Lovely Leather our SNA challenge for February

Hello and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge for February, chosen by Hilda this month, and the theme is Lovely Leather. Apologies for my poor submission, but life has been stacked against me this month and I didn't manage to get my chosen outfit photographed. So here's my new Laidback London leather boots as a poor offering. But let's move swiftly along to see what the ladies of the style collective have for us...

Jacqui is showcasing her faux leather trousers from Tu in this season's favourite mocha shade. Her leopard print trench is imitation suede and is a great finishing touch to the look. See the full details on her blog Mummabstylish. 

Hilda's fabulous full length leather coat is a dream in cream! I too had planned to feature a long leather coat and, like hers, mine was a charity shop find. Do swing by her blog to read more about this beautiful coat on Over The Hilda blog. 

Emma's sporting faux leather culottes with knee high boots and a fabulous orange coat for this challenge. Like me she's not entirely happy with the outcome, but hey, you can but try eh? Read her backstory on her blog Style Splash here. 

My sheepskin lined leather boots are from Laidback London, a purchase earlier on this winter when I was having pain on the top of my foot and couldn't find anything to make me comfortable all day long. They're called the Setsu Crochet boot (see them here) and are available in lots of different colours. The brand has a 40% sale on currently so it might be worth a look.

These photos are from a visit to Hell Bay Hotel in January when I was involved in stocktaking all of the art collection. The weather wasn't the best, but I felt my new boots were worth capturing. The sweater was from Vinted and black jeans and socks were from Primark.

Nothing new with these sparkly rings - both are charity shopped from years ago.

I'm not sure if this has been our best style challenge but as Emma has said, it's good to experiment even if it doesn't always work out! Please do drop by again next week and I'll be giving it another try.

                                                                    Anna x

Golden Girls, our Style Not Age challenge for December

Hello again and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge! Emma chose the theme and it did remind me of the TV series of the same name, but hopefully we're not quite as old as those golden gals. Anyway, let's take a look at Emma's outfit shall we?

Emma's gold jacket is from eBay, her blouse is new, from Monsoon and velvet trousers are from Very. The gold clutch bag is a vintage piece from Warehouse. See more from Emma on her blog Style Splash. 

Jacqui looks like a sparkling starlet in her gold F&F skirt topped with her new fur jacket by Izabel. Her shoes and top are closet finds - doesn't she look fab! Catch up with her news on Mummabstylish. 

Hilda's look hinges on her gold bag and the rest is all about tonal shades. She send apologies that her outfit isn't as dazzling as she'd anticipated but family commitments have dragged her sideways. See her latest on Over The Hilda blog.

Gail is resplendent in her vintage brocade dress, bought from Etsy worn over a cream sweater from Kettlewell. Gold and leopard print accessories finish off the look perfectly. Find more from Gail on her blog Is This Mutton. 

My gold trousers and jacket are both purchases from Vinted this past month. The jacket reminds me of Freddy Mercury don't you think? Either that or the ringmaster at the circus, hahaha!

I'm wearing my exquisite embroidered Sunny Days boots from the MOMA shop. Gold threads, seed pearls and an abundance of colours make these boots so very special and versatile - wearable with almost any colour mix. 

I finished the look off with this burnt orange faux fur jacket, old, from TK Maxx. Orange and golden hues are what my outfit is all about and needless to say I'm in my element! Thanks for joining us again this month and I'll be back next week with a round-up of my festive finery from this week at work and the New Year. I hope you have a great New Year and look forward to catching up again soon!

                                                                        Anna x

Lovely Linen our SNA challenge for August!

Welcome once again to our Monthly Style Not Age Challenge! This month I chose the theme of Lovely Linen which was led mainly by this recent Vinted buy. The dress had no label but also no pockets and at the weekend I set to creating some by using orange linen fabric left over from a dress I made previously. 

Here's the work in progress and I'm delighted to say that despite putting the first pocket in the wrong way round, I finally managed to fathom it out and ended up with two perfectly acceptable and functioning pockets! But, let's take a look at my fashionable friends and see how they approached this month's challenge...

Gail's Lovely Linen dress is a classic shape from Boden in a zingy shade of turquoise. For the past three weeks Gail has been on LEJOG, a cycling adventure from Land's End to John O Groats - so please do swing by to catch up on her news on Is This Mutton blog. 

Emma's wearing a linen mix co-ord from Damson Madder, worn with old sandals and a bag by Skinny Dip. Catch up on the latest from Emma on her blog Style Splash here. 

Jacqui's jacket and trousers may look like a suit but are simply a very good match - well done that girl! She's added a toning tan top to complete the look - see more on Mummabstylish.

There's nothing new from Hilda with her animal print dress by Whistles, but that's not to say it's not on trend - it looks fab. She shopped her wardrobe for this look - see more on Over The Hilda. 

I'd walked for a mile or so to the far end of Pentle Bay in the hope of getting out of the fierce North wind, but still it played havoc with my colourful frock! I wore my orange denim jacket by Forever 21 to keep the chill wind at bay and my blue Lazy Dogz sandals worked very well with the mulit coloured dress. 

The smock dress has a shirred back and sweet puff sleeves and is a lovely cool shape to wear on a summer's day. I wore a simple white beaded necklace with silver heart - a gift from my sister which has been very useful indeed.

My rings are old as as my sunglasses (from Radley London). 

Hiding down below the rocks I almost managed to escape out of the wind. Once I'd taken my photos I lay down and read my book for an hour which was a lovely way to end my day off.

As ever it's been fun to take part in this monthly challenge. I do hope you've enjoyed this month's offerings from us all. Did you find any new ideas? Or was there something that is so typically you? Whichever, thank you so much for dropping by and please do leave a comment if you've been inspired.

                                                                        Anna x

Dreamy dresses our SNA challenge for June

Hello and welcome to June's Style Not Age Challenge where five friends throw down the style gauntlet month after month in rotation resulting sometimes in angst other times in joy. Jacqui came up with Dreamy Dresses which seems to have been a happy choice this month. Mine is yet another second-hand find from Vinted and I'm delighted with what's surely going to be a very useful summer frock. But let's look at my fashionable friends first shall we?

A very dreamy setting for Jacqui's summer dress, a new purchase from Matalan worn with old sandals and handbag from New Look. Catch up with all of her news on Mummabstylish

Emma's Dreamy Dress comes from TK Maxx worn with sandals from Coast and bag by Fenella Smith. Read her back story on the Style Splash

Gail wore her Dreamy Dress to the Vivienne Westwood exhibition at Christies recently and didn't look at all out of place. See more from her on Is This Mutton. 

Hilda's Dreamy Dress is from Whistles (not new) but worn when she was taken out to dinner recently in Derry. Find out more on her blog Over The Hilda.

This lightweight dress is made from polyester making it easy to wear and cool on this bright sunny day at work. I'm sure this will earn its place in my wardrobe this summer.

This pretty frock has a myriad of colours making styling so very easy. I've added these fuchsia flatforms from last summer which are super comfy. Then I took orange as my next lead colour adding this stretch belt from Amazon, again purchased last year.

What's not to love about a dress that says Love on it?

The lemon mini bag with beaded handle by Dune was a TK Maxx find last summer - it's uber cute don't you think? My rings are old, pre-loved too.

My sister Dianne recently sent me this pearl and heart necklace, in fact two of these, one in white pearl and the other with grey pearls. This is perfect for today's look.

Another splash of colour comes by way of these old sunnies by Zara. It was great fun putting this outfit together, where it was all about colours and as many as possible. Thanks for joining us this month - I hope you've enjoyed our challenge!

                                                                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