All Buttoned Up, our SNA challenge for Feb

Hello again my lovelies! Can you believe it's the end of the month already? Well, the last Monday of the month at least, which means it's time for our Monthly Style Not Age Challenge and this month our theme is All Buttoned Up as chosen by Gail. I found this a very inspiring challenge, one that ties in with my latest news hobby-wise, but I'll share that in a moment. First, let's see how my fashionista friends approached the task in hand, shall we?

Emma is looking pretty in pink in this button featured trouser suit. The fact is that it's not even a suit, but a thrifted jacket and perfectly matching trousers. Catch up with her on her blog The Style Splash here for all the fashion details. 

Jacqui from Mummabstylish has opted for pinstripe sailor trousers as her buttoned up feature, a classic style that never goes out of fashion. A chunky roll neck and matching grey across the body bag completes this weekend look.

Hilda's lean and leggy look features her much loved jeans from Next with a buttoned up cardi/jacket from Zara which she confesses to hardly wearing, but goodness knows why not - it's very pretty! Read more from Hilda on her blog Over The Hilda. 

Gail does indeed have this month's challenge All Buttoned Up. Oh how I love all of this look! Black and white with a pop of orange makes for a stunning combination and her shoulder buttoned sweater is fab. See her back story here for all the style details. 

My buttoned up item is a thrifted linen pin tuck blouse by Jaeger which cost me £5. It was only when I got it home that I discovered a scorch mark on the sleeve. My bargain maybe wasn't so much after all and I relegated it, in rather bad humour, to my mending pile. Fast forward to last year when I had a bit of a creative moment and decided to try to cut and create some applique to cover up the offending area. 

The addition of another mulitcoloured sunflower bloom at the back of the blouse helped it look more of a feature than a cover up job.

The final alteration took place when Gail announced this month's challenge and I decided to remove all the rather boring white buttons and replace them with whatever I could find in my button box. My white linen blouse has become a quirky and unique addition to my wardrobe, another slow fashion item. I do feel rather pleased with the end result.

The rest of my outfit is made up from these lilac wide legged jeans from Primark and my old floral Converse boots. The day was a real bonus allowing me to find a spot out of the wind which looked like a perfect summer's day in February!

The day was quite a breezy one, a definite jacket day! Mine is by Pull and Bear purchased for £30 at TK Maxx last year. It's super cosy and I just love the colour. It makes me think of the famous poem by Jenny Joseph entitled Warning which starts with 'When I'm old I will wear purple'... Read it in full, here. 

I sat on the outcrop of rocks at the end of Saffron Bay and enjoyed the view on this blustery day, pleased to have my padded jacket on to beat the chill wind.

Oh, and finally, the news that I mentioned earlier, is that I've joined The Very Scilly Sewing Bee, a new course being run on St Mary's for the next five weeks. I'm excited to say that I'll be trying to make a dress for the very first time. As you may know, I've done bits of sewing in the past, but never made anything from a pattern. Hopefully I may have a dress to share with you sometime soon! Thanks for joining my friends and I for this month's challenge and please do pop across to see more from them on their own blogs if you have a moment.

Have a super week!

Anna x

Sparkle and Shine, our Style Not Age challenge for December

Merry Christmas and welcome back my dear reader! I've been awol for a week, laid up with a chest infection at this most inconvenient time of year. Today's photos were taken earlier on this month before I went out to the island Christmas party where I was doing my best to Sparkle and Shine in the name of this month's challenge, which just so happened to be my choice of subject.

 

Hilda combined a mixture of shopping her closet with borrowing from her sister to create this sparkly look for maximum effect! Find all the details on her blog Over The Hilda.

Another black sparkly top comes from Jacqui, worn with equally dazzling shoes by Lotus along with these eye-popping yellow jeans from Zara. Check out the full details on her blog Mummabstylish.

Emma from Style Splash is a big fan of secondhand clothes and this mega sparkly kimono was a super find on eBay. Follow the link to catch up on her backstory of this glitzy outfit.

Shopping her closet too was Gail, showcasing her fabulous winter wonderland colours in this white sparkly duster over her silver sequinned skirt. Read more from Gail on her blog Is This Mutton. 

My sparkly ensemble is a mix of shopping my closet and second hand finds. The bolero sequin jacket was an exciting find in the British Red Cross shop in Truro earlier on this month. The brand is Zara and was new with tags, selling at £20 rather than the retail price of £49.99. I love the 80's shoulder pads giving this a sharp silhouette. 

If you're a regular reader then you may recognise this fabulous floral tulle skirt that I bring out every Christmas. It's by Ted Baker and always earns me lots of compliments. 

I added a new belt, again from Zara, to pull the skirt and top together. The sheer top with devore pattern was a bargain piece many years ago from TK Maxx, but this is the first time I've worn it. I've been waiting to find the right underwear and finally came across a lace body in TK Maxx that turned this from saucy to stylish.

The fabulous shoes were another charity shop find from years ago - £20 very well spent I'd say! And don't they go perfectly with my skirt?

More charity shop finds: the rings and clutch are very old, but still rather fab!

My thanks go to Fiona for her photography skills and her ability to always make me laugh. She was my partner in crime that evening as we danced our socks off!

                                                                                                 Anna x

Stripes and Spots, our Style Not Age Challenge for November

Hello again and thanks for coming along today to see our Style Not Age Challenge for November. This month Emma chose Stripes and Spots as our theme which certainly caught me on the back foot - at the time of writing I only have one outfit to hand, so this is what my offering looks like!

Starting with Emma, she has shopped her closet for this M&S striped jacket and spotty top from Coast, along with trousers from River Island. Her cute little spotty bag is old, from Mango. See more on her blog Style Splash.

Jacqui from Mummabstylish is sporting a very patriotic outfit of blue/white striped top with white jeans and a sweet little red spotty scarf. It's a great casual look for the weekend!

Another stripey top comes from Hilda worn with a spotty scarf too - great minds think alike eh? She's added her new Primark faux leather trousers and M&S boots to complete this chic look. Read more on her blog Over The Hilda.

Completing the threesome with another striped sweater is Gail from Is This Mutton. The top is a recent purchase from M&S as are the diamante leggings. Both spotty belt and boots are old.

I'd stepped outside work for a change of scenery with today's outfit, but the blustery weather and seaweed strewn road wasn't the best backdrop after all.

There's nothing new with this outfit at all, not jewellery nor clothes nor boots, but it's the first time these have been pulled together to make an ensemble. The velvet trousers came from my daughter last year but this is the first time I've showcased them. I think they'll be perfect for the festive season, don't you?

The spotty top was a TK Maxx find from last year or maybe even a couple of years ago. The rose cut out necklace is very old indeed and was a purchase from the Gallery. Both my blue rings are charity shop purchases.

My brocade boots (ASOS) may be old, but do work perfectly with the jewel bright colours of the velvet crops, eh?

My outdoors wear comprises of blue leather gloves (charity shopped) and my pink and red checked coat (very old).

Quay Australia sunglasses finish off the look. I'd say that month after month these challenges do make me review my wardrobe in a way that I wouldn't otherwise which results in many a surprise. I'd bypassed these trousers often because I thought I didn't have anything to go with them, et viola, I do! And this led me on to seeing that my black top in a similar combination of stretch body and voile sleeves would look equally good, in fact it might be a good option for our Christmas day drinks at the pub.

Thanks for popping along today and do please nip across to see the back stories from my blogging friends. I'll see you next week with my first December outfit.

                                                                          Anna x

Orange you excited for Halloween?

Hello again and a very warm welcome to our monthly Style Not Age Challenge where five over 40's come together to showcase our chosen theme, which this month was proposed by Jacqui. Orange you excited for Halloween may not apply to everyone, myself included, but the opportunity to wear one of my favourite colours is not wasted on me. Let's catch up with my style sisters to see their offerings, shall we?

Mummabstylish's Jacqui chose the colour orange to tie in with pumpkins and also it lets her show off this fab 70's print dress by Izabel worn with her pretty Clarks sandals. 

Emma from the Style Splash is channeling that 70's vibe too with this hippy chick maxi dress from TK Maxx worn with her cute stetson. Do pop over to read her back story on the blog.

Gail is entering into the swing of things with her spooky themed outfit. Those tights are rather fabulous, aren't they? See more from her on Is This Mutton blog. 

Hilda shopped her closet for this autumn look and didn't she do well (as one famous TV presenter used to say)! The cosy coat is 25 years old and the boots and hat are 6 and 5 years old respectively - great cost-per-wears on these, eh? Check out her story on Over The Hilda blog.

My outfit is a mixture of old and new pieces. The trench (TK Maxx) must be about 5 years old, the polo neck was a charity shop buy from years ago, boots are from Topshop a few years ago and the orange floral trousers are this season from Primark (now on sale for £6).

 

Nothing new jewellery-wise here. You'll have seen it all before, sorry.

As you can tell, this week's photo shoot took place in Gallery Tresco once again. Terrible weather left me with few options and the gallery is sooooo much tidier than home!

Saturday was our last day of trading until Christmas, so my days are now all about catching up on winter works. Currently I'm involved in packing up artworks in some holiday cottages in readiness of building works being done. I do enjoy the varied job I have. 

We've had a brilliant year at Gallery Tresco. Sales of paintings were up on last year, and we expanded our jewellery collection too with great success. I know it'll seem like the blink of an eye before we re-open for 2023. 

                                                                                        Anna x

Layered Lux, this month's Style Not Age challenge

Hello and welcome to our monthly style challenge which is Layered Lux this time, the theme being chosen by Gail of Is This Mutton. Our outfits reflect the difference in weather and temperatures across England and Ireland during the past week when we took our photos; luckily it was a warm and sunny day here on Tresco when I wore this summery outfit, probably one of my last ones of the year. So let's take a look at how my blogging friends approached Layered Lux...

Jacqui's silky blouse certainly says Lux and she has co-ordinated it well with jeans and long line jacket for a casual look. Check out those fab shoes! See her blog Mummabstylish for full details. 

Hilda's layering comprises of silk shirt, leather jacket and woollen coat - a sure sign that the temperature has dropped over in Ireland. Read her backstory on Over the Hilda blog. 

For Gail, the trick is all about lots of thin layers to keep warm in the season ahead. A fine roll neck, topped with thin tee shirt and tie wrap starts her outfit and later she adds a sweater and gloves - see the final flourish on her blog here. Those rose gold boots surely say Lux, Gail!

Emma from Style Splash is ready not just for autumn, but winter too in this trouser suit topped with fur trimmed leather coat. It's a look I'd wear in a heartbeat Emma - pass it on when you're done!

This outfit was an absolute joy to put together, mainly because it's based around old or pre-loved items which always makes me feel good. The trousers are very old indeed and were from New Look costing £5 in the sale many moons ago. The pairing with this charity shop jacket is what makes me smile; I love the marriage of colours but the clashing of patterns. Jewellery-wise there's nothing new here either - the frosted disc necklace came from Marks & Spencer yonks ago and the silver rings are old too. Sunglasses are from Quay Australia.

It's the first time I've worn the jacket and had been put off by the fact that it didn't have buttons on the sleeves - although that wasn't enough to stop me buying it a few summer's ago. It was only recently that I found the jacket lurking in the back of my wardrobe and set to in finding some suitable buttons from my button box. I also put a new button on the front of the jacket and suddenly the whole thing came to life. 

This lace shirt definitely adds an element of luxury to the outfit. A recent charity shop purchase, it was brand new, still with the labels on and was reduced to half price. This was its first outing and I must admit I think it'll be very useful for many summers to come.

Lace blouse and sparkly belt surely sum up Lux for this challenge today. I also liked the version without the blouse and with the jacket on (see below, although the sunlight was casting quite a different light for these following shots).

It's such a shame that I've only discovered this stylish jacket now, just as I'm about to do my autumn/winter changeover. Never mind, it'll be a joyful find for me when I come to unpack these clothes again in the spring! As ever, thanks for dropping by and I do hope that you've picked up some ideas for seasonal layering too.

Wishing you a fab week!

Anna x