Flowers and more flowers

If you've followed my blog for any length of time you'll be aware that I hardly ever feature jeans. But hey, it's the weekend and I'm in jeans. Not just any old jeans though - embroidered ones.

So the jeans are new, from TK Maxx and I'm wearing a top that I bought last year when we were in Sicily. I couldn't resist the cheesy pairing of floral top with flowery jeans. Very hippy in my own way, but fun none the less. And then just to get my point home, I've added a very old flowery leather belt as well as my flowery sunglasses. More is more is definitely my message today. Neutral leather strappy wedge sandals are the finishing touch. 

I'm keen to hear from those of you in the know if this is a genuine Pucci piece. I'm one of these people who buys because I love it rather than for the brand, but when I went looking for a label in this, I found I'd done what I usually do which is cut out any scratchy labels. When I googled this it came up with Emilio Pucci, but I wonder if this is an imitation. No matter if it is or isn't, I still love the vibrant pattern.

I'll leave you with some shots that I took this morning before my swim. It was about 8am and the sun was well up in the sky giving some lovely dazzling images. I hope you're having a great weekend. 

Linking with -

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Cherie of Style Nudge.

Anna x

Black trouser challenge 2

If you missed the start of this self imposed challenge then rewind here to see what's driving me. This week I've added another trend from this summer, the never-out-of-fashion gingham. The blouse encapsulates another two current trends, those being frills (oh, I can't get enough of these) and statement sleeves. All of this in one supermarket scoop! 

The beauty of these trousers is that they're the perfect canvas to add a playful touch to. I've combined a bit of pattern play to today's version by way of checks, stripes and the sunglasses, and yet I still feel this has a restrained look (by my standards anyway). No riotous colours or florals here, just plain ol' black and white and yet without dropping into the boring zone. Last week Samantha commented that she thought black trousers would equate to mega yawns and zzzzzzz's but how wrong could she be! These ruffled hems could never be mistaken for boring and certainly lift these black trousers out of the ordinary.

So that's my second version which brings the cost per wear down to £20. I have no idea what I'll dream up for next week, but that's the inspiring bit for me. Creating the new look, surprising myself with a random selection of pieces that somehow bond together to make an outfit. I fancy that I may take another gentle step forwards, nothing too dramatic yet. I'd really like to think that I can entice you to try something a little out of your comfort zone too. For some that may be just popping into River Island to try these trousers on in the changing room. For others, you may send for a pair to try at home so that you can play around and see what outfits you could create. Or maybe you'll just enjoy seeing me playing dress up - well that would be lovely too!

Outfit details - trousers: River Island, blouse: George at Asda (sold out I'm afraid), shoes: New Look, belt, rings and pendant: all charity shopped, sunglasses: Quay Australia.

Please note, this is not a sponsored post. 

Anna x

5Over50 challenge round 2

Ding, ding! - round 2 of our style challenge is here. The collective have the joyful task of styling up Marvelous Metallics this month and you won't be in the least surprised to hear that this was my suggestion. Metallics feature heavily in my wardrobe and shoe collection, causing me to have a difficult time in choosing which of these to showcase. 5 over 50 are raring to go so let's get on with it, shall we?

The foundation of my outfit is this silver pleated skirt which I found in the sale at Sainsbury's some time ago. My sandals are a great match coming from TK Maxx - the brand is Xti. The tiny sequin bag was a gift from my daughter and seemed like the perfect accessory for today's challenge along with silver rings and bangle as well as my relatively new silver and gold chain which ties everything together beautifully. The simple black sweater was a good backdrop for all the shimmering metallics, and my sunglasses (another find at Sainsbury's) add just a little pop of colour.

Here's Jacqueline from Mummabstylish blog. In complete contrast to me she's taken the minimal approach to her styling of Marvellous Metallics and I know that this may have a much broader appeal - it's not for everyone to pitch up head to toe in metallics. This nod to the theme is achieved by way of the silver handbag with silver chain and a silver link watch too. Her cornflower blue scarf is patterned in silvery white too. See Jacqueline's blog here and follow her on instagram here.

Gail is totally committed to this month's challenge and I'm more than slightly envious of her outfit. The black and gold skirt is really striking on its own, but by adding a gold clutch and boots Gail is indeed embracing the marvellous of her metallics. Rock and chick come to mind when you clock the single earring, black motif tee shirt and dark sunnies. Follow her on instagram here and find her blog Is This Mutton here.

The normally conservative dresser amongst the group has to be Laurie whose classic styling always has me wishing I could be more elegant too. Today however, Laurie has drawn together gold, silver and bronze for her ode to metallics and the resulting look is pretty hot stuff, don't you think? The plain white shirt shows Laurie's expertise at knowing when enough is enough. Find Laurie's blog Vanity And Me Style here and follow her intagram account here.

Last, but by no means least is Ashley from Lazy Daisy Jones blog. The third pleated skirt of the feature is a pale gold version which she has paired up with these gorgeous silver shoes. Ashley chose her favourite colour of blue for her top and incorporated another splash of colour by way of her cute little handbag. Follow Ashley's lifestyle blog here and instagram here.

We'll be back again next month with another style challenge. I do hope you'll drop by to see what we're up to.

Linking with -

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Cherie of Style Nudge

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Anna x

Show time again!

I'm playing catch up on the blog today. It was a week ago that we opened our May exhibition at the gallery (see here for full details) with Polly and the girls in attendance. Amanda Hoskin was the only artist able to be there for the reception party which worked to her advantage as she sold all but one of her originals. We had an exceptionally busy evening which left us all buzzing. 

I wore this dark green beaded dress that's almost vintage now (19 years old) which I bought for my 40th birthday party. It wasn't what I intended to wear, but my jumpsuit failed me at the last minute when the zipper came flying off in my hand as I zipped it up. With only 10 minutes to go, I suddenly had to find something that didn't need to be ironed and that worked. After 4 attempts this came to light as my only choice. My colourful shoes and orange toned vintage necklace brought the look together in the nick of time. My floral clutch lay forgotten on the bed in the last minute rush of things. Hey ho!

Outfit details - dress: Monsoon, shoes: TK Maxx, necklace: Magpie Vintage, rings and bangle: charity shopped.

It was Ruth's turn to have a Marilyn Monroe moment. It does seem to be a tad gusty in front of the gallery this week. Ruth, Polly and Heather did a stalwart job on what was a pretty hectic evening, so thank you all very much. 

Anna x

Hurrah for 2 years of blogging!

No-one can be more surprised than me to discover that it's two years since I posted my first feature on the blog (see here). When I started out on this adventure I really had no idea how long I could keep up a good head of steam, as it were. Would I get bored? Would you get bored? Would I run out of outfits that were worthy of a photo shoot? Would I run out of ideas to keep you interested? Today these very same questions still loom over me and all I can promise is that when the joy of running this online diary starts to wane, I'll bow out gracefully before the ratings become too embarrassing to read.

In the meantime I will take a moment to gush and say thanks to my readership without whom this whole thing would be pointless. Thank you for coming back time after time to follow my antics and for the occasional email you send me out of the blue to talk to me about your life and what the blog adds to it. Hello to my lovely reader who returned from abroad to settle in Truro and was excited to visit all the same charity shops as I do - maybe we'll bump into each other one day. Hello to my far flung readers in Australia and New Zealand who are always out of sync with our season and yet still join me to see the outfit of the day. Thank you to my readership in the far East who surprise me with a massive hit of 3000 or so every six months - I wonder if I'm the subject of some college course or a network who follows me? Hello to Angela, Joan and Jude with whom I have become friends through their support by email. And a huge thank you to the blogging community for welcoming me into the body of the kirk. Your comments keep me on the right track, and encourage me when I'm not sure about my clothes or even my choices in general. The blogging world is huge and I realise that my blogging community is tiny in relation to that, but that somehow makes it all the more special. We all search out our niche, our crowd, those that we identify with most and I'm so happy to be part of a blogging family, who like many families may be too busy to catch up from time to time, but always, always regroup and are there to support each other.

Last of all, let's not forget that a blog is only as good as its photographs and mine are always better when Polly is around to do the honours.

Thanks to her for her ideas, advice and technical skills and most of all for her ability to make me laugh! Poor Polly is a captive audience, forced into the position by default, but takes on the role with enthusiasm and good humour every time. In these last few shots she captured the fun when the wind decided to play havoc with my skirt and despite my warnings she just carried on snapping anyway. Thank you Polly x

Outfit details - top: H&M, skirt: vintage, Jaeger, net petticoat: eBay, shoes: TK Maxx, belt: Dorothy Perkins, clutch and rings: charity shopped, bangle: gift, necklace: Noel, sunglasses: Quay Australia.

Anna x