December is for Dressing Up, our Style Not Age challenge this month

Hurrah and Happy Christmas to us all! I do hope you're having a wonderful time. Our challenge this month has a festive theme and was chosen by Gail. I'm not averse to a bit of dressing up as you may know and so it wasn't a terrrible hardship to push the boat out for this most special of posts. Let's see how the others fared and come back to mine later...

Gail has totally embraced her prompt by pairing lime green sequins with a gold faux leather skirt to glamorous effect! Catch up with her on Is This Mutton blog for the full story.

This is Hilda's Christmas Day outfit which looks not only fabulous but also comfortable too which is very clever bit of Dressing Up. Read her backstory on Over the Hilda blog.

Gold satin and red wide legged trousers are another successful festive take on December Dressing up from Jacqui.  See more from her on Mummabstylish blog.

Pink, silver, glitter and sequins - Emma's brought it all in her Christmas outfit, even a bottle of bubbly! Find out what she'll be getting up to today on her blog Style Splash.

My trouser suit is a Christmas present from my son (under my instructions obviously) and is by Lavish Alice, a brand I've not come across previously. Its silver and gold pattern screams out festive dressing and I hope to find an excuse to wear it soon. 

I've teamed the suit up with a silver and white sequinned top which is very ancient and was a charity shop find. Sparkly rings are also pre-loved and the silver chain necklace was a Vinted purchase recently. I'm wearing classic black sunglasses by Radley London and must admit I felt red carpet ready in this glitzy lot!

I took myself off the Tresco Abbey Garden for this photo opportunity and think it makes for a lovely backdrop to the silver outfit.  My leather boots are old, from TK Maxx and are utterly fabulous don't you think - the brand is Buffalo.

And just in case you're wondering, I didn't traipse the mile from my home to the Garden dressed like this. I made use of the large loos on site to act as a changing room as no-one was around on the quiet Sunday afternoon. It was a two-for-one day as I captured last week's ensemble and this one at the same time.

And that rounds up another year of our Style Not Age challenge. Thank you so much for joining me and my blogging friends and I do hope you've been inspired to maybe try out something you've seen with us.

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas!

Anna x

Sequins and camo for daytime

Eeek, it's only another 7 sleeps until Christmas and I'm so far off being ready! But let's move swifty on... Today I'm touting this daytime look that throws sequins on top of camo print in the loudest of colours. As you may know, I love orange, can't get enough of the colour and therefore when I came across these cargo pants on Vinted (new with the labels still attached) I just knew they were meant for me.

The trousers are so practical for work, yet eye poppingly bright and breezy that they yell out fun. I'll be wearing them this week while I do my final preparations to get the Gallery ready for opening. I'll swap out these orange leather boots (Asos) for my baseball camo ones and add a big cardigan for warmth.

My glitter top was a charity shop purchase from years ago and the orange sequin jacket came from TK Maxx a few years ago; I bring it out every Christmastime and it always makes people smile. The padding makes for a lovely snuggly winter jacket as well as being totally glam.

Glitter, sequins and camo meant I could get away with the minimum of jewellery. The classic black sunglasses are by Radley London and orange belt is from Primark.

Well, I suppose I'd better get back to my fudge making again. I've only one more batch to make this afternoon, making a total of over 24 pounds of the sweet stuff for family and friends. 

By tomorrow this will all be wrapped and packed into colourful boxes ready to distribute to my family here on the islands. It truly is the joy of giving!

I'll be back on Christmas day with my style sisters for our monthly style challenge, so if you get a quiet moment over the festive period please do swing by to see our take on Christmas Dressing.

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas!

Anna x

Christmas jumper day

Hello again! Did you take part in National Christmas Jumper day last Thursday? Here on Tresco we did and this was my offering. It's not new, but is one of my favourite Christmas jumpers and really, I don't feel the need to keep buying a new one every year.

I think I bought this sweater a few years ago. It's from H&M and maybe needs a bit of debobbling this year. I must admit it was a last minute rush to find it and get an outfit together the other day. My rings are pre-loved.

The rest of the outfit is pre-loved or simply old. The trousers were passed on from my daughter and the white shirt was a charity shop buy many years ago. Sunglasses are old, from Radley London.

What's new however are these rather fabulous cow print boots, a recent purchase from Vinted. The brand is Koi and even though they look massively high the balance between platform and heel make them surprisingly comfortable. I wore them all day without a pinch or tweak.

I topped the outfit off with my oft-seen green faux fur coat, a regular at this time of year. Red, white and green is very traditional, a lovely look for the run up to Christmas. 

How are your Christmas preparations coming along? As usual I'm up to my elbows in fudge making before I can turn my attention to the home front. I've packed up and sent off some boxes to my relatives in Scotland today and will have more ready to wrap tomorrow. We won't be having our Christmas tree until nearer the time; it's down to Steve as to when he can make the time to find one in the woods somewhere. Apart from that we have presents on the way, so I'm poised with fingers crossed that Mr Postman will come up trumps.

                                                                                              Anna x

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