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

Mellow yellow

Hello lovelies! Are you okay? I'm doing great. I've taken a week's holiday to wind down after what's been a hectic end of season. This was Friday's work outfit, a mix of old and new pieces that I was trying out. 

Mellow yellow is a step down from my normal sock-it-to-ya colour scheme, but I really love it. The faux leather paper bag trousers are by Zara, but were bought from TK Maxx in the spring and my, don't they work beautifully with my ecru Asos boots from last year?

The yellow woollen jacket is by S'NOB and is very old. I like the gold lurex thread that runs through it, adding a bit of glam to an otherwise conservative piece. 

My gold flower ring was a gift from a girlfriend and the other floral ring was a charity shop find. My poppy brooch comes out every year. Sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

This lace blouse was a recent charity shop find in Penzance. It was brand new, still with the labels attached from the brand "I Saw It First". In fact there were two side by side, this and a pure white voile one which I snatched up too. One was £7 and the other was £10 - what a result!

What's not to love about a cream lace blouse with frilly cuffs? I particularly enjoyed the pairing of leather and lace, especially in this neutral palette. So unlike me, I know, but isn't it grand to stumble across a new love?

The main of the blouse is fully lace so I opted to add a natural body underneath which was not only a modesty choice but a useful extra layer of insulation too. 

It's always a bonus to find a new outfit at the end of the season as I know I'll still have it to hand ready for when we re-open in March. This definitely will transfer to spring without any tweaking at all. How fab is that? And yes, I did waft about feeling rather fabulous all day long in this muted ensemble.

Thanks so much for dropping by. Have a super week!

                                                                                       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

My staycation

I've had a week off work, a staycation, but one that was eventful with the departure of one Prime Minister and the arrival of another and of course, the shock of the sudden death of our beloved Queen Elizabeth II. As the drama of that day unfolded, I was at home watching the TV coverage with a sense of disbelief. Within 48 hours of seeing her welcoming Elizabeth Truss into Balmoral her Majesty had passed, leaving us reeling at the speed of her demise. The loss seems so personal to many of us, her benign reign one that has resulted in a groundswell of public mourning. As we are swept along with the pomp and ceremony of this change in the Monarchy the loss is felt globally.

Instead of the weekly work outfit, this is me in my casual wear as I had a walk out to King Charles Castle which overlooks the channel between Tresco and Bryher. These shots are from Monday when we had a huge spring tide of 6 metres which effectively drains the sea from this boating channel turning it into a swathe of sandbanks and pools that draw the intrepid holidaymakers (and locals) to cross from one island to the other. This pilgrimage occurs several times a year and sometimes is accompanied by a low tide event. In fact one was scheduled to take place on Sunday but was cancelled out of the respect to her Majesty.

As the inter-island crossings took place below me I captured a few shots of me in my downtime. No jewellery or smart shoes, simply the comfy cotton sweater ( a gift from my friend Tiggy) worn with these lightweight plisse trousers. This has been my casual wear for most of the summer, perfect for cycling to the beach for a swim or catching up at home. The shoes are uber comfy, bought in TK Maxx in the spring when I was on the mainland.

My only accessory of the day are these Radley sunglasses. If you've been on the island this summer then you'll probably have seen me dressed like this on my day off - it's almost become a weekend uniform. It's a welcome change for me to step back from my work finery and marks a different me from my work persona. On such a tiny island it's so vital to find some escape from who I am at work and the need for downtime is never more necessary than during our peak season. 

Apologies for the erratic nature of my posts over the past few months. My commitment to work has been draining leaving the rest of my life in tatters sometimes. The boat renovations still aren't complete and therefore there will be no off island picnics for us this year. My week at home has been truly restorative however. I've read, napped, deep cleaned some long overdue corners of my home and had some lovely sea swims too. And now am back at work for the final push of the season. Thank you so much for coming to visit, for your comments and for chatting to me via Instagram too. See my latest posts on Instagram here. 

See you again soon!

Anna x

Summer Sizzlers, our Style Not Age challenge for July

Hello and welcome again to our monthly style challenge! It's my turn this time to choose the theme and what could be more appropriate than Summer Sizzlers? Our recent heatwave had many of us cooling off in sea or heading for shade at home. My offering is an oldie but goodie, a lace jumpsuit from TK Maxx many moons ago. So let's take a look at my style sisters to see how they tackled this one...

Jacqui's jaw-dropper outfit looks like she's stepped straight off a film set! Hat from Dune, swimsuit from Debenhams and lace trousers (old) certainly live up to the remit. See more on her blog here. 

Gail from Is This Mutton has paired up lime green and fizzy pink for her Summer Sizzler look. Cute, fresh and very summery Gail snapped this on her Greek holiday which was indeed a sizzler with temperatures pushing 40 degrees! Catch her back story here.

Emma from the Style Splash is another to send us one of her holiday snaps, this time from Funchal. Orange is her Summer Sizzler colour and oh, how stylish she looks! Find all the details on her blog as above. 

Hilda has opted for orange too, wearing a shirt and jeans bought locally along with orange shoes by Clark's. She's making a fab style statement as she takes herself off for her 40th Wedding anniversary - huge congratulations to you!

I've shopped my closet for this whole outfit which always feels good. The orange strappy sandals were from H&M, gilt belt was from Primark and sunglasses are from Zara - all old.

Rings are both old as well as being pre-loved. 

My orange, turquoise and gold disk necklace was a purchase from Charlie Dodge jewellery. 

My photo-shoot was located at my second home, my husband's shed in the centre of Tresco, well off the beaten track. This is where he is working on our boat in the evenings and weekends and where I seem to be spending most of my free time too. His tiny office served as a changing room and his wing mirror worked fine for hair and make-up. His truck was a great contrast for my glam jumpsuit don't you think?

Thanks for swinging by to join our Style challenge - I do hope you've enjoyed it!

                                                                             Anna x