Citrus Zara co-ord

Hi there, and how are you today? I'm sporting my beautiful Zara suit here, the one that looks much more green in real life but still shows up as yellow on screen. Citrus therefore covers the colour description perfectly and more importantly the look is smart and stylish. Of course it could be that I'm a bit colour blind when it comes to this particular shade...

When I bought the suit two years ago (on Vinted) I had to adjust the trousers - see that post here - but then last year one of the trouser darts started to come apart and I've only recently fixed it. The crunchy boucle fabric is not as robust as it seems and is liable to unravel. Not only that when I took the trousers to a sewing shop in Truro for some advice they said that hand sewing is by far the best way to deal with any repairs on this type of fabric, which is what I've just recently done.

And at last I found the right outfit to add this Vinted blouse to. I love the sunglasses girls as a pattern and the colour is rather fab too. The viscose fabric came up really well with an wash and iron so you may well be seeing it on the blog again soon.

This was my work outfit for Friday, one of those perfectly sunny days that just had us all swooning at the view as I stood at the desk at work. 

My yellow beaded bag by Dune was a great match for this week's outfit again along with my Emily Nixon rings - I must try to mix my jewellery up a bit better, but that's a whole other story.

My sunglasses are by Radley and the necklace is from Accessorize. 

My Dr Martens work beautifully with the trouser suit aside from being easy to wear, and always draw a compliment or two. 

Fiona was back behind the camera this week after last week's photobombing. That's not to say that we didn't suffer the same problem this time - they just didn't make it onto the blog! I'll leave you with a fabulous shot taken from last week when the island was looking as perfect as you could get. These are the pinch-me days when I really can't believe how lucky I am to live here.

This month I celebrate 11 years of blogging so I really must gather together a variety of outfits to share with you. It seems that my decade of blogging was missed in the flurry that it a working life therefore I must make amends this year. Sit tight and I'll be back soon!

                                                                            Anna x

Polka Dots our SNA challenge for April

Hello again and welcome to our Monthly Style Not Age challenge. Emma plumped for Polka Dots this time which was a tricky one for me as my only polka dots come in the form of these poodle polka dot brogues. So let's check out what the other ladies came up, shall we?

Jacqui is showcasing her new jumpsuit from Peacocks - a great addition to her wardrobe for its versatility. Check out Jacqui's backstory on her blog Mummabstylish.

Emma is a lady after my own heart as most of her outfit has been bought from Vinted, therefore we know it'll be a bargain as well as the greener option. See more on Style Splash.

Hilda styled her polka dot shirt with well cut denim jeans and accessories in leopard print for a very sleek look. Do swing by her blog for more about her outfit on Over The Hilda blog.

My entire look was bought on Vinted, but the joy was in pulling the various elements together to create this casual but fun look. The shoes are by Irregular Choice, a brand well known for the outlandish and over-the-top fashion. What can be more fun that poodles and polka dots!

The yellow cotton sweater is by Zara, a boxy shape with long sleeves and chunky cuffs. The blue and yellow trousers have no label, but the pattern echoes the polka dots nicely.

Preloved rings and Radley sunglasses complete this casual look. Steve did the honours with the photography this week...

 ...but Fiona wasn't going to be left out and appeared stage left with the perfect goofing about photobomb. 

Seconds later our neighbour's cat followed suit. Maybe my fault for choosing to pose on one of the busiest corners on the island! So that pretty much winds up this month's challenge. I do hope you've enjoyed our efforts and if you did, please leave me a comment.

                                                                        Anna x

My new spring coat by Masai

Hello and sorry for posting so late this week, but it's been a bit of a hectic one! I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say that I'm like the proverbial swan, appearing to glide along effortlessly while in fact there's a whole lot of paddling away underneath the surface. Anyway, I was really keen to share this rather wonderful new (to me) spring coat by Masai, a brand I've not come across until now. Well, I say now, when in fact I found this beautiful coat in a charity shop last autumn and I was wowed by not just the fabric, but also the oversized shape and of course the fabulous colour. Would you believe that it only cost me £10? Bargain of the year I'd say!

The lining too deserves a mention which is why I've turned the sleeves up to created these striped cuffs. The fabric of the coat defies my descriptive powers, but it's like a very tight crinkle type material. Hopefully someone out there will be able to tell me what that might be... The size is very oversized as it an XXL, but that is part of it's charm as far as I'm concerned as I do love the feeling of lots of room and it's perfect for wearing over the top of a big sweater or in this case over a suit jacket without it being a squeeze.

Another joyful element of today's look is my Jean Muir suit. It reminds me of my primary school teacher who always wore a woollen suit like this, but it was less flamboyant of course and always with a more fitted skirt. She referred to it as not a suit but a costume - it's funny how nearly 60 years on and I still remember that. Maybe she was a style influencer of her time.

Much as I absolutely love this suit I'm very aware that it could look a bit conservative for me, hence my adding this vibrant bodysuit to lift it out of the ordinary. All of the colours pop and leave no doubt about what this look is all about - fun!

The chunky yellow necklace also adds to the funky look along with my blue Oliver Bonas sunglasses. I was really happy with the final result.

I adore this cute little handbag. The beaded handles add character which I love. The brand is Dune but I found it in TK Maxx a few years ago. My rings of the moment are both by Emily Nixon.

My yellow tights were from Snag and trainers were from ASOS some time ago. They both work perfectly with the outfit. And best of all, wearing trainers to work kept my feet happy all day long.

So that's it! My new spring coat is bit of corker, isn't it? Much as I love summer I don't want it to come too quickly as I'd like to drift about in this dream of a coat for a little while longer.

I must add that on Monday we're about to face our Monthly Style Challenge for April. I've somehow missed the earlier prompts so I'm now off to search through my closet to see what I can come up with. Please do join me again for this. In the meantime, have a great weekeend!

                                                                                Anna x

Fun with pattern play

Hot off the press - this is today's work outfit! A comment from my blogging friend about last week's offering was pretty accurate about my rather tame trousers; so thank you Sheila for your constructive criticism! It spurred me on to work a bit harder with this week's post.

I spent more time on curating the outfit than ironing this time and I do believe it paid off. There's nothing new here, but that's not to say that it's not a fun offering. I'm delighted to say that this does spark joy for me and was much appreciated by a couple of lovely ladies too while I was serving them at work. One of them remarked that she would never have put these patterns plus the necklace together, but what a raving success it was - praise indeed for my pattern play!

The jacket and trousers are both by Zara, both second hand, and the H&M shirt was a charity shop buy some time ago, but I think this may be its first appearance on the blog. The necklace is from Topshop many moons ago and the purple stretch belt is very old too. Once again I'm wearing my two Emily Nixon rings as is my wont at the moment.

My sunglasses are old too, but still rather lovely - they're by Radley London. I'm not sure this is the most flattering of my snaps but it does show up the pattern play perfectly.

It's the first time this year for me to wear sandals; these were featured heavily last year I fancy as they're pretty much my favourite sandals of the moment. I bought them on Vinted and would love to find them again in another colourway, but no joy as yet.

Fiona did the honours taking the photos today at the end of our working day. We were caught up in the end of day rush hour although our idea of rush hour and yours will probably be many miles apart. Anyway, Fiona attracted attention as she was kneeling down for some shots and a lady approached her enquiring if she was on her knee proposing to me... We were quite tickled by that.

                                                                                    Anna x

Drinks party

Wednesday evenings are our drinks party nights at Gallery Tresco and this was my outfit from the latest one. I have a quick break after the dayshift, drink a cuppa and then I search for inspiration as to what to wear for the evening do. My outfit is usually led by the weather, in particular the temperature as I hate to be cold, but also dread to overheat. 

It had been a beautiful sunny day which turned into a golden balmy evening so that formed my decision to opt for this lightweight duster coat. I altered it two years ago (see the full post here) and don't seem to have worn it again since.

I was about to say, I can't imagine why I've not worn it, but really I think it's because it's so dressy and I really don't have many occasions to swan about in it - apart from Gallery parties! Anyway, I've set myself the challenge to get more wear out of it this year.

Underneath the coat I'm wearing a pair of nicely fitted (Primark) trousers that I was about to cull, but I decided to try them on first and - they look absolutely fine! The only problem with them is that they're a manmade fibre and have to be ironed on a cool setting plus they were very creased from sitting packed up in a suitcase for months on end. All in all, it took amost 25 minutes to get them smoothed out enough to wear. Maybe that's why I was getting rid of them...

The cream lace bodysuit was a Vinted purchase from either last summer or the previous one, but whichever it has been a really useful addition to my wardrobe as I wear it lots. I added a stretch beaded belt, very old from Tu, as the colours seemed to tie in well and I seem to be partial to a stretchy belt to pull a look together. None of my jewellery is new, but the necklaces were spot on colourwise to wear with the shimmering coat. The short one with cowrie shells is by Julian Warrender (bought from the Gallery) and the long one is my much loved Dancing Girl from years ago, by Charlie Dodge, also from Gallery Tresco. Both my rings are by Emily Nixon. Sunglasses are old, from Radley London.

I was delighted to pair the jacket with my MOMA fabric boots as one of the toes has the same fabulous turquoise shade as the coat. All in all, the outfit is very me and therefore I rated it as a success, and that's all that matters. I don't rely on compliments or feedback from others - of course, that's lovely and a bonus - but all I need is to see something in the mirror that makes me smile (or sometimes even dance) and I know I've got it right. 

And finally, I must thank Rachel for taking my blog photos after the party was over. We'd had a successful evening with not too many guests and most of them were happy to stand outside with a drink in hand, chatting and enjoying the view. It was a lovely end to the day - happy guests and Rachel and I wandered off home to bask in the afterglow of a job well done. Oh, and here's that view...

Thanks for swinging by and do come again!

Anna x

Muted shades for March

Hello and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge! This month Jacqui chose Muted shades for March, a lovely choice indeed. I've shopped my closet for my outfit but it'll be new to you as the cardigan and jeans have been stashed away from some months now. First though, let's do the honours with my fashionable friends to see what they came up with.

So here's Jacqui's outfit, a lovely combination from Cotton Traders. The muted shades work so well with Jacqui's dark hair and colouring. Hop across to read her blog post on Mummabstylish. 

More muted separates from Emma... The multicoloured cardigan is from Vinted, trousers are from ASOS and trainers are by Puma. Check out her back story on The Style Splash blog.

Hilda is sporting a pale pink two piece from Vinted along with jeans by Frame. She was attending the launch of a spring collection from Avoca. See more about this on Over The Hilda.

My jeans were a charity shop find, the brand is Berksha and they are super comfy thanks to the back of them being elasticated - oh dear, is this my age showing? The cotton cardigan is from TK Maxx and is the perfect spring layer as it's lightweight and such a pretty colour.

My floral Dr Marten boots are making a regular appearance on the blog and I have no apologies for that as I love 'em!

The pop of blue thanks to my Oliver Bonas sunglasses add a certain charm to the outfit. The rings are both old and preloved, but are still a great addition to the look. The gold chain necklace is also an old piece of jewellery.

It was such a treat to see the sunshine when we took these snaps last weekend. Fingers crossed that Easter will bring some equally lovely weather too. Thanks for swinging by!

                                                            Anna x