Welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge.

This time for our monthly challenge Gail came up with the brilliant idea of "What I'd wear on the Frow".  To the uninitiated, like me, that's the Front Row of a fashion show. Paris Fashion Week is due to commence on the 28th of September and despite the pandemic, the show must go on! My take on this was that my particular fashion show was socially distanced and therefore the runway is an outdoors affair. You can tell by my expression that the next model is impressive.

As you can see, Gail truly entered into the spirit of things, inspiring us with this timely theme.  See more and get the low down on her outfit over on Is This Mutton blog now.

Jacqui chose a fabulous backdrop for her relaxed but stylish ensemble. Check out her blog Mummabstylish for her spin on this challenge.

Style Splash Emma opted for a funky pair of culottes to build her Frow outfit around. A spinkling of animal print raised the bar just that little bit higher too!

Hilda played it super cool with this fabulous Spanx trouser suit, topping it off with a stylish fedora - can't you just imagine her turning up at a fashion show in this? See more on her blog Over The Hilda.

If indeed I were going to attend a fashion show, then the coat would be equally important as the outfit. This pink trench, (Topshop, pre-loved), with its black and white gingham lining couldn't be a better match for today's ensemble. The turned up sleeves show the fabric nicely and also allow the lace cuff of the blouse to be exposed too.

The lace blouse was from Zara last summer and has become a real wardrobe staple for me. I seem to wear it at least once a week currently as it's so versatile with a vest top underneath or like today worn as part of a dungaree combination. I wanted to show the pretty pattern in this shot.

My outfit may not be of the caliber of the immaculate Anna Wintour and perhaps if I really did attend a fashion show I would chose to wear a less quirky and more classic type of ensemble. Who knows?

The mini Candy Bag is by Furla and is my bag of the moment. The black and white shoes are by Nine West, sourced at TK Maxx.

And of course if I'm showcasing a black and white outfit then it's gotta be my black and white Quay Australia sunglasses. 

Many thanks to Gail for throwing the gauntlet down with this great challenge. It was good to have a bit of role-play this time too! I do hope you enjoyed it and will find time to pop across to read the backstories of the others in the Style Collective.

                                                                                          Anna x

Check me out! June with the Style not Age collective.

Welcome to our June challenge!

Hello! Can you believe that it's the end of June already? This month it was my turn to choose the theme and I came up with Check me out! I was keen to bring this summer trouser suit out again and threw down the gauntlet to the style crew to see what they came up with.  So let's catch up on my friends to see what they made of the checkered challenge.

Emma from Style Splash has created her own black and white trousersuit by pairing a jacket from M&S and trousers from Zara and doesn't it look fab? I adore the spotty handbag too - what a great style feature!

Another take on the checkered trouser suit from Gail of Is This Mutton? This is pink perfection don't you think? And wowee, I do love those metallic boots!

Jacqui has added a lightweight checked shirt over her summer dress to great effect. Blue and white are a lovely fresh mix. See more of this on her blog Mummabstylish.

This funky young look is brilliant on Hilda. I love the checked trousers paired with these cool trainers. See the full story on Over The Hilda. 

April last year was when I first showcased this Primark trouser suit (see here). I've opted for a total black and white palette this time. The black tee shirt was a sale item from Topshop last spring. Monochrome isn't normally my thing, but sometimes I like to go for a classic look.

The silver rings are pre-loved.

My shoes are by Nine West - a fabulous find in TK Maxx last year.

The mirror sunglasses with white and black frames are by Quay Australia. They're probably my most featured sunnies of all time, but I shan't apologise for that as I love them! The retro necklace was yet another charity shop scoop (£2.50).

And that rounds up this month's challenge. I do hope that we might have given you some new style ideas to inspire you. I'm off to raid my closet to see if I can recreate one or two of these looks...

Thanks again for joining us and I'll be back on Friday with my latest dressing up ensemble.

See you next time!

Anna x

Style Not Age does Comfy Casuals

Welcome to our monthly Style Challenge!

Thank you for joining us for our end-of-month challenge, this time being that of Comfy Casuals which is very pertinent under the current circumstances. Jacqui chose the theme this month and it really couldn't be more relevant as the majority of us are housebound and therefore are spending our days in comfy clothes. I'm sure that when we exit lock-down from the Covid-19 crisis, one of the most noticeable things for us all will be the effort we make in our appearance once our normal routine comes back. I, for one, can't wait to get back to my daily dilemma of what to wear - what a lovely problem that will be again!

Jacqui starts us off with her comfy chiffon camo top with elasticated waistband paired with 3/4 length chinos. See her backstory on her blog Mummabstylish.

Gail from Is This Mutton blog is looking very sporty in her casual gear. I love those leggings and reckon they'd be pretty inspiring to get you up and at 'em!

Hilda is looking quite sparkly in her diamante bows sweater and neat checked trousers. Do catch up with her take on comfy casuals on her blog Over The Hilda. 

Emma of Style Splash mixes comfort with style here. Sparkly Peter Pan collar and metallic espadrilles are a lovely counterpoint to her utility trousers. 

This is a great easy to wear outfit and fulfills my requirements for comfy casuals: I like to feel comfy, but also want to have a splash of colour to help buoy up my mood. Everything here is relatively new (bought within the past 6 months), but hadn't made it to the blog as yet. The entire outfit came from TK Maxx (sobbing quietly as even their online store is closed). 

I particularly love these trousers for lounging about due to the elasticated waistband and voluminous shape. These also wouldn't look out of place on some exotic holiday would they?

Steve and I walked to the bird hide along Pool Road for our photo shoot, but again were prey to the mixed light that kept changing and making our shots a bit challenging.

Minimal jewellery today, just this ethnic necklace (charity shopped) and a ring from a girlfriend.

This was the first outing for these funky Converse boots. Soooooo comfy!

 Sunglasses by Radley.

The mustard jacket was also from TK Maxx last year and I'm very pleased to showcase this Orla Keily bag that I was given as a Christmas present from my dear friend Bo. We share a love for the colourful designs of this iconic brand. Cheers Bo!

I hope you've enjoyed this month's challenge and maybe been inspired too for your stay-at-home outfits? Please make a note in your diary that I'll be back at the end of the week with my latest ensemble for Dressing Up Friday. See you then!

                                                                                        Anna x

Flower Power - February's style challenge

Welcome to our style challenge for February!

Hello and welcome to our monthly challenge with the Style Not Age Collective. As we hurtle towards March the promise of spring is in the air echoing this month's theme of Flower Power. As usual we've managed to come up with varied offerings, ranging from elegant through to playful as we showcase our very individual style. I do hope we're going to inspire you!

Style Spash Emma has created a chic look with this black and pale pink dress, topped with a stylish felt hat and fur scarf that looks soft and cosy. The big blowsy blooms of the frock are offset by the teeny dotty pattern play. Do please keep me in mind when you're ready to pass this one on Emma!

Jacqui from Mummabstylish looks lovely and also very summery in her offering this month. She carries off this pastel hued outfit with a girlish flair - adorable eh? 

It was Hilda's turn to choose a theme and how fab this choice turned out to be. We're seeing a fair bit of the 70's influence amongst us and Hilda's embracing the look perfectly. See more of her backstory on the her blog Over The Hilda.

This month we're welcoming back the familar face of Gail of Is This Mutton blog. If you're a regular reader you'll remember she was involved in our monthly style challenge called 5Over50, the last one of which is shown here. After spending some time away doing her own thing, Gail was keen to rejoin our monthly collaboration and we are very happy to have her back on board. Gail is featuring her favourite floral bomber jacket with an almost identical print top underneath. Do swing by her blog for a catch up when you get a moment.

Fiona and I had to take refuge indoors this week to capture these photos, out of the wild weather that storm Dennis brought to the island. Bright sunshine was at least a help to lift the atmosphere as we made use of the space within the Pavilion in the middle of its face-lift. 

Even though the wind was blasting across the sea, the view from here was still stunning.

With no musical backdrop, I hummed some inane tune to counter the echoing of my footsteps, dancing around creating fun as is my way. Fiona struggled with fluctuating light levels, blurry shots and backlighting slowing down the process as I sashayed around, oblivious. Point a camera at me and I'm in my element!

Flower Power to me stirs up thoughts of those teenage years when I was enjoying my first forrays into fashion, spending my hard earned pocket money on mini skirts and skinny rib tops, hot pants and suede long fringed waistcoats and tent dresses worn with knee high wet-look boots. This homage to those days was quick to pull together from my wardrobe; the dress was a second hand buy last year, the New Look ankle boots were in the sale last spring and the tights are from a huge cache I have of all sorts of colours and designs.

I've featured this floral tent dress (Zara) on the blog before (see here) and I must admit it is indeed a thing of joy to wear. I recall wearing a similar dress - white cotton in a light waffle fabric, with discs of pink, yellow, orange, purple and lime green with three quarter length sleeves and a ring pull zip up the front -  when I was only about 10 years old. We were going to a family wedding and the psychedelic dress was one of the first fashion buys that embedded itself into my memory bank. It captured my imagination and fired up a lifetime of passion for clothes.

All of today's accessories, including handbag and floral necklace and matching bracelet are second hand. 

The finishing touch for today's look was this ditzy print coat (pre-loved) by Kew. The 3/4 length sleeves and thigh high hemline make this a versatile jacket that looks equally good over jeans.

I'll leave you with this final shot of the view across to Bryher and Samson islands. White tops on the sea show how wild these sheltered waters have been lately. We must count our blessings however, that we're not suffering floods like so many regions of mainland UK are. Let's all hope for an improvement this week!

                                                                                     Anna x