The Ted Baker skirt gets to party at last!

Welcome to my first post of 2020

Hello my dear friends. Have you had a lovely time over the festive period? I do hope so. I've had a super time, both at work and at home. Today I hosted a New Year's party at the Gallery giving me the perfect excuse to finally allow this gorgeous Ted Baker skirt time to shine. The skirt has featured twice on the blog before (here and here), as a Cinderella piece never quite making it to the party. Today however, it finally debuted. Not only that, this rebirth is, in my humble opinion, the best style version too.

I bought the skirt back in the summer of 2018 from TK Maxx when it was reduced from £200 to £50, proving to be too much of a bargain to be missed. But somehow that top line price meant I kept it for best, forever waiting for that special occasion to bring it out. The trouble with putting that invisible label of "special" onto something makes it well nigh impossible for the perfect event to come along. 

The robust wind played with the floaty tulle of the skirt.

Now that I've broken the spell, I can't wait to bring the skirt out again. It drew lots of compliments both for the pattern and shape and it felt such a feminine piece to wear. 

I came across these beautiful Italian courts when I was in Truro in the spring. From a charity shop and brand new, the £20 asking price was another bargain I found irresistible. The moment I saw them I knew how beautifully they would match with this skirt. Too matchy-matchy? I beg to differ.

The left hand ring was from an airport concession and the other is a pre-loved piece. Sunglasses are by Quay Australia. 

The chiffon blouse is a well worn favourite of mine (from TK Maxx) and the belt is a second hand buy.

I'd love to claim that this fabulous Ted Baker skirt was the star of the show today, but the truth is that the Tresco Choir stole that accolade. They performed at both of the parties held in the Gallery over the festive season as well as lots of other venues and were the highlight of every event. 

Fingers crossed that the video uploads!

Anna x

Winter Opulence, our Style Not Age Challenge for December

Welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge.

Hello to you and thanks for dropping by. This month's theme for our challenge was chosen by Emma and goodness, what a lovely idea to opt for Winter Opulence. We've all taken to this one like ducks to water so without further ado let's see how Emma starts this off shall we?

Emma looks positively regal in her velvet dress with teeny velvet bag and that crown like headband. Find all the details on her blog Style Splash. 

Jacqui's take on Winter Opulence is all about lace in the shape of this rich red lace dress, styled simply with red suede shoes. See more on her blog Mummabstylish.

Hilda has chosen a double helping of fur to compliment her gold brocade skirt for her sumptuous look. Catch up with her on her blog Over The Hilda.

At the mention of Winter Opulence I immediately thought of fur - but which of my many pieces was the dilemma? I've not yet showcased the velvet and fur coat which I bought in London in November... But no, maybe not. This silver fur jacket captured my attention as I rummaged through my wardrobe. 

It's a hand-me-down piece from Sasha, the brand is New Look and is quite old I think. Anyway, I like the short length as it feels young and a bit more funky when paired with this satin jumpsuit, pre-loved from H&M. 

The satin bowed trainers (new with labels) were a recent purchase in London. The brand is Kelsi and I've found the same ones online here. I thought the silver pumps were a great match for the silvery hued jacket. 

My bejewelled turtle handbag continues with the Opulence theme perfectly don't you think? I bought this in a boutique in St Andrews almost 12 months ago, but there's no label to show the brand/maker.

No brand with the necklace either I'm afraid. I bought it in London too at the Crisis shop in Finsbury Park. The necklace was one of many bargains I found at only £6.95. I can see this will be a great asset to my jewellery collection. Both rings are pre-loved too. And my sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

Fur, satin, velvet, lace and brocade - we've pretty much covered the who gamut of Winter Opulence here. What do you think of our outfits for this month's challenge? Do drop me a line or post a comment if you have something to add. Next month I'll be starting us off with our first challenge of the new decade. What on earth will that be I wonder?

Until then, I'll wish you all a very 

Happy New Year!

Anna x

Anna does Kirstie at Christmas

Happy Christmas my lovelies!

Hello and thanks for dropping by today. I bet I'm not alone in wondering how Christmas has suddenly been and gone already. All that hype, all those preparations, all that food and packing of presents and suddenly - it's over! 

This is my Christmas day frock a la Kirstie Allsopp. I'm a huge fan of her pre-Christmas bonanza of programmes in which she wears the shirtwaister dress in all sorts of colours and patterns. I found mine in a charity shop in September and stashed it away ready for the big day. It's a vintage piece by the brand Kerena. The red, green and gold theme screamed out festive dressing the minute I saw it and the voile fabric was too pretty to resist. 

I changed the self fabric belt for this gold trimmed woven one (pre-loved) to add a bit more Christmas pizazz. The ring is also pre-loved and my necklace was a gift from Sasha a couple of years ago - it's been one of my most featured pieces of jewellery thanks to the simplicity and therefore versatility of it.

(Just a little aside here. I spent most of Christmas day thinking I'd forgotten something and it was only when I reviewed these photos that I remembered - the deforestation of my eyebrows! A tad more lipstick wouldn't have gone amiss either.)

I wanted to lift the dress out the conservative dressing bracket and gave it a touch of tartan to create something more "Anna's Island Style". The boots were from M&S ages ago. The red glitter tights add a touch of glamour - maybe too much for some, but a dash of fun for me.

Anyway folks, I wasn't sure if anyone would be checking the blog over the festive period so thank you for calling. I'll be back on Monday for the last of our Style Not Age challenge for 2019. The theme is Winter Opulence and I'm sure it's gonna be a corker! Do pop by for that if you get a moment.

I'll leave you with this fabulous sunset shot taken from my garden this evening.

                                                                                   Anna x

Orange + sequins = heaven!

Hello to you, my dear readers!

Today's offering gives more than a nod to the festive season and golly, how wonderful it makes me feel! I love orange. I love sequins. And therefore this is a heady delight for me to air once again. I wore this fabulous jacket way back at the start of the year (see here) and again in the spring (here). It's pretty bold, even by my standards and so I have to be in the right frame of mind to carry this off. 

If you're a regular reader then you'll know that I find the winter months a real struggle. This year more so than most as I'm not able to swim currently and that daily dip is what keeps me from descending into the black hole of depression which snaps away at my heels for the long dark months. But I've discovered that the discipline of a daily walk yomp has an equally good effect on my mood. Now, that may be because I've been joined by friends on some days, but even on those days when I've stamped around the circuit on my own, I've been energised and so very pleased with my efforts. 

I'm finding the walking bug has got me in the very same way that the swimming bug did. The daily yomp has become an addiction regardless of the weather. The circuit I walk is a full hour of speed walking both up and down hills, across moors and coastal paths and I just love this new found high. The other day Jilly and I were striding out in a howling gale dressed in full wet-gear, marching alongside the exposed southern coast as we tried hard to keep up our conversation. As we reached the top of an incline we were suddenly blasted by sand; it was the cheapest spa treatment ever as we were exfoliated by gusts of mica-laden wind and we laughed at each other as we struggled to see. The ferocity of the wind stole the words from our mouths, dragged the snot from our noses, and forced us to stagger bent double against it. I was grateful for my sunglasses protecting my eyes and also for the scraps of loo roll Jilly dragged out from the corner of her pockets. Afterwards as we hugged and said our goodbyes, we both congratulated each other on that life-affirming walk; the extreme weather making the challenge all the more of an achievement. Never mind ladies who lunch, we're ladies who yomp!

And so, to the outfit. Another Eight is the brand of this dazzling bomber jacket which is surprisingly cosy, thanks to the fulsome padding. I would wear it more often, but even for me it's pretty out there. Having said that, I plan to wear it a lot over the Christmas period. I'm suddenly back in love with this flamboyant piece and it fills me with joy and the "Why not?" philosophy that has served me so well in the past.

The turtle neck was second hand (from eBay) and the rings are pre-loved too.

The brocade boots are from ASOS.

The high waisted Mom jeans are from Topshop, earning lots of praise for the great fit as well as the contrasting lime green stitching. I picked them up at the end of the summer sale (£20) - result! The leopard print belt is second hand and my sunglasses are my old faithfuls from Quay Australia.

I'll leave you now, as I have to return to the task in hand, that being another few batches of fudge to be made, cut and packed before the weekend is over. I love the pleasure of giving these be-ribboned boxes out to family and friends. There's something so special about a hand-made Christmas present isn't there? For me 'tis the joy of giving, that's for sure!

In case I don't get back to you again before the event, I'll just say -

Happy Christmas to you all! 

                                                                                    Anna x

Tartan and fur for that festive feeling

Hurrah, Christmas cometh!

Hello again my dear readers. I suddenly find myself on that crazy roller coaster ride that is the countdown to Christmas. I have a mixture of joy and panic flipping inside my tummy currently. Yes, I bought a lot of presents, but no, I've not checked if all the festive food menus are going to work out. This weekend I'll be nipping to St Mary's to have my hair cut and check out the last of my to-do list at the shops. How about you? Are you making progress towards the big day?

I've rolled out one of my favourite Christmas looks today with my teddy bear spruce green fur coat supported by a very healthy dose of tartan (or plaid for my readership across the pond). I'm terribly partial to bit of tartan which probably has something to do with being Scottish I suppose.

My beloved tartan boots were from M&S last year.  I must admit that my skirt and boots together remind me of my clan tartan.

This is Kerr tartan, the fabric of my clan. I wonder if this was worn to battle hundreds of years ago?

The only battle I was facing was with the driving winds, but that was a small price to pay for this stunning backdrop across the harbour at New Grimsby over to Bryher.

So, the outfit comprises of the fur coat by The Vintage Collection which came from TK Maxx last year, tartan skirt and black polo neck are both pre-loved and black cotton rich tights are from Tesco's. 

This has to be my favourite black sweater. I love the figure shaping ribbing plus the gilt buttons lift it out of the ordinary. Wash after wash it seems to hold it's shape beautifully. My necklace was a charity shop find, silver and black rings are one pre-loved and one from many moons ago.

My thanks for today's photos go to my lovely friend Fiona who gave up her lunch break to gad about with me looking for the right backdrop for our shoot. I hope you've enjoyed another peek at my island home. Have a great week and I hope to catch up with you again soon!

                                                                                    Anna x

Print frenzy

 

Hello and happy Sunday to my dear readers. Here I am today on the 1st of December enjoying the dry, sunny weather. No wet-gear or winter coat required, hurrah! You may remember seeing this leopard print top from a recent shopping trip (see here). Well, this is my first bit of styling. What do you think?

The top is by Tahari and came from TK Maxx (£19.99). It's a soft and cosy man-made fabric and I chose it mostly for the colour which is neither blue nor lilac. At the time of purchase I had no idea what I'd wear it with, but a quick root around in my wardrobe resulted in this outfit.

Apart from the top, I have say that I see these boots as the star of the show today. They're DKNY and must be at least 20 years old now. I had a good look at the box when I rediscovered them the other day to see that they're called Florence and the pattern name is Wallpaper. Well I can totally understand that name as yes, they do remind me of a wallpaper pattern.

The woollen skirt (by Claire DK) boasts this adorable mini kick pleated finish which flicks as you walk. It's a very grown-up skirt. I love it and do wonder how I manage to overlook it so often when I'm searching for inspiration in my closet. It drew lots of compliments today.

This cute little coral satchel bag pushed into the scene today thanks to the blue edging. I must have picked this up in a charity shop, but it has no label. No matter, it works perfectly to add a splash of colour to the otherwise blue theme. My rings are charity shop finds.

The blue faux leather jacket is an old favourite of mine and just worked to so well with the smart casual look I wanted to create. The brand is Toxik 3. Sunglasses are by Quay Australia. 

The bargain piece of the whole ensemble is this silver chain mail belt which I picked up for £1 in a charity shop. 

Much as I've called this a pattern frenzy, I think the checks, leopard print and wallpaper pattern don't clash at all, but meld beautifully in this melody of blue. I've mostly shopped my closet too, so I always give myself a pat on the back for that. 

Thanks to Fiona, my photographer of the day. She did a great job, despite us being photo bombed by a cat at one point!

Have a great weekend!

Anna x