Frilled to bits!

Hi everyone! How are you?

Excuse the pun, but I'm frilled to bits to wear this outfit! A monochrome permutation, showcasing these rather old flamenco inspired trousers, it was a joy to pair them with the frilly sleeved blouse to create an outfit that just cried out "Fun!" and oh, what fun I had!

Four years ago I set myself the Black Trouser Challenge - see here. It was the first time I'd succumbed to black trousers since my school days and I was positively evangelical about these delightfully ruffled ones. To my amazement, the weekly challenge ran for 13 inspired weeks and looking back seems to have been very popular gauging by the number of comments each post received. 

The eagle eyed amongst you may recall that this is an almost identical take on week two of the challenge, apart from the shoes and accessories. But hey, that was in 2017, so maybe I ought not to have even mentioned it!

What wasn't happening back in 2017, was the almost daily photobombing from Nick Halliday, CEO of the island! Nick clearly is up for a bit of fun too and may well become a regular on the blog at this rate.

You know what they say, "Laugh and the world laughs with you..."

And so, to the details - trousers were from River Island, blouse was from George at Asda, belt was charity shopped, shoes by Nine West, sunglasses by Quay Australia.

Rings are both pre-loved and handbag by Bags of Time. We sell these bags at Gallery Tresco. They're upcycled from old leathers and fabrics by Claudine Sear. Jamie bought me this one for my Christmas and it's my fave bag of the moment.

I love the mixture of classy and playful that these two elements combined say.

And just when I thought I'd regained centre stage ...

... this happens! Timeshare guest and friend Mark Rigby managed to edge into the limelight that is Anna's Island Style. Neatly done, I may add, as he keeps his 2m distance!

The silver disc necklace was a purchase from M&S many moons ago and yet still looks very contemporary. 

If this is the 14th feature of these (£40) River Island trousers then that brings the cost per wear down to £2.85. Not too shabby eh?

And one final thing. On Wednesday, weather permitting, I shall be leaving Tresco for a few days on the mainland. I have three health appointments to attend and beyond that I can already feel the siren's call of the shops. This will be my first time off the island in 15 months, a scary thought for a fashion blogger who claims to be ready for a change in retail habits. My aim is to shop responsibly; to buy only what I need or can justify by way of replacements. However, I accept my quest seems almost saintly and therefore am cutting myself some slack as I have a gift voucher left over from Christmas which will see my entry in the Portal of Joy - otherwise known as TK Maxx. Wish me luck!

                                                                  Anna x

The ubiquitous all-in-one

Hi there! How was your weekend? Mine was busy as ever; I cleaned like a demon, but also did a spot of gardening, batch cooking for the freezer, had a couple of lovely sea swims, did a bit of sewing, took some blog photos, sorted out the cupboard under the stairs and caught up with the laundry. I made a roast for the family on Sunday and by the time I sat down to watch a movie later it felt good to finally stop!

My outfit of the day isn't new, but still looks fresh as a daisy, probably because this is only the third time I've worn it since I bought it last March. The thick cream denim jumpsuit is an easy to wear piece apart from the fact that the button front makes it necessary to go the loo ten minutes before you actually need to go! The addition of the belt only serves to complicate matters, hahaha! 

That said, an all-in-one does away with coordinating pieces and so needs less planning. The cream colour may seem a tad bland for me, but the details of the pockets and contrasting stitching are eye catching enough to compensate for the lack of colour. 

I specifically chose the dark brown leather belt for its contrasting stitching too - a nice tie in don't you think? My rings are old - both pre-loved.

The boilersuit is from Tu at Sainsbury's and was first aired on the blog here. Looking back I have to say how much I love the orange theme and really ought to revisit that look next time. What I also envy is that lovely short hairstyle! Oh, how fed up I am of this long floppy, shapeless style. It's four weeks until my appointment and golly it can't come soon enough.

My zig-zag patterned trainers have been mistaken for Missoni (be still my beating heart!), but were much more accessible through TK Maxx - the brand is LA Gear in fact. 

Excuse the slightly fuzzy photo, but this was the best one of these Radley sunglasses. I love the shape of the frames. My gold coloured chain necklace was a bargain piece from Primark a couple of years ago.

The gallery has only been open for a week now and yet it feels so normal. Everyone is very much keeping by the rules which I suppose is quite easy to do within a small community. Will things be much different by June when the final restrictions are lifted? I presume that means restriction of movement rather than not wearing masks etc? By then I ought to have had my second vaccine which will help me mentally too. We in the UK have been so lucky to get our vaccine as quickly as we did.

Next month will be my 5th year of blogging and to celebrate I thought I might ask for your input. Has Anna's Island Style influenced you in your dressing? Did I showcase something that sparked a copy cat outfit? Have I helped you to restyle an item of clothing that lay forgotten perhaps? Please do send me an email via the contact box, telling me which post was involved and attach a photo so that I can include you in my 5 year round-up.

Have a great week!

Anna x

It's all in the detail

Hello lovelies, how are you doing this first Friday of lockdown 2? It feels less worrying for me this time, probably because Tresco in the winter has a lockdown look to it anyway. There are so few of us as winter residents that you can walk around the whole island without seeing a soul sometimes. The other thing that makes it feel different is that we've got a finish date this time. Of course, that may change nearer the time, but somehow a month seems less ominous than the open ended nature of the first lockdown. 

When I say, It's all in the detail, I mean about the double breasted fastening on the jacket with those iconic buttons and the contrasting stitching as an accent colour on the jumpsuit and belt. These are such a simple features and yet are often the reason why I'll opt to buy one piece over another. This fabulous peach coloured jacket by Dsquared was a prize purchase from TK Maxx some years ago and has become like a faithful friend now. The buttery soft leather has moulded itself to my shape and feels like a second skin when I put it on. The pale colour has the downside of showing up ever knock or mark, but I'm learning to live with these signs of age, much like I am with my own!

The belt is preloved and the jumpsuit is by Tu at Sainsbury's and was my final purchase before I started my 12 month shopping ban. I'm on month 9 now and haven't faltered yet. Having said that, my Christmas wish list is very specific with details of longed for pieces being sent to each member of the family. This project has been wonderful for sharpening my focus on what's lacking in my wardrobe or what's in dire need of replacing. It's quite a relief for both my husband and son to be pointed in the right direction this year I can tell you! And with my birthday coming up in January I'll be dropping some more hints too.

I'm sporting Radley sunglasses again today, along with a jewel encrusted shark's tooth necklace in rose gold (purchased from Charlie Dodge jewellery). My gold ring was a gift from a friend as was the peach perspex one.

It's a joy to bring out these ASOS brocade boots again. I've lost track if they are two or three years old now, but I store them boxed up between wears to help preserve their shape and keep them pristine. I wore them a couple of times with dresses in the autumn and they always had a few admirers. Brocade is a great example of detail too. The ornate stitchwork is what they're all about.

The winning feature of a jumpsuit surely has to be the one piece nature of it, but that's also the downside when nature calls - advance planning is what's required to allow enough time to undo all of those buttons! I have a similar all-in-one which has a zip and therefore it gets more Brownie points.

I'd love to report that I've had great week away from work, but the plan and reality were quite a distance apart. Some winter works have cropped up and therefore I've spent most of my holiday so far beetling away packing up artwork. I think that by the end of today I'll have completed that and my time off can commence. In the meantime, I've still managed to make time for my daily swim and also Fiona and I have started up our winter walking regime over lunchtime. The island is blessed with lots of hills and sharp inclines which are ideal for bursts of speed as we both declare "Bums and thighs!" in the hope that our energies are directed to the right spot. If intention and results work in correlation we'll be toned up and perky by Christmas. One can but live in hope!

                                                                                           Anna x