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

The Ted Baker skirt gets to party at last!

Welcome to my first post of 2020

Hello my dear friends. Have you had a lovely time over the festive period? I do hope so. I've had a super time, both at work and at home. Today I hosted a New Year's party at the Gallery giving me the perfect excuse to finally allow this gorgeous Ted Baker skirt time to shine. The skirt has featured twice on the blog before (here and here), as a Cinderella piece never quite making it to the party. Today however, it finally debuted. Not only that, this rebirth is, in my humble opinion, the best style version too.

I bought the skirt back in the summer of 2018 from TK Maxx when it was reduced from £200 to £50, proving to be too much of a bargain to be missed. But somehow that top line price meant I kept it for best, forever waiting for that special occasion to bring it out. The trouble with putting that invisible label of "special" onto something makes it well nigh impossible for the perfect event to come along. 

The robust wind played with the floaty tulle of the skirt.

Now that I've broken the spell, I can't wait to bring the skirt out again. It drew lots of compliments both for the pattern and shape and it felt such a feminine piece to wear. 

I came across these beautiful Italian courts when I was in Truro in the spring. From a charity shop and brand new, the £20 asking price was another bargain I found irresistible. The moment I saw them I knew how beautifully they would match with this skirt. Too matchy-matchy? I beg to differ.

The left hand ring was from an airport concession and the other is a pre-loved piece. Sunglasses are by Quay Australia. 

The chiffon blouse is a well worn favourite of mine (from TK Maxx) and the belt is a second hand buy.

I'd love to claim that this fabulous Ted Baker skirt was the star of the show today, but the truth is that the Tresco Choir stole that accolade. They performed at both of the parties held in the Gallery over the festive season as well as lots of other venues and were the highlight of every event. 

Fingers crossed that the video uploads!

Anna x

Ted Baker skirt

Here's another outfit from my birthday weekend. If you missed all the fun then you can catch up on the celebrations here. Just before Christmas I bought this rather splendid Ted Baker skirt that I scooped up in TK Maxx when it was discounted by 75%. Too good a bargain to miss I say! The moment I saw it I instantly knew that I wanted to wear it over my birthday weekend, and this is how I did.

The skirt is the only new piece of the outfit. The red sock boots from H&M have been worth the money already and are still favourites of mine. The shirt was from Sainsbury's last year and is becoming a classic piece for me. 

I added the bright cerise belt to bring out the pink of the blooms. It was an eBay purchase for under a fiver which is another great bargain. I just love that pop of colour!

I had coerced Steve into being my photographer this day and I really ought to have taken a shot of him. Here was I in my flimsy shirt and flouncy skirt braving the elements on this windswept balcony and Steve was bundled up in his winter coat, heavy boots and flat cap - talk about contrasts!

The little row of cottages behind me are called Blockhouse Cottages and this is where Steve grew up and lived until we married. We had a little boat moored in the bay below the house and would spend our weekends buzzing around the tiny uninhabited islands, fishing, shrimping on the low tides and having picnics on deserted beaches. And now that our children are all grown up we're back revisiting those times during the summer months and still counting our blessings for this idyllic lifestyle.

This lovely crystal pendant was a charity shop find, the triangle ring was from Sainsbury's and the oval one was from East many moons ago. 

Looking at this now, I can see that this would make a great outfit for one of my gallery exhibitions. I understand that the fashion for sock boots will fade, but as you probably know I'm not a slave to fashion and will wear this particular trend well past its sell by date. I think that surely has to be one of the perks of being a mature style blogger; I can fall in love with a trend and just add to to my own list of classics without feeling pressured to move onto the next must-have piece.

I can't believe that it's already two weeks since this wonderful party weekend. That wistful look on my face was me trying to capture the moment and hold it dear. Thank goodness I have lots of photos to remind me of those special times with all of the people who helped to make it so. Next month Steve and I have one final joint treat to mark our 60th birthdays. We're off to London to see Paloma Faith in concert at the O2. This will be our first ever concert which is quite funny at our age. None the less, it's an exciting thought and hopefully will be all that we could imagine. We'll be off-island for a week, so rest assured I'll bring back lots of imagery from the trip for you to see.

Enjoy your weekend!

Anna x