Pink and orange summer outfit

Hi there! How's things with you? This was my work outfit from yesterday. The bright pink linen dress comes from the brand Cerulean and was a purchase from a charity shop in Penzance when I was on the mainland in May. I've changed the buttons from very boring little brown ones to hand made beauties from a local maker, Emma Humphries from the Popplestone Studio on St Mary's. Emma made the buttons to match my orange and pink ensemble and they're fab!

I'm thrilled with the new dress and the addition of these colourful buttons are the icing on the cake. As you probably know I do love to style my clothes in my own individual way so having bespoke buttons is a wonderful expression of this.

Pink and orange are such a great colour combination for the summer, don't you think? Bright, cheerful and full of joy is how I see this look. The dress is second hand, the buttons new and the rest is old. The orange (ridiculously high) sandals are from ASOS and somehow I managed to wear them for most of the day. The orange stretch belt was from Amazon, sunglasses are from Radley London, fabric woven necklace was from Vinted and the Candy bag is by Furla.

The dipped hemline at the back of the dress can be a bit tricky if I wear flats as it tends to get caught between foot and shoe - I might have to do a risk assessment on that! Wearing high sandals sorted that out on the second time of wearing though. The shirtdress could be worn without the belt but for me that simply not an option as I'd look as wide as I am tall - not a look I'm going for. Not only that, but a belt always draws the eye to your narrowest point, especially if it's a colourful one!

It's been a tame week apart from some colourful dressing for work - I tidied some weeds from our garden wall this weekend, had some lovely swims on Pentle Bay in the morning before anyone else was around, did the usual cooking and cleaning etc, etc. On Saturday, I'm sad to say, Sasha went back to Manchester after having been home for two weeks. She had returned for her friend Duffy's wedding and had a fantastic time catching up with all of her friends and family on Bryher. Aside from that she had worked remotely so we didn't have a lot of quality time together as she was pretty exhausted. We managed to fit in a family walk with the dogs on the morning before she left which felt very relaxed so that was good. On the upside I'll see her again in September when she and I hook up for a long weekend together... 

Wishing you a lovely week!

Anna x

The shoes were the starting point...

Hi there! What do you think about my new shoes? These are by Irregular Choice and were a recent find on Vinted, costing me £45. I'm a sucker for a funky pair of shoes so what could I do but buy them when they popped up on my feed.

I'm in the middle of a huge clothes clearout the likes of which I've never undertaken before. The immediate impact of this was that I didn't manage to find the right pair of trousers to create the perfect oufit to compliment these rather fabulous poodle shoes. Instead I opted for this vibrant skirt which somehow offered the right balance of colour and print to please my sense of style.

The skirt is vintage by Jaeger and I've had it for years. The button on the waistband has been moved in and out as my weight has fluctuated from one summer to the next - this year it's static which I suppose is a good sign. The pink stretch belt ties in with my pink Candy handbag. I added a cream floral lace bodysuit underneath with my cream jeans jacket by Jack Wills to top the look off. 

The large blue ring is old, pre-loved from a charity shop many moons ago and my other ring is a gold gemstone one with aqua coloured sapphires and diamond from Emily Nixon Studio. 

The pearl and heart necklace was a hand-me-down from my sister who's also on a big dejunk currently. The pearl necklace echoes the pearl leash on the poodle shoes, but I know you understood that without my saying. The yellow sunglasses are by Quay Australia - I fancy I've outgrown the Dame Edna Everage look now and will probably move these along too. The brooches will stay however as I do love these old fashioned trinkets.

I wore a big petticoat under the skirt to give that lovely full look - such a simple addition makes all the difference.

The shoes are a joy, adding such fun to this outfit. I'm always amazed at how much pleasure I get from pulling a few interesting pieces together to create a new look. 

And finally... I'm going away on Friday, meeting up with my daughter for a busy weekend. I'll be back with all the details on Tuesday.

                                                                            Anna x

Wednesdays mean Timeshare party

Hello lovelies and sorry for the tardiness in my posting this week, but this is the reason. I'm in the middle of my latest obsession meaning every spare moment is being spent sewing. I hope to showcase the dress on Monday for our monthly challenge so please do swing by again to see the fruits of my labour.

So, as the title suggests, Wednesday means Timeshare party here at Gallery Tresco and this was me after the event last night. Timeshare and Island Share owners have bought into Tresco life and as such this weekly gathering is one of the perks. It's the perfect opportunity for everyone to get together to chat about all things island as well as comparing what each property has to offer and to boast about who's got the best view!

It may not look like it, but I'm struggling to find things to wear at the moment as I've not yet done my bi-annual clothes changeover. My wardrobe and shelves are still full of winter woollies and boots, but hopefully next week I'll be taking some time off and that will be one of my chores. That said, I did receive lots of compliments about outfit of the day last night which is always a lovely boost to the morale. Nothing new here at all; the suit was a charity shop find in Harrogate a long, long time ago (it was on the men's rail, so do remember to rummage everywhere), likewise the vintage blouse, another charity shop find this time from Exeter many moons ago, the boots were from Diechman just before Christmas and the pink handbag is rather ancient too.

The pink handbag by Furla is my mini Candy bag which unfortunately didn't show up in quite the right colour - it's much more pink than that! Not quite the same colour as my boots but still acceptable fashionista-wise I think. More importantly, it's the only pink bag I have.

Nothing new with the accessories either. Sunglasses are my old faves by Quay Australia, the bejewelled watch was a charity shop buy and only recently rediscovered in a box, the huge pink resin ring was a gift from a friend and the other a charity shop find too. The necklace was a purchase a few years ago from Gallery Tresco and is by Charlie Dodge.

My beaded belt, an Amazon buy, always gets lots of comments. It's so utterly feminine isn't it?

So, you must excuse me, but I've got to return now to my sewing machine. I'm trying to make a pink net underskirt to wear under my orange linen dress, as one does. The slight problem I have is that I don't have a pattern and despite looking at lots of tutorials on youTube I'm really none the wiser. I have no real idea what I want to achieve apart from it being a flash of colour as I walk. 

As ever, thank you so much for dropping by and hopefully I'll see you again on Monday!

Anna x