Style Scientist

Hello again! Yes, I'm back after my mini break at home where sewing was the name of the game. It was glorious, stressful, frustrating and a joy, as well as a battle as I struggled to overcome my personal limitations with both machine and brainpower, but mostly it was fun. 

Here I am wearing my new jacket, lined in burgundy satin to give it a bit of both body and style. This was one of my minor sewing projects, causing me less of a headache than others. Initially I'd planned on lining this £6 Vinted three quarter length jacket in a baby pink satin fabric but it didn't excite me so I regrouped, coming up with the clever idea of buying a satin dressing gown to repurpose instead. This meant that I had the basics already in place - seams all sewn and in the right places too. 

I removed the sleeves using only the body of the material to line the jacket, attaching it to the neckline and sides. It's a fab new addition to my wardrobe, especially at this time of year as my annual clothes changeover happens. 

Anyway, I'll be peppering my blog with other lovely sewing successes in due course, but today I wanted to say thank-you to a kind blog follower and friend who recently came to chat with me in the Gallery. Rosemary has coined the phrase, Style Scientist, applying it to me. According to her my experiments with clothes and accessories do have a place in the style choices of the likes of her and many others who follow my blog or pop in to see what I'm wearing while they're on holiday. She said that my recent neon boots (see here) were an inspiration for her and even though she considers herself fairly conservative in her dressing she said that these boots could earn a place in her wardrobe. I recently wore them with a pair of black jeans and a simple crew neck black sweater especially with Rosemary in mind - it was a cool look, even if I say so myself!

The explosion of colours in the jacket acted as a springboard for today's outfit. I've run with the patterns and embroidery stories too which give this a very maximalist look - I'm sure that Iris Apfel would have been proud of me! Sometimes you just have to submit to the more is more mode of dressing, and if my happy dressing is infectious then that's an absolute bonus.

I'm wearing my pale pink Replay trainers (old, from TK Maxx) along with this new shopper that Sasha recently gave me. She's on a big clear out like me, which suits me fine if I'm going to benefit from pieces like this!

My rings are both very old, pre-loved and worn with my only other accessory, my Quay Australia sunglasses. The lace blouse is old, from Zara a few year's ago and the trousers are from Vinted.

Photo bombing continues to be a favourite sport for some of the locals ...

... many thanks to Mitch and Lorna for pepping things up! But maybe I ought to stop being a sitting duck.

So that's the latest from me. I'll be back on Monday, the last one of the month which means it'll be time for our Style Not Age Challenge. Please do swing by if you get a moment.

                                                                        Anna x

Sieze the day!

The sun came out today making it a no-brainer for Fiona and I to capture some images for the blog. We finished work and wandered along the road towards the quay at New Grimsby to escape from the brisk north wind. Tucked in behind the hedge we dodged across the road and onto the last patch of sand as the incoming tide swallowed up the beach.

I've been itching to wear these new boots since they arrived in the post last week. Rain and yet more rain meant it's been impossible to get outside for blog photos, so today's bright sunshine was too good to resist. I've paired the neon bright flatforms with a yellow ribbed body underneath my soft green tweed shorts suit (from Primark). Boots, tights and body are all from Vinted. 

I can't explain the appeal of these chunky workwear boots as my latest passion. My son did question how these and my orange ones have become my style statement of the moment and I really can't answer that; I just know that I love them!

Nothing new accessories-wise this time. Necklaces are old/pre-loved, as are my rings and sunglasses, but that's not to say that they're not well considered to match the outfit of the day.

Fiona had a bit of a surprise as a wave suddenly swept round about her - luckily she was wearing her wellies!

 

I chose orange as my other accent colour today. The handbag is by Oliver Bonas and the coat is one of my new winter buys - it's by Superdry and was brand new from Vinted at a cost of £60.

Fiona kindly told me that I look like a bright orange caterpiller. She may be right, but the coat is all about keeping warm and if that means I have to sacrifice some style in order to keep cosy then so be it!

                                                                    Anna x

Sunshine and showers

Hello again! Today I'm trying to find a plus with the British weather and that can only be the excuse to buy a new weatherproof jacket and wellington boots. The orange jacket is by Barbour and cost me £40 (brand new from Vinted) as were the Joules wellies. 

My ongoing wardrobe clear-out has extended to the downstairs coat cupboard now where I'm dejunking like a frenzied idiot, getting rid of coats that I've had for years despite never wearing them. In their place I'm replenishing my coat collection with all sorts of lovely (and mostly orange) coats and jackets. I'm suddenly aware that my next milestone birthday will see me becoming 70 and am trying to buy coats that will be useful to me at that time of life. Mostly, I'm slightly worried that I'll be an true OAP by then and may not be able to afford a good winter coat or two.

My friend Fiona and I hooked up for a lunchtime walk yesterday, timing it perfectly between the showers. It was still a good chance to test drive my boots as we hopped around the large puddles that have grown to almost mini-lake size after this dreadfully wet winter. The jacket was on its first outing too and proved to be light and yet fully windproof too. Steve has a few, very old, Barbour jackets and all of them are very heavy, never mind terribly dull in that boring old greenish brown colour.

This look is great compromise of style and functionality. The jeans are new too (from Vinted) and are by Twiggy for M&S. The fit is great as they have a bit of stretch in them, perfect for our yomp around the island. The white top is old as are the sunglasses.

The wellie boots are so cute, don't you think? I couldn't help but show them alongside our local daffodils. Spring is truly here!

My Zara necklace was a birthday gift last year and the rings are pre-loved and also very old. Easter has come and gone and the island is full of happy families enjoying island life despite the changeable weather. Personally I'm fed up with the rain and am very keen to do my clothes changeover, but can't justify it yet. In the meantime, my love affair with Vinted continues as I find temptation only a click away. My other passion currently is sewing and I hope to post some images for you to see next time. I've upcycled a pair of pink corduroy jeans and am working on a beautiful summer duster coat that's too big and is proving a battle to alter. That said, I do so enjoy the challenge of how to approach these items to make them fit. 

Thanks for joining me and Happy Easter!

Anna x

Hurrah for the sunshine!

Wow, what a difference a little bit of sunshine makes! I honestly can't begin to explain how much the sunny weather on Sunday made to my mood. Not only that, but I took myself off to the beach on Saturday morning to swim on the high tide despite the fact that it was tipping down with rain. The sea was glorious - chilly, yes - but the isolation that the sea offers; the sense of escape and ultimately the watery meditation that the big blue provides is the best therapy ever. I returned to Green Porth on Sunday morning and repeated the whole process with even more delight as I didn't have to struggle to get dressed in the downpour as on Saturday.

I sometimes forget the importance of pushing myself to make time to swim, forgetting that the payback is immediate and also long lasting. From day to day all I need to do is succumb to the restorative powers of the ocean to feel 100% me again. Without this daily regime I do indeed go downhill mentally and wonder if that's similar to an drug addict craving their next hit. Whatever, if you hear me complain about feeling low, please remind me to get to the sea!

The outfit of the day all comes from Vinted. Second hand satisfies my desire to reduce landfill and Vinted is also helping me reduce my own dejunking efforts too - it's a win/win. The top is by Adidas, leggings are by Stronger and the green boots have no brand or labels on them but are brand spanking new.

I love the soft green colour of these and they are super soft and very comfy. I've thrown this look together without too much notice as to if all the colours work together - it's a fun outfit, a weekend play look and I love it!

The rings are old, pre-loved too and the sunglasses are by Radley London. I played on the ramparts of the Old Blockhouse castle, enjoying the space on this brilliant sunny afternoon. What a joy!

The rest of my weekend comprised of batch cooking for the freezer, cleaning, defrosting the freezer and the Sunday roast dinner. Two swims and a lovely walk in the sunshine far outweighed the weekend chores which is surely a sign of me getting the balance right. Many thanks for swinging by again.

Have a super week!

Anna x

Another weekend outfit

Hello again! How was your weekend? Busy? I managed some downtime with a couple of swims and a walk in the sunshine on Sunday afternoon which was lovely. I'm painfully aware that the feel of the island will change soon once we become fully open and that's essential to keep us all in gainful employment, but I will miss the peaceful walks and empty beaches. I also know that once the season starts we're all suddenly 'on' becoming acclimatised to that position overnight. I'm really not complaining, simply saying that the year is most definitely a game of two halves.

I'm sporting my new silver puffa jacket (£10 from Vinted, the brand is Parisian) along with an outfit that's all old pieces - shopping from my wardrobe as the wonderful radio presenter Gabby Roslin says. 

What an absolute joy is was to see the sun! Honestly, we've had rain and fog for days and days over the past couple of weeks and it's all a bit wearing. 

Nothing new with the jewellery either, but these rings and necklace all tone very well, don't you think? Do you have a rummage in your local charity shops for jewellery? It's one of my favourite things when I'm off-island. Even if I'm not in the market for some new clothes (take my temperature - there must be something wrong with me!) I do love to find some hand me down and vintage jewellery. I have mini-pots for all my rings, one in each colourway, from silver and gold to pinks, oranges and blues. My sunglasses are by Radley London.

This may not be my most glamorous of outfits, but weekends do mean comfort for me, that plus practicality. I run about at home doing chores and cooking, making beds and taking out the rubbish, talking of which, I've recently promoted myself to Waste Manager on the home front and what sense of good deed done it gives me! Our waste bins aren't emptied for us, instead we have a local recycling area. In another life I think I might have made a good binman! How tragic am I talking about the rubbish on my blog!!!!!

Very soon my blog will be populated by work outfits, but for the moment, I thought it was fine to let you see me in casual mode. I've been beetling away behind the scenes at work all winter, visiting cottages across the island to check and update art in the newly renovated houses. Hill Top, Doctor's, Nurses and Reading Room cottages have all had new bathroom upgrades, so once those were completed my job was to rehang and exchange art to enhance the overall look - it's a very satisfying part of my job.

Many thanks for dropping by. I do hope that life is treating you well! Enjoy the rest of the week and I'll be back on Monday with our monthly style challenge, so do please swing by to see how that goes. 

                                                                        Anna x

Red Alert! - our monthly style challenge for January.

Hello and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge! Jacqui has chosen Red Alert as this month's theme and it certainly was a fair challenge for me as reds are so few and far between in my wardrobe. Luckily I've been wearing this co-ord (old from Zara) that Sash passed on to me in December and it was perfect for the festive season, also great for the winter months generally as it's super cosy. But let's continue first with the ladies of the collective to see what they came up with...

Jacqui is looking fab in this feather topped jumpsuit (borrowed from her daughter) with her black oversized jacket, finished with blood red shoes and lipstick red handbag. Find out more on her blog Mummabstylish. 

Gail has brought out all of the reds from her closet to great effect. In particular, I love her second hand coat from Coast, tres chic! Read all the latest from her on Is This Mutton blog.

Emma's tomato red top and trousers are from River Island topped with a vest from Principles. Her funky bag steals the show however, don't you think? It's from Jayley. Catch up with all her latest on The Style Splash. 

HIlda's red trousers and yellow cardi tie in perfectly with her leopard print courts and what a statement this ensmeble makes - I love it! Follow Hilda on Over The Hilda blog.

My chunky knit two-piece has been aired quite a lot during December and January, mainly because it's so blooming comfortable! The pull on trousers have an elasticated waist which has been ideal for the post-Christmas tum and the long tunic top hides any such evidence too!

My massive Koi boots in cow print (from Vinted) are a brilliant pairing for the outfit as the whole thing is quite over-sized. The chunky heels and platform soles help to balance out the weightiness of the co-ord . 

Necklace, rings and sunglasses are all old, but work really well with the colourscheme of today's outfit. Again, red isn't one of my oft worn colours so it was a bit of a rummage that took place to find these. The sunglasses are my old favourites from Quay Australia.

Our Red Alert challenge has brought forth a lovely and diverse range of outfits to hopefully inspire and entertain you. Many thanks for dropping by and I look forward to chatting to you again soon!

                                                                            Anna x