Sunset Shades, our SNA challenge for August

Hello again and welcome once more to our Style Not Age Challenge for August. We're sporting Sunset Shades this month as chosen by Emma and my offering was shopped from my wardrobe. Let's catch up with my fabulous fashionista friends first though...

Hilda sent one of her holiday snaps and she too has shopped her closet. Her sunset shade top fulfills the remit perfect and doesn't she look carefree and lovely! See more from her on Over the Hilda blog. 

The holiday theme continues with Jacqui and her outfit which she bought in Sicily. The silky two piece is co-ordinated with pink sandals and orange handbag - all sunset hues. Catch up with all Jacqui's news on her blog Mummabstylish. 

Emma's sunset shades are both from River Island, recently rediscovered in her loft - what a joyful find! See more of this fabulous outfit on her blog Style Splash. 

This was my work outfit from Sunday. I suspect it looks more beach than workwear but I so love it that I decided what the the heck and wore it anyway. I did get quite a few compliments so I maybe wasn't so wrong.

The broderie anglaise dress was a charity shop find costing me £5. Worn on its own it is indeed the perfect beach cover up but by adding my (made by me) petticoat it changes the look to something more dressy. 

My two-tone bejewelled sandals were a Vinted buy earlier on this summer and goodness what a lot of wear I've got out of them already! I do love them so much. And not only that, but they've comfy too.

Nothing new with my jewellery either. The pink and orange necklace was a Zara purchase from years ago but works well with today's look and the perspex rings are very old too.

Steve did the honours with this month's SNA photos. I'd stepped outside to take a photo of the sunset from our house and decided that the warm evening light might be flattering enough for this capture session.

As ever, thank you for dropping by to catch up on our latest challenge. Hope you're still holding on to summer weather. We've been hit by the predicted stormy wet weather overnight. Let's hope it'll pass soon. Take care!

                                                                        Anna x

Pairing yellow with pistachio...

Hi there! This was my favourite work outfit from last week. An unusual pairing of yellow and pistachio, one that I've not tried before, but I think I like it. What about you?

The pistachio cotton velvet coat is by White Stuff and was a Vinted purchase a little while ago. I'm going off to the mainland on Tuesday this week and think I'll wear this in an effort to look 'mainland smart'. Living on a tiny (car free) island tends to impact on what constitutes smart in real life. We dress here in response to the weather and most of the winter that means wet-weather gear or cosy coats to buffer one against the gales and cold weather. And so a trip to the mainland is always a style challenge for me as I try to anticipate the weather needs and my idea of style.

I'll be hanging around on drafty train platforms a lot of the time so a full length coat seems like a good idea. I'll add a scarf too and will pack a brolly in case of showers and that ought to cover everything. Having a car seems to negate the need to think about the weather - well that's how it looks to me when I see women dodge out of their cosy motors and pop into the supermarket wearing only a sweater. 

The rest of the outfit reads like this: skirt is a charity shop find, by Laura Ashley, sweater is old, tights are by Snag Tights, boots are by ASOS (from Vinted) and yellow necklace was from Vinted too. 

My rings are old and my sunglasses are old too, from Radley London. My orange felt bird brooch was a fabulous Christmas present from my sister Sandra.

The yellow boots are genuine suede and were brand new, never worn, costing me £20. I know yellow's not for everyone, but for a colourist like me, they're a great addition to my wardrobe.

Another feature of island life is our obsession with the weather whenever travel is on the horizon. Wind, or rather too much of it and fog can both impact on travel plans and it looks like my return on Friday hangs in the balance. At this time of year there's no sea link to the islands so flying is the only option and flights are often delayed or cancelled when there's bad weather. I probably won't know until Thursday if my flight is confirmed or not so I may be spending Friday night in the Premier Inn, which normally wouldn't bother me but as Friday is my birthday I'm rather keen to get home. Wish me luck!

                                                                    Anna x

Another big round up

Happy New Year to you! I do hope you've had a great time over the festive period. I certainly have! We had lots of family time together, time to relax and chill out and eat some of our favourite Christmas meals. I dodged in to work for a couple of days during the Christmas and New Year weeks which was very civilised and allowed me plently opportunity to veg out.

This was my Hogmanay outfit, a great mix of old and new pieces. The jacket is by Michael Kors and is quite old now, but still rather fabulous, don't you think? My kilt (£4.50) was a recent charity shop find in Penzance when I was there in December - it's a vintage M&S buy when they were know as the St Michael brand. 

The tartan boots are also from M&S but not quite vintage. I love how they work so well together. 

I'm wearing my green orb pendant by Vivienne Westwood along with two preloved rings. 

I worked on New Year's Eve so went halfway with my dressing up. The green faux fur coat is old, seen many times on the blog before. 

My grey woollen sweater with pearls was a Vinted find recently and perfect for his semi-party look. The sequin trousers are the same ones that I wore when I went to the ABBA Voyage event in London over a year ago - see the post on that trip here. 

The diamante Scottie dog brooch is a charity shop piece as are both of my rings. 

For the evening out at our local pub I wore my mermaid coat. I had two options and this was the first...

The Iris tulle skirt is by Eleven Loves - it's not new but they still sell this style but not in this colourway - see here for the olive green version. The sequinned bodysuit has languished in my wardrobe for ages now and at last had an airing. The pearl heart necklace was a present from my sister Dianne.

And this was option two, the one I actually wore. It was sequin overload, I know, but I did love it! The coat was from Topshop, the top is from Zara (through Vinted) and the trousers from Shein. My silver boots are by Buffalo.

I went out with my son that evening as both Steve and my daughter were full of the cold. I think it's inevitable at this time of year, but still rather annoying to be ill over the festive season. I met up with my sister-in-law and her family where we danced and drank until midnight. It was a lovely evening. So here we are in 2025 now and I do hope that we can all look forward to a good year with peaceful times, happy times too with family and friends.

                                                                        Anna x

My big fat Christmas post!

Hello and a belated Happy Christmas to you! This is my big fat post showcasing three outfits for you, including my Christmas Day ensemble. Feel free to scroll down to see the festive extravaganza as worn on the day... But this was one of my pre-Christmas work outfits.

The gold lurex cardigan was a £6 charity shop purchase many many moons ago. It's quite heavyweight but I find that somehow reassuringly comforting.

Underneath the cardigan is a simple black roll neck sweater, ideal for that cosy feeling. None of my accessories are new - the rings, necklace and belt are all old, mostly pre-loved.

My crop checked trousers are a recent purchase from Vinted. Ideal for this time of year don't you think? I've finished the look with my new gold leather Topshop boots, a recent purchase from Vinted.

I topped the outfit off with this yellow fur coat, not new. When I left for work that morning it was a grey overcast day, but by the time I was ready to leave for home at the end of the day the heavens had opened and it was absolutely tipping down with rain. I only live a short distance away from work but didn't want to end up with a soggy fur coat...

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention and so I made myself a bubblewrap coat to get myself home, dry!

My next outfit was the result of a wardrobe malfunction. I had planned to wear this top with a lovely red tartan kilt, a charity shop find from earlier this month when I was on the mainland, however after spending 20 minutes pressing all the pleats, when I came to trying it on I discovered some of the stitching on the waistband was coming undone.

I quickly popped on a pair of black jeans and black patent boots (old from Topshop) and dashed to work. It's a very pared down look for me, quite simple and conservative, but there again I do like to keep mixing things up...

My orange sequinned bomber jacket does at least jazz the whole thing up a bit! I bought this a long time ago in TK Maxx and it always makes a festive statement at this time of year. My only jewellery are two rings, both very old.

Millie Johnson, one of the local girls, made this wooden Christmas tree for the Gallery a couple of years ago and this year I decorated it quite simply with some white fairy lights and ribbons.

And so here it is, my Christmas Day outfit! I must admit, I'm pretty pleased with this rather natty trousers suit. The brand is Karen Millen and I found it, brand new still with the labels on, on my favourite shopping haunt, Vinted. I paid £75 for it and feel that it's worth every penny. I'm probably going to wear it again at work for our afternoon drinks party on New Year's Eve as I feel it didn't get much exposure. 

The jacket is very much Chanel in its style with the round neck and gold buttons giving a simple effective finish. The feather trim is for me the icing on the cake, making it less demure and much more flamboyant and fun. Our island get together on Christmas day is a lovely tradition when we all clear an hour in our day just before lunch to meet up and wish other islanders Happy Christmas. 

Again, none of my jewellery is new, but all worked fine as the suit was the star of the show.

My tartan boots are quite old too, from M&S, but always make an appearance over the festive period, so you'll probably see them again soon.

Thank you so much for making time to drop by, especially at this time of year, I do appreciate it. I'm just about to scour through my wardrobe for the monthly Style Challenge, so wish me luck with that. I'll be back with that feature on Monday 30th of December and would love you to join me again then. In the meantime I do hope you've had a lovely Christmas (I most definitely have) and I wish you all the best for a peaceful New Year!

Lots of love

Anna x

That weekend vibe

Hello lovely, how are you? Hot off the press, here's me today, Sunday, trying to capture my weekend vibe for you. So often, you see my professional side, as in my work outfits so for a change this is me having some downtime. We've had a mixed bag of weather this weekend, but I wanted to get out for a walk while the sun was shining this afternoon and thought I'd kill two birds with one stone as it were.

I'm sporting one of my new winter jumpers in this gorgeous bright turquoise colour. It was from Vinted and cost me £10. As you may know, I'm not very good at transitional dressing, favouring intstead to jump from summer outfits straight into winter ones. This look is a favourite weekend spin for me. I've also bought a new pink jumper, patterned though, but very similar in shape and size and I love it too. You'll see that one soon, don't worry!

Rings are preloved and my sunglasses are from Radley London, but not new, I hasten to add. 

You'll maybe have seen my jeans before, again a scoop from Vinted. I seem to gravitate towards these every weekend now as I love them so much, but it worries me that I'll wear them out if I'm not careful. I've not come across anything like them which may account for why I love them so!

And this is one of my best spots for beach combing. I collect sea glass for one of our Gallery Tresco artists who tumbles the pieces and then turns them into her jewellery collection. The brand is Drift jewellery and can be found here. I do love hunting in amongst the pebbles to find these part tumbled bits of glass.

And here's my new pair of boots - these were such a bargain from Vinted at only £5. I'm very partial to a pair of chunky Dr Marten's type boots and these are pretty special.

And that pretty much wraps it up from me this weekend. I'm off to make a roast dinner for the family now whilst listening to Bob Harris on Radio 2. It's been a sad time for those of us who were big fans of Johnnie Walker since he gave up his Sunday afternoon slot due to his declining health. Bob is doing a wonderful job putting his own stamp on the role, but oh how I miss hear dearest Johnnie!

                                                                    Anna x