Do your own thing!

I'm a little late posting this week due to having a nasty tummy bug since Monday. I'm on the mend now, weak as a kitten, but no longer lying prone which is progress. Being forced to stop is no bad thing sometimes, although this wasn't exactly stopping if you get what I mean. As I was resting this morning I read an article in a recent You Magazine about Lorraine Kelly and her quote really resonated with me - maybe with you too?

You Magazine 15th April 2018

I bet we all feel an affinity with this wonderful lady who has become a household name. As a fellow Scot I feel proud that this lovely lass rose from the provinces to take London by storm, ending up wearing the crown of breakfast TV, all the while remaining grounded and reassuringly ordinary. I agree with Lorraine when she says, " One of the few consolations of growing older is that you have far more self-confidence than when you were young."

Take the following outfit - 

In my formative years I read in Jackie magazine (the style bible for my teenage years) that only the most flat chested Twiggy-esque types could wear smock dresses/coats. I took this to heart as my own chest blossomed beyond the reach of this particular fashion. Even now as an assertive, self possessed woman I still carry all these rules around with me when I go shopping. But lately I thank goodness for being able to counter these style restrictions with the "who gives a damn?" of maturity.

There were so many features that attracted me to this duster coat/swing coat when I found it in Harrogate recently - the checked pattern, the colourway, the darling pleated hem, the bow-tied sleeves, the patch pockets - all of which countered the fact that it was a smock coat. I'm not what you'd call busty, but the fabric falling from the bust can only make you look bigger and vanity usually gets the better of me, however in this case this entirety won me over. 

And thank goodness for that, cos isn't it just the sweetest thing ever!

I had thought that this was a vintage find, but like my dear blogging friend Sheila I took a moment to research the label and found that it's an American brand and is the sister company to Fovever21. And it's a scoop at £15!

No matter how I tried I couldn't get the big hair and big coat to swing in the same direction!

As you can see I've totally embraced the whole smock thing here with the empire line top by Cameo Rose (preloved). I used the cream tone of the lace to inform my choice of trousers; the F&F wide legged crops were in the autumn sale last year for £5. And the shoe boots were an obvious when I picked up the coat - yellow and blue in checks and florals - of course they go!

Today's jewellery is all preloved although the sunglasses are new from Quay Australia.

And to finish off I'd love to have my soundtrack for this post from my favourite artist Paloma Faith. The track is called "Make your own kind of music" see here. The remake of the hit by Mama Cass is perfect for those of us who appreciate an anthem on our journey of self expression. Until next time ...

Anna x

Very Yootha Joyce!

Hello again and thanks for dropping by. Here's an outfit from last week that really made me smile. The pink blouse is a vintage piece that's been featured on the blog many times before which is hardly surprising as it's totally fabulous, even if I say so myself.

It's a couple of years since I found this frothy delight in a charity shop in Exeter, but my love affair with it hasn't waned. One of my readers once commented that it reminds them of the British sitcom "George and Mildred", and after a quick search on Dougal (as my sisters and I have renamed a certain large search engine), I did indeed find Yootha Joyce wearing a version of this.

Vintage glamour at its best!

I chose to wear these culottes for the sprinkling of pink within the blooms and these sock boots to pick up the yellow tones too. I found the (brand new) culottes in a charity shop, donated from the retailer because the zip was broken. The British Red Cross shop in Truro benefits from this system where retailers pass on these flawed items which are then offset against their taxes. Everybody wins!

Oh how I love a bit of patten play! Boots are from Primark, trousers from H&M.

Polly and I somehow managed to forget the shot of me with my blue leather biker jacket, ho hum!

Almost all of my accessories are preloved, apart from the necklace which is made by jeweller Charlie Dodge who creates contemporary pieces from glass beads and semi precious stones. Follow the link through to her website here.

Yup, this is me beating a hasty retreat as a tractor comes hurtling along.

And here's where I spent the latter part of the afternoon today. I work until 4 on Sundays, giving me just enough time to scoot off on my bike to find a quiet spot to chill. This is Appletree Bay and as you can see it's rather idyllic. How lucky am I that within five minutes I can be on a deserted beach like this? It's also the beach of choice for me in the mornings for my swim mainly because regardless of whether it's high or low tide, there's always enough water in this bay that doesn't entail me having to wade too far reach deep water.

Summer toes.

The jet boats on the islands are the same as taking a taxi on the mainland plus the thrill of the speed. And that's about it for today. I'll be back again midweek, so do drop in again!

This week I'll be linking with -

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Jacqui of Mummabstylish

Anna x

Done and dusted!

Hello and happy Thursday to you all! Yes, I'm delighted to say that the big wardrobe changeover is done and dusted. But before I show you the results, I'll share an outfit that's not made an appearance previously.

I fancied a change from all the dazzling colours I've been touting lately, opting for a monochrome palette today instead. Plain ol' black and white wasn't quite exciting enough for me though so I chose checks and stripes to enliven the look. I've had this (boohoo) jumpsuit for almost a year now without it seeing the light of day. I found it in a charity shop last summer, but struggled to wear it as it was strapless. When I came across it at the back of my wardrobe earlier this month I decided to see if I could make it wearable. At the bottom of my sewing box I found some discarded straps and a few stitches later all was sorted.

The striped top is actually a body; perfect for wearing under a jumpsuit as it saves all that annoying tucking in. This one came from TK Maxx in Harrogate: the label says Mira & Co and is made in Italy. I somehow think it's going to be a very useful piece.

You'll have seen these courts before, they're from New Look.

I'm hoping that by next month the storm boards behind me will be removed allowing Polly and I an uninterrupted view across the bay to Bryher as well as giving us easy access to the beach. High tides and big sea swells have brought lots of seaweed up and over the boards, even this month, but rumour has it that summer is on the way ...

Black and white needn't be boring; the silver and black accessories help to make this interesting. I found the two spiky metal rings in the Harrogate spree, the necklace is preloved too, but was from Truro and the studded belt was a gift from my friend in Portugal. I do have a large range of jewellery and belts as I think having just the right piece can make all the difference to an outfit. When you consider that some of my rings cost as little as 50p and necklaces only £1.50, this is where charity shopping really comes into its own.

The black and silver rings are like the Ying and Yang of anemone rings.

My postscript to this outfit has to be that half way through the morning, on going to the loo, I discovered a small split in the seam of the jumpsuit - in a most revealing spot! It answered my question as to why something so lovely had ended up in a charity shop. I can only imagine that the owner couldn't or didn't sew!

And here's one section of my wardrobe all sorted, ready for some warmer weather. I've kept my sock boots out for the next little while and once it really warms up properly I'll replace those with sandals. In the middle section of my wardrobe are all my maxi skirts, maxi dresses and jumpsuits along with shelves holding handbags, scarves and more shoes. This isn't fit for viewing currently as I am in the process of culling the contents.

Talking of culling, these are the latest pieces to be evicted from my wardrobe. I'll be putting them onto eBay over the next month or so. I've put a box into storage that's all winter clothes and I'll sell those when they're back in season. Please feel free to message me if something catches your eye ...

This section of my wardrobe houses denim jackets, leather and suede jackets and all of my summer jackets. Below are shirts and tee shirts and below those are bodies, white jeans, coloured trousers and culottes, shorts and palazzo pants. Alongside the wardrobe is a cupboard that holds all my jumpers, cardigans, waistcoats, coloured jeans and blue jeans. Along the entire top run of the wardrobe are boxes of shoes and I have more under the bed. Like any true addict, I'm suitably vague about the precise extent of my addiction, but shoe-wise it's probably almost 100 pairs I'd estimate. I have to hastily add that I view it as a benign addiction as does my husband, thank goodness!

This final reveal is a holdall of clothes that I'm donating to our local fete which takes place next month. I've offered to take on the (most dreaded) jumble stall and will colour co-ordinate these and anything else that is donated. I plan to display them all on hanging rails, shake/steam/iron the creases out of them and hopefully make some money towards the day's fund raising. Wish me luck!

Anna x

Home again!

Hello and happy Sunday to you! Thank you for joining me as I return from my stint on the mainland. The purpose of my trip was to visit the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate where I do the main gift buying for the gallery. It was as fruitful an event as ever which is always a relief after the two days of travelling it takes to get there. I spend a whole day on the train travelling from Cornwall to Yorkshire during which time I have waves of excitement at the prospect of finding some fab new gifts and then I also worry that the Fair may yield nothing to suit my audience. My journey of nine hours is punctuated by thoughts on the two extremes.

This was the outfit I wore on day two of the Fair. If you missed the first outfit then click here to find that one. By the second day I'd made a few new acquaintances as well as meeting up with some regular suppliers and most of them declared this as their outfit of the day - very kind of you all! The kimono was a charity shop find (no surprises there) and was only £3, which frankly is quite ridiculous for an authentic Chinese piece of this quality. 

You'll no doubt recognise the obligatory sock boots (H&M) along with the embroidered velour track pants (Zara). Today I've added my beloved leather handbag from many years ago - it was one of my first vintage finds in a charity shop in Ireland when I was there on holiday with my sisters. My sisters joined me this time in Harrogate too, so that I had company in the evenings to go out for dinner.

I've adapted the outfit to the mild temperature by adding a silk shirt underneath (preloved, Next brand). When I was in Harrogate the weather was quite cold, very cold in fact, so much so that I wore a polo neck sweater with this, plus a long sleeved thermal top underneath. We also had torrential rain one day, followed by fog and a bitterly cold breeze, so we really did get value for our money weather-wise!

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed my new sunglasses from my favoured brand Quay. I bought three new pairs of Quay Australia sunglasses from TK Maxx in Harrogate. On the face of it, this may seem extravagant, but when you take into account that these were all reduced in the sale meaning I got three for the price of one, then that's perfectly sensible or at least reasonable, isn't it? The gold chain was a gift, and the rings are preloved.

It's always nice to have a trip away, to have a change of scenery and Harrogate certainly does have lots of lovely scenery as well as things to enjoy. The tearooms at Bettys are a highlight of anyone's stay, whether it's for the tradition of afternoon tea or to buy some sweet treats to take home. My bags were bursting with goodies for the family on my return.

My next post will feature my third outfit of the Fair plus the further joys of Harrogate by way of its charity shopping. You'll not be surprised to hear that I couldn't fit all of my lovely loot into my suitcase and therefore had to send two boxes home by post. Hopefully within the next couple of days these will arrive and I can take some snaps for the blog. I have some vintage delights to share with you as well as some more bargains from TK Maxx. 

I hope you have a super weekend and look forward to catching up with you again soon!

Linking with -

Jacqui of Mummabstylish 

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Anna x

A day off means a day out

A couple of weeks ago Sasha and I spent the afternoon at the Tresco Abbey Garden which is only about half a mile from home. The weather couldn't have been better making the surroundings look as if it were a summer's day rather than just a week after the snow.

I seem to have chosen my outfit to outshine the flora, but really it was more a matter of something comfortable for a day off work. The jeans are a recent purchase from TK Maxx - they were in the wash when I did my Show and tell post (for the beady eyed amongst you). The jacket was a gift from my blogging friend Sheila of Ephemera and this is the first time I've worn it on the blog. Thank you my dear for this pop of colour and pattern that is so very me!

I bought these shoes last summer and yet this is the first time they've been out of the house. I knew that the navy would be great with jeans and maybe I was just needing to find the right pair to showcase them. 

I've been trying to find a great pair of embroidered jeans with beading for ages and was really pleased to find these at the bargain price of £15.99. Sparkles too are an added bonus.

Just as there will be someone out there asking what kind of flowers these are, I know that there will also be someone very keen to tell me the name too. Please can you share the name before someone asks me? Cheers!

Every time Sasha and I do this day out we always say we must do it more often. Maybe this year we will now that she's home for a while. There are lots of lovely little corners that act as sun traps within the garden and we felt very chilled by the time we sauntered home.

I'm gonna make a stab at these ones and say they're Camellias - right? 

The gardening gene seems to have passed me by, but I still enjoy seeing this lush and varied garden teaming with flowers and sculptures. The plants and trees have been collected from all over the world and thrive in the mild climate we have here thanks to the gulf stream which washes past the islands. Cruise ships stop here throughout the summer months, bringing visitors who come especially to see these world famous gardens. When you consider that the island itself is only one mile by two, it really is teaming with things to do. Will I be seeing you soon?

Anna x

Here and there

Hello again! I'm both here and there today, in that my photo shoot was taken here on the island, but I'm actually up there (in Harrogate) where I'm wearing the same outfit.

The vintage tunic was £3 from a charity shop in Truro. The sales assistant told me it had only been on the rail for an hour which somehow makes me feel even more lucky to find it. Where's the logic in that? Goodness only knows! Surely I'd be more lucky if it'd had been there for a month and was still around when I arrived?

The Ted Baker handbag came from the same shop; it was £23 and worth every penny in my eyes. It shows a little bit of wear and tear, but I can forgive it everything because of the fabulous colour. I'll be wearing my red/black/lilac woollen coat (last seen here) over this ensemble while I'm in Harrogate and know this bag will be the bizz.

I've had the orange satin disco pants for quite a while and yet have only worn them a couple of times. Not easy to leaf into everyday wear, I suppose, but I'm thinking that now I can play the eccentricity card whenever something falls into the "questionable item" category. Crossing into my 60's surely promotes me from crazy lady into eccentric lady - hurrah!

All of today's jewellery is pre-loved, so hurrah for that too!

I don't know if it was just the power of this outfit or that I'd had a particularly lovely swim this day, but I was feeling so well, and so very me. Do you know what I mean? How some days what you wear really reflects your inner self - in this case, my inner joy. I bubbled and grinned from start to finish, so much so that I have earmarked this ensemble for a photoshoot that I have to submit for a magazine later this year. More details of that in due course...

The big platform helps to offset the height of these heels making them all-day-long boots for a change. Bought from Office a couple of years ago, they're not wearing too badly considering that they're real suede. I love the ginger colourway too!

My velvet trench (pre-loved from Hobbs) has had another makeover with some new retro vibe buttons. 

I'm writing this a week in advance, so I do hope that nothing has come along to change or scupper my plans. Hopefully I've arrived safely in Harrogate and have enjoyed my first day at the British Craft Trade Fair. It's a three day long trade fair where I usually find some new artists and makers to supply me with new products for the gallery in the year ahead. 

I'll be home again on Friday, but have another blog post lined up for you on Wednesday, so do please come back to see what that may feature. Until then, have a lovely week!

Anna x