Call me Sybil!

Hi there! Do you remember Sybil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers? This frilled blouse brings her to mind don't you think? I fell in love with it at first sight, buying it without pause from Vinted last month. I love everything about it; the coral colour, the abundance of frills and flounces and general over-the-top look of it all. 

I thought the blouse deserved an outdoors photoshoot to capture the movement of the chiffon and up on the top of the island was a great setting. 

As you know, I totally love a bit of drama and this backdrop seemed to be perfect to showcase my new glamorous purchase. The view from King Charles' Castle overlooks Bryher and onwards out to the wild Atlantic Ocean. 

The crop flares are very old, but work well with the look, as do my orange leather boots - find them in the sale on the ASOS website here. The Gallery may be closed at the moment, but that's not going to stop me dressing up just for the heck of it!

I added a wide belt to bring the outfit together - this is very old too, but being leather has simply improved with age.

The entire outfit has been pulled together from existing pieces in my wardrobe, apart from the blouse obviously. Even the rings are old, also pre-loved, bought in charity shops.

The finishing touch is this beautiful oxblood leather coat by Next which I bought second hand from the Oxfam shop in Truro. A leather coat or jacket is such a worthy investment and this one is a keeper for me.

I feel I need to mention that I've sold a few items on Vinted recently which I think helps to counter the recent rash of purchases. At least if I can bankroll my purchases by selling at the same time then I'll arrive at a point of balance!

Wishing you a fab week!

Anna x

Mother's Day lunch

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely mums out there! My kids treated us to a lunch out yesterday at the Ruin Beach Cafe on Old Grimsby. We started off outside but as the sun faded behind the clouds we relocated inside but still with a great view to enjoy. 

Pud of the day was this lovely chocolate desert. Steve didn't so much eat it as inhale it within minutes!

Unusually for me I opted for an all black outfit. Levi jeans and Ralph Lauren jacket plus white frilled shirt are all old. The pared down look was chosen to highlight my rather fabulous new cowboy boots - these are definitely the stars of the show. 

I bought the boots on Vinted last week. They're brand is MOMA New York - the Museum of Modern Art and you can find them here. They are called Sunny Days Ankle Boots and each pair is made from vintage saris and hand decorated with embroidery and beads making them quite simply unique. This was their first outing and I was thrilled with the fit and comfort of these cowboy boots. The sole and inner are both leather and are true fit for their size. These are boot heaven!

I took my lead from the boots with my accessories too - orange belt and scarf are old as are all my turquoise coloured necklaces and ring. Sunglasses are from Radley London.

Workwise I'm happy to report that I ought to be finished in the cottages within the next week. It's a wonderful creative project, but I am missing the Gallery and all that comes with it. If you've been on the island recently and popped in to see me then I do apologise for being awol. As I say, normal service ought to be resumed by next week!

                                                                                      Anna x

Frill Seekers, the Style Not Age challenge for October

Hello again and welcome to this months challenge from the Style Not Age collective. This month Jacqui came up with the idea of Frill Seekers and as usual we're all giving it our best shot. Steve and I made the most of one of the last few sunny days of October to get out and about to capture my frilly offering, a vintage and much loved cream blouse. But more of that later, first let's see what inspired Jacqui to throw this challenge into the arena.

And here she is wowing us with this very feminine dress from M&S. The frill wrap over style suits her hour glass figure as does the vibrant colour. Pop over to her blog Mummabstylish to get all the details.

Hilda's pretty frilled sweater has the added bonus of a sexy shoulder too. Add to that a pair of wide legged trousers and snakeskin courts and she's got it all going on here. Read more on her blog Over The Hilda. 

I think this outfit from Emma has my name all over it. From those red trainers up to the embroidered jacket all the way to that pleated filled shirt, oooo I could copy the lot! I'll race you across to her blog Style Splash to source where it all came from.

This vintage blouse has been a feature in my wardrobe for years now and was certainly worth it for cost per wear. The jeans and waistcoat are both also preloved, which helps offset the brocade ASOS boots from last winter. In my mind I can allow myself to have a retail splurge from time to time as long as I'm maintaining the majority of recycled items in my collection. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

The sunglasses were new, but in the sale at TK Maxx in April and the brand is Quay Australia, my go-to choice, but my belt is second hand - see? It all evens out.

The large ring was another TK Maxx purchase and the gold dome ring was preloved.

Some of you may recognise the island in the background as Tean, one which I've featured quite a few times for picnics. See here for the most recent of those.

I made a happy discovery of some boxes under the far side of my bed recently and found two pairs of brocade boots I'd completely forgotten about, both from ASOS. This prompted me to search for yet another brocade pair from River Island, which you'll no doubt see in due course. Autumn and winter seem to be the months when the richness of brocade work perfectly with my wool and velvet pieces. 

Today's shoot was taken from the Old Blockhouse ruins. The pristine beach below has super soft sand that shelves slowly into a rock free bay making this a lovely beach to swim from. It connects with the other similar cove beyond and both of them are classed as Blockhouse beach. When the wind is coming from the West this beach is ideal for getting out of the way of the breeze. By facing East it also means that you get some stunning sunrises from this vantage point up here too. Like these ones below...

I hope you've enjoyed our Frill Seekers production today and that you'll take a moment to visit the other ladies on the challenge. 

Wishing you a lovely week!

Anna x