blogging.  I decided to add some brooches to my new Jack Wills jeans jacket. Some of you may remember I have another jeans jacket adorned with brooches too - see it here. 

I bought my Levi's jeans in Camden Market in September and just love them! The long, lean leggy look is fab considering I'm none of those things in reality. I've added height (and glamour) by wearing these stilletto heeled silver leather boots (old, by Buffalo). 

My bejewelled belt (from Amazon) seemed like the perfect accessory to go with today's look along with these twinkly rings (pre-loved). Sunglasses are by Radley London.

The backdrop to my photoshoot is King Charles' Castle located on the North End of Tresco. I was lucky to have a day off when we had a fine day of weather and took myself off there at the end of the day to capture the golden light (most flattering for older complexions).

I do hope you've enjoyed this month's Style Not Age challenge. Please do pop over to see the full stories from my stylish friends too if you have a moment. 

I'll be back next week with another post, but the subject isn't clear as yet. The Gallery is now closed, so dressing up is no longer essential, but that's not to say I'll be scruffing about in joggers any time soon! Thanks so much for joining me.

                                                                                            Anna x

And yet more joy!

Hello again and sorry for my absence, but life is forever busy as we prepare to close the gallery for winter meaning that I change hats and become curator of the Tresco Art Collection which is held within some 100 cottages and public areas around the island. However, here I am, referring back to my previous post about joy. As you can see I'm jumping for joy as I had a lovely walk to the North End of the island and decided to practise what Gaby Roslin was preaching. It really works! I did indeed feel energised, and much happier simply for jumping and leaping around like a mad thing.

For a very small island, Tresco does offer a sense of the great escape, be it here on the rocky heathland, in the depths of the Abbey Garden or along the sweeping stretches of white sandy beaches skirting the majority of the island. It was a good day to visit the North End as I met only three other people, all heading off to find there own place of solitude. 

A day off is a chance to dress down and this was me in outdoorsy mode in this two piece (very old) from Asos. The stretchy leggings and top are perfect for working out or busying around. And a plain white tee shirt underneath was enough layering to keep me warm on this autumn day.

The camoflage boots are by Replay and oh, what a joy they were when I found them on Vinted earlier on this summer! I love the matchy-matchy look and will be seen over the forthcoming months sporting this when I'm lugging paintings around from houses into winter storage. I'm going to show you some of the views from this vantage point...

This bay is called Gimble Porth and is where you can often catch sight of a seal or two at any time of year, but mainly during the quiet winter months. There was one bobbing about while I was taking these shots and you may be able to discern his dark head just above the water.

The view just beyond Gimble Porth shows Northwethel and the Small Islands beyond - all of these are tiny uninhabited islands, popular for picnic trips and adventures for those with a small boat and knowledge of tides and rocks.

Beyond those lies the inhabited island of St Martin's and the Eastern Isles strewn outwards towards the mainland. Steve and I love to escape to these desert islands on our days off.

The lighthouse is perched atop Round Island and is now worked remotely. Scudding across the foreground is one of Tresco's jetboats.

Part two of today's post is to feature my Primark short suit again, this time with different accessories. I much prefer outdoors photography for my blog outfits, but at this time of year I'm held hostage by the weather which has been pretty dire of late. Apologies therefore for the lighting and less clear images. Hopefully the backdrop makes up for what it lacks elsewhere.

The pink and orange tweed shorts suit is reinvented by adding a colourful tee shirt, pink tights and metallic cowboy boots - a bit different to when I wore it for the first time (see here).

Gold chain belt and necklace add a bit of glamour as do the pink and orange rings (pre-loved) along with these bobby dazzler boots.

The metallic boots really do add that punch to today's look. Not for everyone, I know, but very me! I bought them from Asos earlier on in the year, but they're sold out now. Gutted, aren't you! 

Thanks for dropping by and do keep in mind that our end of month challenge occurs on the last Monday of the month. It's my turn to chose the theme - I hope you'll join us for that!

                                                                                              Anna x

Spread The Joy

The title of today's post is inspired by Gaby Roslin who has recently released a book by the same name; see it on Amazon here. I heard Gaby on Radio 2 yesterday and she really struck a chord with me, especially when she commented on pink and orange being her favourite colour combination and I was wearing my outfit of the day already! Anyway see how my day unfolded...

The first photo shows the view from my garden, but also features our boat Leah Dancer in the foreground. This boat has been a huge renovation project over the past two years, culminating in it finally being launched in September. Apart from the day job, Steve and I have worked every weekend and most evenings over this summer to finish this labour of love, but it has meant us giving up many other things to acheive our goal. For me, the joy of my life, my sea swimming became a luxury I simply couldn't afford. We both made compromises and they were worth it. But now, thank goodness, I'm back in the groove and swimming on the high tides which this week have been in the morning. I met three other ladies crossing the bay yesterday morning and we stopped to say hello and, lovely morning!

Another joy I've recently managed to reinstate is my lunchtime walking with my friend Fiona. We both seem to have had equally busy summers and now at last are taking some time back for ourselves. Walking and talking is great fun, good therapy too and a great way to build up a bit of fitness. We walk a circuit of the island, but not across the North End, which takes us approximately an hour, giving us our 10,000 steps along the way.

And so, on to the outfit of the day. Like Gaby, I love pink and orange together which makes this another favourite of mine. The pink trench is really old now, but is still a source of joy, especially as it was a wonderful charity shop find at only £5!  Pairing it with my new orange handbag (see full details in my previous post here), makes the whole look pop.

One simple move that Gaby advocates is to jump, yes just jump, then jump and smile at the same time and see how effective that is in bringing an immediate sense of joy. I did a bit of that whilst up on the ramparts of the Old Blockhouse after work. My camera had a job trying to capture these shots of course, being a moving image, but at least you get the idea from this shot.

My pink and blue floral dress was another thrift shop find, from last year but this is only the second time I've worn it. It was a toss up between these silver brouges (very, very old from Office) and pink tight and boots. The shoes won for the simple reason that they're much more all-day-long comfortable. 

I'm wearing a long sleeved thin thermal layer (old, from M&S) underneath to keep the autumn breeze at bay. My rings are second hand and sunglasses are by Radley London.

Counting your blessings is another source of joy and taking time to stop and stare is an easy way to do this. The beauty of this place never ceases to amaze me. I can't imagine living anywhere else.

Milky autumn sun dancing behind the trees.

Home again in time for tea! So that was my day, and I do hope you enjoyed sharing it. I was at work too, but never seem to document that much as it's pretty much the same backdrop most days. Winter works are on the horizon though meaning I'll be getting out and about more, so hopefully will get some snaps of that in due course. I hope you're well, I hope you're finding the joy in your life and sharing it with the ones you love.

Have a great weekend!

Anna x