All-day boots

Yes, you may well be surprised to learn that these high heeled boots are indeed comfortable enough to wear all day long, but no-one was more surprised than me! As I was gathering the elements of this outfit together, I knew I needed to wear boots as the weather was forecast to go downhill over the course of the day, ending with rain by mid-afternoon. After a bit of a rummage I remembered a couple of boot boxes at the bottom of my wardrobe and lo, here were these brand new beauties! The colour is perfect for the ensemble, but I can't for the life of me remember when I bought them or why they've never been worn. I seem to recall they came from TK Maxx, but goodness knows how many years ago that was. The fact is, when I tried them on, I had a true Cinderella moment as they fit perfectly!

Just as I'm thrusting my hand into my pockets here comes a frisky little sea breeze!

Hold tight!

I'm not a huge fan of brown, but by adding the yellow silk blouse and bright orange belt, I think the overall look is more effective than if I'd gone all tonal with creams and beige for instance. I know women who look so elegant and understated in that kind of brown/beige palette.  Personally, I use the impact of pattern clashing, bold colours, frills and generally flamboyant dressing to distract the eye from my short comings. I know we're none of us a good judge of ourselves, but it's all about playing to our strengths and I think I know mine. 

Today's outfit comprises - jacket by S'NOB, skirt (vintage) by Additions, blouse by Principles petite, boots by Ravel, belt and jewellery are charity shopped and handbag is by L Credi.

Anna x

Sunday - time to chill

Last Sunday (Mothering Sunday) we had glorious sunshine but also a brisk easterly wind. I decided to make the most of the bright day and took myself out for a walk in the hope of finding a good spot to take some photos. The daffodils are still out here, but many are past their best despite it only being March. We have such mild weather on the islands that our daffs are really far ahead of mainland blooms.

I've been shopping my closet for the past three months so nothing here is new. The jeans, blouse, fluffy top and rings are all charity shopped from last year or before. My boots are from ASOS and sunglasses are by Quay Australia. As you read this I hope to be zooming around the charity shops in Harrogate laden with bags after spending most of my days at the British Craft Trade Fair. I'll be taking away the obligatory empty bags to be filled with all my loot. Maybe by this time next week I'll be posting my spoils...

See you soon!

Anna x

As suggested by...Veronica

It's a while since I ran this feature, so here we go with a pair of tights sent to me by my blogging friend Veronica. She posted them on her blog, Vronni's Style Meanderings, here. Somehow I was lucky enough to inherit them as a fabulous colourful addition to my wardrobe. Veronica wants to know what my secret is as to how to stop them falling down as they did on her. The answer, as many of you will already know, is the magical powers of big pants, a la Bridget Jones of course! Ever since I was a teenager I've worn big pants over my tights to stop them falling down. I can never work out if it's because my tights are too big/too small or if it's cos my thighs aren't like drainpipes, which causes them to always fall down, but hey, the problem is easily solved with granny pants. I'm such a glamour puss!

It's wonderful to have another spring-like morning for our photo shoot. Polly and I are getting back into the swing of things with our usual heckling and back chatting being the soundtrack to the ritual. I plan to turn the tables a few more times this year and capture some of Polly's outfits for you to see too.

My ensemble today comprises of my corduroy jacket from H&M, a Boden skirt, Ralph Lauren fairisle top, H&M paisley blouse, shoes from M&S, sunglasses from Sainsbury's, rings from a charity shop and green fresh water pearls from Almost Perfect. Many thanks Veronica for the fabulous tights which really added that extra zing to the whole look.

I'm off to the mainland tomorrow on business for a week, but will be scheduling a couple of blog posts, the first being for Sunday. Hopefully I'll manage to find something to help me break my shopping ban while I'm away (I'm giddy with excitement at the very thought of it). Harrogate is a great stamping ground for me, so fingers crossed that the ladies of the town will have cleared out their wardrobes leaving all sorts of goodies for me to find in the local charity shops.

See you next time!

Anna x

Too matchy-matchy?

How much is too much? could well be the question here today. I've put a new outfit together from some pieces that you may have seen already. For instance the stretch jeans were posted in December (see here) and the boots early this year (as here), but the jacket and tunic/dress are both new. The jacket is thrifted (aren't the pleats adorable) and I bought the dress in Sainsbury's last September, but have struggled to wear it because it's a smidgen too short. By adding the jeans underneath it feels less revealing. But the too much refers to the boots and trousers matchy-matchy thing - what do you think? Too much?

And maybe adding this little jacket is one step too far? It's so difficult to be objective when you're so close to the subject sometimes don't you think? Burgundy is a relatively new colour for me, but I do wonder if I've overdosed.

I've just realised that matchy-matchy could be the norm for lots of women. Is the problem more about me not being very conventional? My bright floral mixing the other day (see here) seems very me, and yet these three toning burgundy pieces push me out of my comfort zone. Crazy? Welcome to my upside down world!

And finally, here's an update on my sewing project. I posted this shot on instagram yesterday as I was heading off to my final class of the course. 

Here's the next stage.

Yes, it may look like the finished piece, but if I turned it over the other way you'd see that the floral side is not fitting very well at all. The piping too, is a tad on the wobbly side for my liking. My very clever tutor has shown me a couple of ways to fix things and in due course I hope to post it again for you to see. In the meantime I thought I'd share how I commute to the class on the other island. I've been dodging back and forth to St Mary's on a jetboat for the past five weeks which I suppose is like most people commuting on the train or bus. St Mary's harbour is just coming to life with more boats taking up their moorings in the bay. The Scillonian ferry stands at the end of the quay after disgorging the day trippers and other visitors who sailed across on the 2.5 hour trip from mainland Cornwall.

We're just passing Appletree Bay, one of my favourite beaches. An hour later I was down there swimming on the high tide in the afternoon sun.

Finally I'd like to say Happy Mother's Day to my readers. I hope you're being spoilt today and enjoying a lovely restful day. See you soon!

Linking with -

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Anna x

The wind doth blow!

At the start of the week I had a bit of a cream and brown thing going on outfit-wise which for that very reason meant it wasn't going to hit the headlines on the blog - way too boring! Come Tuesday morning the pressure was on to find a more upbeat, smile-inducing ensemble to lift my mood as well as to share with you. Enter stage left some winter florals. Winter and florals may be an unusual combination for some, but hey, I think they really work. See what you think...

I've only worn these (New Look) boots once over Christmas (see here) so it's good to find another outfit to work with these. I like the gold tone of the heels and how that picks up the yellow in the flowers. The peplum jacket was a find in a charity shop as was the brand new pink ostrich handbag. My coat comes from Sicily where I found it in a vintage shop (yay!) while we were on holiday. The rings are all gifts and my sunglasses are from Sainsbury's.

I know these bold florals are pretty full-on, but I also think that they're a marriage made in heaven (seemingly mixing our florals is bang on trend this spring too). Both items were sourced from charity shops last year and are from different retailers - the blouse from Next and the trousers from H&M. Each piece obviously works beautifully with a plain partner, for instance I have a baby pink cashmere polo neck that works perfectly with these pants, and likewise I've styled the top with a plain black skirt which worked fine and dandy. But, well, hey, it's just too conservative for me to dress like that every day. Sometimes I like to make more of a statement, like today. 

The wind was blowing furiously as you can tell, meaning my peplum jacket alone wasn't enough even for my short walk to work. But it was no hardship to pull my pink winter coat one more time. Spring may be here (almost) but the fierce wind that continued to rise in the course of the day really kept the temperature down. I managed to escape the worst of the wind for my morning swim by crossing to the other side of the island and heading on to Pentle Bay. New Grimsby bay, where the gallery lies as well as where Polly and I did our shoot, was hammered all day long with hail and rain showers appearing seemingly out of nowhere. 

In the course of the day the view from my office window constantly changes as the tide washes in and out and the brilliant colours of the sea change too according to the sun and cloud cover. At this moment the azure green of the water was highlighted by the contrasting raincloud that was hurtling towards us. Minutes later the brightness was gone, eclipsed by the heavy storm slapping huge dollops of rain against the window. Mother Nature often puts on a display to distract me from my admin!

Linking with -

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Laurie of Vanity And Me

Anna x