Denim - But Not Jeans is our SNA challenge for March

Welcome once again to our Style Not Age monthly challenge! Jacqui's theme is a good one - Denim, But Not Jeans and we've all found our own way to express ourselves without being too similar. My jacket isn't new, but it's not been shown on the blog for some time and it's still an interesting piece - easy to do if you have some old brooches lying around.

Hilda went for a double denim look (not breaking the rules was it?) after finding this oversized jacket in Primark. I love this light blue denim twosome but she decided to return the jacket after some thought - not really me is a good instinct that has to be followed. See more from Hilda on her blog here.

Gail's maxi dress in denim is new from ASOS and is a real style statement. I don't wear a lot of denim myself but love this bold look. Read Gail's back story on Is This Mutton blog. 

EBay came up trumps for Jacqui as she scoured the internet for this denim maxi skirt which she's paired with a pretty yellow blouse (old from M&S). The combination has a fresh summery look to it, very fitting for the official start to summer, eh? Catch up with Jacqui's news on her blog Mummabstylish. 

Emma's denim dress was also an eBay purchase, but from way back during lockdown. It's a vintage find with lots of beads and embroidery as well as batwing sleeves and a figure hugging shape that suits her perfectly. Find out more about her outfit on her blog here. 

We've been having wild weather down here on the Isles of Scilly but I just had to bite the bullet and get out there to take my photos. This was a work outfit, mostly shopped from my closet apart from the boots which are coming up next...

These white leather cowboy boots are a recent buy from Vinted and the brand is Topshop. I plan to wear them with a long dress, but which one, I'm not quite sure yet. Vinted has become my guilty secret of late, a weakness my daughter is to blame for. She did warn me that the site can be a bit addictive. The good news is that I'm have a few successes with selling on some of my shoes and clothes meaning I snowball funds momentarily before I splurge the lot on another purchase!

Jewellery and sunglasses are all old, as is the rest of the outfit. Trousers were from Topshop, belt from eBay, sweater from Primark and sunglasses from Radley London.

Standing on the road that leads to Old Grimsby quay was just like being in a wind tunnel! I feel a small fanfare is needed as I will be working on my last cottage rehang of artwork tomorrow (Tuesday). It's been a long old slog to bring about the change that was so needed and at times it did feel like we were working in the eye of the storm, battling against time before the photographer arrived and even when she did, we were simply one cottage ahead of her for two whole weeks. That said, I'm extremely proud of all of the work Mel and I have achieved and am looking forward to seeing the overall results on the website in due course.

Many thanks as ever for taking the time to pop by. Please do take a look at the other blogs too if you have a moment. Until next time, take care and have a great week!

                                                                                             Anna x

All Buttoned Up, our SNA challenge for Feb

Hello again my lovelies! Can you believe it's the end of the month already? Well, the last Monday of the month at least, which means it's time for our Monthly Style Not Age Challenge and this month our theme is All Buttoned Up as chosen by Gail. I found this a very inspiring challenge, one that ties in with my latest news hobby-wise, but I'll share that in a moment. First, let's see how my fashionista friends approached the task in hand, shall we?

Emma is looking pretty in pink in this button featured trouser suit. The fact is that it's not even a suit, but a thrifted jacket and perfectly matching trousers. Catch up with her on her blog The Style Splash here for all the fashion details. 

Jacqui from Mummabstylish has opted for pinstripe sailor trousers as her buttoned up feature, a classic style that never goes out of fashion. A chunky roll neck and matching grey across the body bag completes this weekend look.

Hilda's lean and leggy look features her much loved jeans from Next with a buttoned up cardi/jacket from Zara which she confesses to hardly wearing, but goodness knows why not - it's very pretty! Read more from Hilda on her blog Over The Hilda. 

Gail does indeed have this month's challenge All Buttoned Up. Oh how I love all of this look! Black and white with a pop of orange makes for a stunning combination and her shoulder buttoned sweater is fab. See her back story here for all the style details. 

My buttoned up item is a thrifted linen pin tuck blouse by Jaeger which cost me £5. It was only when I got it home that I discovered a scorch mark on the sleeve. My bargain maybe wasn't so much after all and I relegated it, in rather bad humour, to my mending pile. Fast forward to last year when I had a bit of a creative moment and decided to try to cut and create some applique to cover up the offending area. 

The addition of another mulitcoloured sunflower bloom at the back of the blouse helped it look more of a feature than a cover up job.

The final alteration took place when Gail announced this month's challenge and I decided to remove all the rather boring white buttons and replace them with whatever I could find in my button box. My white linen blouse has become a quirky and unique addition to my wardrobe, another slow fashion item. I do feel rather pleased with the end result.

The rest of my outfit is made up from these lilac wide legged jeans from Primark and my old floral Converse boots. The day was a real bonus allowing me to find a spot out of the wind which looked like a perfect summer's day in February!

The day was quite a breezy one, a definite jacket day! Mine is by Pull and Bear purchased for £30 at TK Maxx last year. It's super cosy and I just love the colour. It makes me think of the famous poem by Jenny Joseph entitled Warning which starts with 'When I'm old I will wear purple'... Read it in full, here. 

I sat on the outcrop of rocks at the end of Saffron Bay and enjoyed the view on this blustery day, pleased to have my padded jacket on to beat the chill wind.

Oh, and finally, the news that I mentioned earlier, is that I've joined The Very Scilly Sewing Bee, a new course being run on St Mary's for the next five weeks. I'm excited to say that I'll be trying to make a dress for the very first time. As you may know, I've done bits of sewing in the past, but never made anything from a pattern. Hopefully I may have a dress to share with you sometime soon! Thanks for joining my friends and I for this month's challenge and please do pop across to see more from them on their own blogs if you have a moment.

Have a super week!

Anna x

Sparkle and Shine, our Style Not Age challenge for December

Merry Christmas and welcome back my dear reader! I've been awol for a week, laid up with a chest infection at this most inconvenient time of year. Today's photos were taken earlier on this month before I went out to the island Christmas party where I was doing my best to Sparkle and Shine in the name of this month's challenge, which just so happened to be my choice of subject.

 

Hilda combined a mixture of shopping her closet with borrowing from her sister to create this sparkly look for maximum effect! Find all the details on her blog Over The Hilda.

Another black sparkly top comes from Jacqui, worn with equally dazzling shoes by Lotus along with these eye-popping yellow jeans from Zara. Check out the full details on her blog Mummabstylish.

Emma from Style Splash is a big fan of secondhand clothes and this mega sparkly kimono was a super find on eBay. Follow the link to catch up on her backstory of this glitzy outfit.

Shopping her closet too was Gail, showcasing her fabulous winter wonderland colours in this white sparkly duster over her silver sequinned skirt. Read more from Gail on her blog Is This Mutton. 

My sparkly ensemble is a mix of shopping my closet and second hand finds. The bolero sequin jacket was an exciting find in the British Red Cross shop in Truro earlier on this month. The brand is Zara and was new with tags, selling at £20 rather than the retail price of £49.99. I love the 80's shoulder pads giving this a sharp silhouette. 

If you're a regular reader then you may recognise this fabulous floral tulle skirt that I bring out every Christmas. It's by Ted Baker and always earns me lots of compliments. 

I added a new belt, again from Zara, to pull the skirt and top together. The sheer top with devore pattern was a bargain piece many years ago from TK Maxx, but this is the first time I've worn it. I've been waiting to find the right underwear and finally came across a lace body in TK Maxx that turned this from saucy to stylish.

The fabulous shoes were another charity shop find from years ago - £20 very well spent I'd say! And don't they go perfectly with my skirt?

More charity shop finds: the rings and clutch are very old, but still rather fab!

My thanks go to Fiona for her photography skills and her ability to always make me laugh. She was my partner in crime that evening as we danced our socks off!

                                                                                                 Anna x

Stripes and Spots, our Style Not Age Challenge for November

Hello again and thanks for coming along today to see our Style Not Age Challenge for November. This month Emma chose Stripes and Spots as our theme which certainly caught me on the back foot - at the time of writing I only have one outfit to hand, so this is what my offering looks like!

Starting with Emma, she has shopped her closet for this M&S striped jacket and spotty top from Coast, along with trousers from River Island. Her cute little spotty bag is old, from Mango. See more on her blog Style Splash.

Jacqui from Mummabstylish is sporting a very patriotic outfit of blue/white striped top with white jeans and a sweet little red spotty scarf. It's a great casual look for the weekend!

Another stripey top comes from Hilda worn with a spotty scarf too - great minds think alike eh? She's added her new Primark faux leather trousers and M&S boots to complete this chic look. Read more on her blog Over The Hilda.

Completing the threesome with another striped sweater is Gail from Is This Mutton. The top is a recent purchase from M&S as are the diamante leggings. Both spotty belt and boots are old.

I'd stepped outside work for a change of scenery with today's outfit, but the blustery weather and seaweed strewn road wasn't the best backdrop after all.

There's nothing new with this outfit at all, not jewellery nor clothes nor boots, but it's the first time these have been pulled together to make an ensemble. The velvet trousers came from my daughter last year but this is the first time I've showcased them. I think they'll be perfect for the festive season, don't you?

The spotty top was a TK Maxx find from last year or maybe even a couple of years ago. The rose cut out necklace is very old indeed and was a purchase from the Gallery. Both my blue rings are charity shop purchases.

My brocade boots (ASOS) may be old, but do work perfectly with the jewel bright colours of the velvet crops, eh?

My outdoors wear comprises of blue leather gloves (charity shopped) and my pink and red checked coat (very old).

Quay Australia sunglasses finish off the look. I'd say that month after month these challenges do make me review my wardrobe in a way that I wouldn't otherwise which results in many a surprise. I'd bypassed these trousers often because I thought I didn't have anything to go with them, et viola, I do! And this led me on to seeing that my black top in a similar combination of stretch body and voile sleeves would look equally good, in fact it might be a good option for our Christmas day drinks at the pub.

Thanks for popping along today and do please nip across to see the back stories from my blogging friends. I'll see you next week with my first December outfit.

                                                                          Anna x

Orange you excited for Halloween?

Hello again and a very warm welcome to our monthly Style Not Age Challenge where five over 40's come together to showcase our chosen theme, which this month was proposed by Jacqui. Orange you excited for Halloween may not apply to everyone, myself included, but the opportunity to wear one of my favourite colours is not wasted on me. Let's catch up with my style sisters to see their offerings, shall we?

Mummabstylish's Jacqui chose the colour orange to tie in with pumpkins and also it lets her show off this fab 70's print dress by Izabel worn with her pretty Clarks sandals. 

Emma from the Style Splash is channeling that 70's vibe too with this hippy chick maxi dress from TK Maxx worn with her cute stetson. Do pop over to read her back story on the blog.

Gail is entering into the swing of things with her spooky themed outfit. Those tights are rather fabulous, aren't they? See more from her on Is This Mutton blog. 

Hilda shopped her closet for this autumn look and didn't she do well (as one famous TV presenter used to say)! The cosy coat is 25 years old and the boots and hat are 6 and 5 years old respectively - great cost-per-wears on these, eh? Check out her story on Over The Hilda blog.

My outfit is a mixture of old and new pieces. The trench (TK Maxx) must be about 5 years old, the polo neck was a charity shop buy from years ago, boots are from Topshop a few years ago and the orange floral trousers are this season from Primark (now on sale for £6).

 

Nothing new jewellery-wise here. You'll have seen it all before, sorry.

As you can tell, this week's photo shoot took place in Gallery Tresco once again. Terrible weather left me with few options and the gallery is sooooo much tidier than home!

Saturday was our last day of trading until Christmas, so my days are now all about catching up on winter works. Currently I'm involved in packing up artworks in some holiday cottages in readiness of building works being done. I do enjoy the varied job I have. 

We've had a brilliant year at Gallery Tresco. Sales of paintings were up on last year, and we expanded our jewellery collection too with great success. I know it'll seem like the blink of an eye before we re-open for 2023. 

                                                                                        Anna x