Style Scientist

Hello again! Yes, I'm back after my mini break at home where sewing was the name of the game. It was glorious, stressful, frustrating and a joy, as well as a battle as I struggled to overcome my personal limitations with both machine and brainpower, but mostly it was fun. 

Here I am wearing my new jacket, lined in burgundy satin to give it a bit of both body and style. This was one of my minor sewing projects, causing me less of a headache than others. Initially I'd planned on lining this £6 Vinted three quarter length jacket in a baby pink satin fabric but it didn't excite me so I regrouped, coming up with the clever idea of buying a satin dressing gown to repurpose instead. This meant that I had the basics already in place - seams all sewn and in the right places too. 

I removed the sleeves using only the body of the material to line the jacket, attaching it to the neckline and sides. It's a fab new addition to my wardrobe, especially at this time of year as my annual clothes changeover happens. 

Anyway, I'll be peppering my blog with other lovely sewing successes in due course, but today I wanted to say thank-you to a kind blog follower and friend who recently came to chat with me in the Gallery. Rosemary has coined the phrase, Style Scientist, applying it to me. According to her my experiments with clothes and accessories do have a place in the style choices of the likes of her and many others who follow my blog or pop in to see what I'm wearing while they're on holiday. She said that my recent neon boots (see here) were an inspiration for her and even though she considers herself fairly conservative in her dressing she said that these boots could earn a place in her wardrobe. I recently wore them with a pair of black jeans and a simple crew neck black sweater especially with Rosemary in mind - it was a cool look, even if I say so myself!

The explosion of colours in the jacket acted as a springboard for today's outfit. I've run with the patterns and embroidery stories too which give this a very maximalist look - I'm sure that Iris Apfel would have been proud of me! Sometimes you just have to submit to the more is more mode of dressing, and if my happy dressing is infectious then that's an absolute bonus.

I'm wearing my pale pink Replay trainers (old, from TK Maxx) along with this new shopper that Sasha recently gave me. She's on a big clear out like me, which suits me fine if I'm going to benefit from pieces like this!

My rings are both very old, pre-loved and worn with my only other accessory, my Quay Australia sunglasses. The lace blouse is old, from Zara a few year's ago and the trousers are from Vinted.

Photo bombing continues to be a favourite sport for some of the locals ...

... many thanks to Mitch and Lorna for pepping things up! But maybe I ought to stop being a sitting duck.

So that's the latest from me. I'll be back on Monday, the last one of the month which means it'll be time for our Style Not Age Challenge. Please do swing by if you get a moment.

                                                                        Anna x

Gone sewing!

Thank you for coming, but sorry, I've taken a week off work and blogging and life in general to satiate my need to sew! I have lots of upcycling, mending and making planned and know that I'll only achieve a fraction of it, but goodness what fun it is to be sitting at my machine for hours at a time. I'll be back next week and hope to show you some of the results - providing they're a success of course!

                                                                        Anna x

Sieze the day!

The sun came out today making it a no-brainer for Fiona and I to capture some images for the blog. We finished work and wandered along the road towards the quay at New Grimsby to escape from the brisk north wind. Tucked in behind the hedge we dodged across the road and onto the last patch of sand as the incoming tide swallowed up the beach.

I've been itching to wear these new boots since they arrived in the post last week. Rain and yet more rain meant it's been impossible to get outside for blog photos, so today's bright sunshine was too good to resist. I've paired the neon bright flatforms with a yellow ribbed body underneath my soft green tweed shorts suit (from Primark). Boots, tights and body are all from Vinted. 

I can't explain the appeal of these chunky workwear boots as my latest passion. My son did question how these and my orange ones have become my style statement of the moment and I really can't answer that; I just know that I love them!

Nothing new accessories-wise this time. Necklaces are old/pre-loved, as are my rings and sunglasses, but that's not to say that they're not well considered to match the outfit of the day.

Fiona had a bit of a surprise as a wave suddenly swept round about her - luckily she was wearing her wellies!

 

I chose orange as my other accent colour today. The handbag is by Oliver Bonas and the coat is one of my new winter buys - it's by Superdry and was brand new from Vinted at a cost of £60.

Fiona kindly told me that I look like a bright orange caterpiller. She may be right, but the coat is all about keeping warm and if that means I have to sacrifice some style in order to keep cosy then so be it!

                                                                    Anna x

Sunshine and showers

Hello again! Today I'm trying to find a plus with the British weather and that can only be the excuse to buy a new weatherproof jacket and wellington boots. The orange jacket is by Barbour and cost me £40 (brand new from Vinted) as were the Joules wellies. 

My ongoing wardrobe clear-out has extended to the downstairs coat cupboard now where I'm dejunking like a frenzied idiot, getting rid of coats that I've had for years despite never wearing them. In their place I'm replenishing my coat collection with all sorts of lovely (and mostly orange) coats and jackets. I'm suddenly aware that my next milestone birthday will see me becoming 70 and am trying to buy coats that will be useful to me at that time of life. Mostly, I'm slightly worried that I'll be an true OAP by then and may not be able to afford a good winter coat or two.

My friend Fiona and I hooked up for a lunchtime walk yesterday, timing it perfectly between the showers. It was still a good chance to test drive my boots as we hopped around the large puddles that have grown to almost mini-lake size after this dreadfully wet winter. The jacket was on its first outing too and proved to be light and yet fully windproof too. Steve has a few, very old, Barbour jackets and all of them are very heavy, never mind terribly dull in that boring old greenish brown colour.

This look is great compromise of style and functionality. The jeans are new too (from Vinted) and are by Twiggy for M&S. The fit is great as they have a bit of stretch in them, perfect for our yomp around the island. The white top is old as are the sunglasses.

The wellie boots are so cute, don't you think? I couldn't help but show them alongside our local daffodils. Spring is truly here!

My Zara necklace was a birthday gift last year and the rings are pre-loved and also very old. Easter has come and gone and the island is full of happy families enjoying island life despite the changeable weather. Personally I'm fed up with the rain and am very keen to do my clothes changeover, but can't justify it yet. In the meantime, my love affair with Vinted continues as I find temptation only a click away. My other passion currently is sewing and I hope to post some images for you to see next time. I've upcycled a pair of pink corduroy jeans and am working on a beautiful summer duster coat that's too big and is proving a battle to alter. That said, I do so enjoy the challenge of how to approach these items to make them fit. 

Thanks for joining me and Happy Easter!

Anna x

Homage to Iris, our Style Not Age challenge for March

Earlier this month the designer, decorator and style icon, Iris Apfel died at the age of 102, leaving behind a wealth of imagery to inspire the fashion lovers amongst us. Her viewpoint that "colour can raise the dead" sums up her dedication to powerful dressing. Iris enjoyed finding a bargain and never paid full price for her clothes or jewellery, trawling shops, flea markets and bazaars for unique pieces to add to her immense collection. To quote the Guardian Obituary, "She is the most decorative sight in each shot, her ensembles put together with complex cadenzas atop an underlying, tailored, structure - they are like jazz - not a statement, but a conversation."

A chestful of jewellery was her most favoured look and one that I've taken to heart for this month's challenge. I felt I simply had to choose Iris as our theme this month for all the right reasons. She stated that money couldn't buy personal style - according to her all that mattered is "attitude, attitude, attitude". Curating her clothes and improvising an outfit was her daily ritual, a joy, resulting in a 'zingy pzazz' unlike any other. 

I love Hilda's interpretation of this month's theme - I'm sure Iris would have approved too! The colourful shirt is fabulous adorned with bangles, beads and baubles in excess. See more from Hilda on her blog here. 

Another splash of colour in these citrus brights comes from Gail in her sporty homage to Iris. Catch up with all the latest from Gail on her blog Is This Mutton? 

Jacqui has taken a monochrome twist for her homage to Iris. Beads and bangles inject that signature pzazz to her dress and boots combo. See Mummabstylish for Jacqui's latest news.

Emma is sporting her Iris Apfel suit from the H&M collaboration (which I too proudly own) plus matching slippers topped with a fabulous jacket and Iris earrings. What a fitting homage to the Queen of Style! Emma carries the look off with true panache. See more on her blog The Style Splash. 

I bought this new suit with today's feature in mind as the colours and pattern are as bold as you get. Purchased on Vinted for the bargain basement price of £10 I thought it tied in with Iris's shopping philosophy too. 

The leather boots were also Vinted bargains at only £6 leaving me feel rather pleased with myself. I only managed to wear them for a few hours, but I felt they were essential to finish off the outfit.

Dressing fancy and fancy dress could so easily be confused, but hopefully I don't cross that line with my outfit of the day. I wore this to work last week to our first Timeshare drinks party and it did garner me some compliments rather than raised eyebrows.

I'm currently waiting for my copy of the book Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverant Iris Apfel and can't wait to feast my eyes on her exuberantly idiosyncratic style.  I was a latecomer to her fan club, but she epitomised all that I aspire to be - bold, bright with I-couldn't-care-less-what-you-think-of-me style where age is totally irrelavant to how one ought to dress. Every photo of her spoke of her joy in dressing up for the day, the pleasure to be had in mixing colours, fabrics and textures, no matter from what era or corner of the globe. I admired her strength, her self-knowledge and complete disregard to the self limiting rules of dressing. She truly was an inspiration and an icon. 

                                                                        Anna x

Hurrah for the sunshine!

Wow, what a difference a little bit of sunshine makes! I honestly can't begin to explain how much the sunny weather on Sunday made to my mood. Not only that, but I took myself off to the beach on Saturday morning to swim on the high tide despite the fact that it was tipping down with rain. The sea was glorious - chilly, yes - but the isolation that the sea offers; the sense of escape and ultimately the watery meditation that the big blue provides is the best therapy ever. I returned to Green Porth on Sunday morning and repeated the whole process with even more delight as I didn't have to struggle to get dressed in the downpour as on Saturday.

I sometimes forget the importance of pushing myself to make time to swim, forgetting that the payback is immediate and also long lasting. From day to day all I need to do is succumb to the restorative powers of the ocean to feel 100% me again. Without this daily regime I do indeed go downhill mentally and wonder if that's similar to an drug addict craving their next hit. Whatever, if you hear me complain about feeling low, please remind me to get to the sea!

The outfit of the day all comes from Vinted. Second hand satisfies my desire to reduce landfill and Vinted is also helping me reduce my own dejunking efforts too - it's a win/win. The top is by Adidas, leggings are by Stronger and the green boots have no brand or labels on them but are brand spanking new.

I love the soft green colour of these and they are super soft and very comfy. I've thrown this look together without too much notice as to if all the colours work together - it's a fun outfit, a weekend play look and I love it!

The rings are old, pre-loved too and the sunglasses are by Radley London. I played on the ramparts of the Old Blockhouse castle, enjoying the space on this brilliant sunny afternoon. What a joy!

The rest of my weekend comprised of batch cooking for the freezer, cleaning, defrosting the freezer and the Sunday roast dinner. Two swims and a lovely walk in the sunshine far outweighed the weekend chores which is surely a sign of me getting the balance right. Many thanks for swinging by again.

Have a super week!

Anna x

Thank you for coming!

Hello and thank you so much for coming. Today's post has been delayed for no other reason than that I'm struggling with too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Frankly, I'm exhausted. BUT, I owe it to you, my lovely reader, to say thank you for keeping coming back to check if I'm around. I'm writing this during my lunchtime as by the evening I seem to be too tired to think. The run-up to the new season on the island seems to have drained all my reserves. I'm too tired to swim despite the fact that it generates energy in me. Mentally I can't face anything beyond the essentials in life. I'm so sorry to start in such a downbeat tone, but I want to be honest with you. 

The photos are from Sunday, Mother's Day, which was an absolute joy! I spent some time in the morning sewing the hems of these new jeans. They're by Next, via Vinted, and had those ragged unfinished hems, so I decided to add some bias binding tape to finish them off. You'll see that in the photo below.

I'm pretty sure a professional seamstress would have chosen a yellow tape to blend in but my stock is very sparse, hence it had to be orange. I'm not unhappy with the result to be fair. It's probably what you'd expect from me given that it's my favourite colour.

We went for pre-lunch drinks (with complimentary bunch of daffs for the mums) with the extended family at the New Inn and then went on, the four of us, to have lunch at the Ruin Beach Cafe. The outfit comprises of a jacket that Steve gave me for my birthday, an orange vest top (old) and these jeans with Amazon sparkly belt, plus fab new leather boots from Vinted.

The cute yellow handbag is by Dune, purchased from TK Maxx quite a while ago, but this is its first outing. I love the pretty beaded handle and the size is very cute too. I must love you and leave you now as it's time to go back to work. Thank you so much for coming - it means a lot to me!

                                                                               Anna x