It's time for the Mermaid coat's summer appearance!

Yes, it's that time of year again! For my new readers, and hopefully I do have some of these, I have this summer event where I take my Mermaid coat off to the beach and have a photo shoot for no other reason than I like to. Increasingly I view my blog as my personal online diary, probably because I'm aware that times and trends change and eventually this might become for my eyes only. For that reason alone, I want to document the evolution of myself over the years, capture the passage of time, but most of all to see the happy memories from a very happy life.

I suddenly find myself, at the grand old age of 67, to be much more self concious, more aware of a softness of my body, a lack of tone, as my battle with time becomes more apparent. As Steve took these snaps, I felt a coyness perhaps, as I struggled to reveal the truth of myself.

How foolish to be shy in front of him, but really it was because I knew I felt awkward to reveal myself to you.

Little by little...

...as one pose unfolded after another, I relaxed, realising how silly it was to hide when my intention was really to share with honesty what a 67 year old body looks like.

You can read my discomfort here, the awareness of that gooshy tummy, those lumpy thighs - what am I doing?

Trying to hide and reveal at the same time, to feign confidence, wishing that my body wasn't telling this particular story.

I'm nothing if not honest and this post has to be one of my most honest this year. I owe you my honesty simply because you're interested enough to show up. Thank you. I could easily have edited this post to show you glimpes, nothing that revealed how age and motherhood have impacted on me, but trickery isn't what I'm about.

The fact of the matter is that I love our beach days. I love the feeling of the sun on my skin, the freedom a bikini offers, the illusion of still being beach body ready. I'm probably hyper critical, but I have ridiculously high standards in most things - that's who I am.

And thank God for Steve! He's never tried to dissuade me nor cajole me, but has always supported my choices of subject and outfits, allowing me to test myself, express myself even if it might feel uncomfortable. Will this be my last bikini shoot? Only time will tell.

                                                                            Anna x

My mermaid dress

Helloooooo!

Yes, here it is, my mermaid dress. I've had this stashed away in my wardrobe since last summer when I found the silk beaded beauty in a charity shop in Truro and was delighted to pay £12 for it. The brand is Scala and it still had the dry cleaning label attached, therefore felt like an absolute bargain. The moment I saw it, I envisaged a sea themed shoot somewhere, wondering if I might be able to swim in the heavily beaded gown without having an underwater camera to catch the whispy hemline floating behind me. 

I know that this gown isn't quite as sensational as my other mermaid outfit (see here), but it still conjured up watery images when I found it. The ragged hemline is akin to a tail perfect for dousing in the wash of the waves. The previous owner donated this to their local charity shop probably expecting it be whisked off on holiday, perhaps as cruise wear and here I am wrecking it in the sea! In fact, the dress recovered very well, with no staining at all. 

I was quite relieved that there was no-one else on the sandbar to see my antics as I skipped and splashed around in the sea. This was the second photo shoot (catch the first one here) and had involved a quick outfit change and attempt at hair taming in the breeze for this very al fresco session.

I had earmarked this sandbar for a photoshoot last July when Steve and I had spent the day on St Martin's. I had espied the pure white spit of sand and it conjured up all sorts of romantic images of me in something equally glamorous. See the post here when the sandbar revealed itself in the beautiful heart shaped form. 

I'm once again wearing my favourite Quay Australia sunglasses. The necklace was another charity shop piece costing me all of £6.99. This whole outfit is testament to the joy of thrift shopping and how it can help one create a look of individuality. Things that crop up in charity shops are mostly well out of fashion and not available on the high street which is why I prefer to shop this way, making my look unique to me which is surely what we all aim for.

                                                                                                      Anna x