Another summer trouser suit

Hello, and how's your Sunday going? We've had a big gale blowing across the Isles of Scilly over the past few days, but at last the wind is dropping. Polly and I have relocated to give you a different aspect of the island today, showing Bryher in the background, which just so happens to be staging its annual Summer Fete this afternoon. I'll be at work by then, but I'll clip the doors open so that I can enjoy the live music. Fingers crossed for the good weather to hold!

Earlier on this season I declared that this is the year of the trouser suit and here's another one from my collection. Today's outfit isn't new, but is new to me. It's from M&S, but goodness knows how many seasons ago.  I bought it in a charity shop when I was in St Andrews in January with the sole purpose of wearing it on my flight to Cape Town. It's a size bigger than I usually wear which was ideal as I seem to suffer a bloated tummy when I fly. I avoid eating completely and don't drink carbonated drinks, but I still get a painfully tender stomach. Looking back at the photos from the airport in Cape Town, I'd say all of me looks pretty bloated!

Not so much a trouser suit as culottes and matching pyjama top if you wish. The low slung waist and pleated trousers make for a lovely comfy fit. I've added a vest top in similar colour underneath. The label on that says White Stuff which I think I bought many, many moons ago. The button fastening on the top is very clever and well worth a mention. Good ol' M&S have designed the buttons closure to overcome that dreaded gaping over the bust area by adding buttons on the underside of the shirt which don't show through either - how very neat!

All today's jewellery is second hand too. The necklace I picked up in a charity shop when Sasha and I were out shopping together last summer. When we got outside she gently told me that this necklace along with two others were hers, donated only the previous day. I love that we've all gained from this experience: she by getting rid of unwanted pieces and me for finding things that were useful also by putting money into the pockets of our chosen charity. Hurrah! Oh, let's not forget my sunglasses today as they're by Guess, for a change!

These platforms were a River Island purchase, but goodness, that must be at least 10 years ago if not more. I kept them in a box under the bed for yonks and couldn't bear to get rid of them even though I didn't want to wear them. It's funny how you can fall back in love with something after a break isn't it?

I decided to make a concerted effort to avoid any newly-bought-from-the-high-street items in today's offering. My trips to the mainland often result in my being seduced by the latest trends which drags me away from my ideals of buying recycled clothes. I do my best, is all I can say. I bet you're the same.

And finally .... I'm touting a new magazine this week. The Simple Things feels like it's got its finger on the pulse of life currently. The tempo is chilled and all about savouring the moment, whether it's during a camping trip and eating al fresco or how to incorporate mindfulness into our daily life, the mag was a joyful discovery for me.

Some of you may recall me (ages ago) mentioning that I was going to featured in a magazine, and here I am. A big thank you to those involved for getting me into print to showcase my island life. I'm putting a copy of this away so that I can remind myself of my 15 minutes of fame when I'm old and decrepit!

On Tuesday the gallery will be hosting our second-to-last summer show - how did that happen so quickly? Please join me later on this week to see how that one went, along with the outfit of the day. 

In the meantime, have a super week!

Anna x

Citrus brights for summer

Hello, and thanks for dropping by! How's your week going? Are you blessed with good weather, wherever you are? Here in the UK it's a mixed bag again this week, making the daily outfit challenge an interesting one. Not only has it been dull and wet here on the Isles of Scilly, but there's been a cold North wind blowing which resulted in me wearing my long sleeved thermals (in June!) as a base layer to keep the chills out.

We had a last minute burst of sunshine at the end of trading today, so I nipped home and changed into this summery ensemble and Polly kindly did the honours. It was great to have a quick session in front of the camera with her. 

I'm very lucky that Polly and I have a great relationship which extends beyond the workplace. It's lovely to have the chemistry that we do, especially when it comes to our photo shoots. She has a good eye and an inquisitive mind when using the camera plus she likes to throw the odd insult in to get a funny response from me. 

Never one to take myself seriously, I do like the excuse of hamming it up in front of the camera. Acting my age isn't something that worries me too much as you can tell. 

Anyway, enough of that. What about these citrus brights - do you like them? Both trousers and jacket are from the high street, Primark in fact, purchased earlier on in the spring. The jacket is fake suede, a very good imitation to be fair as it's a decent weight with a nice nap to it. Under the jacket I've got a lime floral net tee shirt with an orange vest top underneath, tying the two tone look together nicely. Both of these tops are charity shop finds. 

The lime satin sandals were from TK Maxx last summer and the brand is Steve Madden.

The orange ring is pre-loved, the lime one was from an airport concession, the perspex necklace is very old, as is the orange bangle. My sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

It's only about three weeks now until we start our summer exhibition period with one show opening every 10 days. Where has the time gone? All my good intentions for having caught up with all of the outstanding chores seem to have whizzed past me once again. I can see that July and August will be the same flurry of work, blogging, swimming and boat trips to the uninhabited islands while the housework and gardening seems to be left for another time (goodness knows when!) but I'm all for seizing the day, as they say. Promises I have made to myself to dejunk the loft, read a book a week, and start to use my gym membership - they all appear to be fading into the background as I juggle my life/work/play balance once again. Please do tell me that I'm not the only one ... Leave me a comment if you too struggle with the superwoman image.

Until next time, have a super week!

Anna x

Pink plisse trousers and textured top

Hellooooo! How's your weekend going?

My outfit of the day is from at work yesterday when I was manning the desk, standing all day long, therefore had comfort as my main objective. Our photo shoot was at the end of the day and I was still smiling, a testament to the lack of sore feet, thank goodness.

The plisse trousers were from New Look a couple of seasons ago and are way too big, something like a size 16/18, but that makes them low slung and uber comfy. The striped sheer top is pre-loved, from M&S and a man-made fibre which washes like a dream and dries very quickly. Underneath I have a fuchsia vest top which is quite long and tucks into the trousers helping to secure them at hip level. Without this fabric on fabric bond I fancy they might just descend all the way to my feet!

The silver and white chunky sandals are pre-loved too from Topshop. Sasha gave them to me a while ago as they were too small for her. The wedge sole is a gentle angle making them all day long comfortable. I did actually start off the day wearing my beloved pink (heeled) sock boots, but by lunchtime had to resign myself to ditching glamour in favour of style in another mode.

Keeping it green here with no new jewellery either. Quay Australia sunglasses as per usual, big pink flower ring - gifted from a friend and the other pink ring was a charity shop find. I'm trying hard not to overspend on clothes this summer; I have a few bits and pieces that you've not seen before to sprinkle throughout the year, including a fab new trouser suit that I bought not long after coming back from South Africa. Apart from these, I've made a deal with myself that I'll be strong and keep away from online shopping. Charity shopping will be my weakness, I know, but recycled clothes are the greenest and therefore okay in my book. 

Steve and I are getting into our stride with our evening shoots which are proving to be a lovely way to end the day. We can be chatting about the events of the day and catching up on island news while we're looking for the right location. It all seems quite leisurely to be cycling off together looking for a different aspect or view, especially as the days are longer and the weather more settled. And good for us too, to have a bit of fun larking about together - well, that's what I keep telling him anyway!

Movement was an essential of this particular shoot when we were besieged by gnats as the evening temperature started to drop. Poor Steve was bitten to pieces as he was static for minutes at a time, whereas I just kept jigging about, trying to stop them landing on me. The road we're on is called Pool Road, running alongside the inland lake. I think it's common to have swarms of gnats around a lakes and rivers isn't it? I think we may not be choosing to do a photo shoot here again!

                                                                                 Anna x

Pink boots x 2

Hello my lovelies and how are you? I'm well and hope you are too. With summer fast approaching I'm posting these sock boots once again as I'm aware that sandal season is just around the corner. Have I paired these with this pink trench already? Surely. Can't stop to check, as I'm heading off to the beach in a moment - yes, I'm back on my daily sea swims and all is once again well with the world! Yay!

Anyway, I ended the day yesterday wearing this version of pink sock boots as these are my afternoon comfy version. I think that the chunky sole is a great feature and distracts from the fact that these are more or less slippers. Pop a tweedy checked fabric on these and they'd be perfect grandad footwear.

They're also kinda spaceman boots too, don't you think? I bought these Jeffrey Campbell boots in TK Maxx earlier this year.

The rest of the outfit comprises of the polo neck sweater which is preloved, also much loved by me for the ribbed knit giving a figure hugging fit, plus the gilt buttons at the cuffs. The trousers are from Primark, this season, and the leather belt is preloved. The pink trench is by Topshop and was a fab charity shop scoop last year. The pink sock boots are by H&M.

You'll have seen a lot of this necklace recently due to the simple versatility of this silver chain which adds a contemporary twist to any outfit. It's by Melissa James, a brand that we carry in the gallery - please note this was a purchase of mine, not a gift. I link through to the brand cos it's a super and very affordable range of jewellery.

My old favourite sunnies are by Quay Australia - another shout out for a great brand - I have about half a dozen pairs of them, but seem to come back to the same couple of pairs time after time. And last of all my diamante ring is preloved and the pink ring was a gift from a friend.

We had a fair few spectators for this photo shoot by way of the cattle in the field nearby. Plus the obligatory photo-bomber this time was Graham the bike hire guy on the island. Am sharing this photo of him for those of you who know and love 'im!

Graham is a popular figure on the island and is know for his declaration that "This is my last year on the island" which earns him a healthy tip from his customers. Somehow the fact that he spins this one year after year only serves to endear himself to them even more!

Well, that just about rounds it up folks. It's been great to catch up with you again. You can tell that I'm feeling back on form again with this punchy pink ensemble. I'll be back at the weekend with another offering of sorts. I hope you have a brilliant week and look forward to seeing you again soon.

                                                                                         Anna x

Springtime dress and some shopping

How's your week going? Like a true Brit I'm gonna talk about the weather and say that after a whole weekend of rain, the sunshine has returned therefore all is well in my world. The forecast is for a sunny Easter weekend which will be ideal for us as we're hosting our first exhibition of the year on Saturday and I do love it when the opening night party can spill outdoors, drink in hand, to enjoy the vista in front of the gallery.

Today's outfit has been aired before, but deserves to be seen again I thought. Polly has named her theme as "the year of the dress" and turns up to work in a cute little number most days now. Following on from her lead, I'm pulling out some of my favourite dresses too. This ditsy print shirt-waister was from H&M last year and has a very grown up feel to it. I wore it before with these H&M red sock boots too, so there's nothing new here at all. I decided that it still warrants another look though. 

The seaweed and high tide had left the rocks a bit slippery - we really ought to have done a risk assessment!

Easy does it!

My pre-loved accessories are belt and rings, my much loved sunnies from Quay Australia and the gold chain necklace was from Primark earlier this season. 

I call this my master of illusion dress simply because it draws the eye to all of the right places. The red belt puts the focus on the smallest part of the body as the dress skims over the hips and thighs, the floral pattern disguising any lumps and bumps which may be lurking there. There's not too much material either which could cause bulk and it's long and flowing giving the impression that I may be long and flowing too, hahaha! I've just about talked myself into buying another of these, but I won't ....

I stumbled across this limited edition print in a charity shop in Harrogate recently and it couldn't have hit me at a better time. If you're a regular reader you'll know that Harrogate charity shopping is some of the best for me, resulting in a mammoth shopping spree. But this year I've had a fair dose of retail therapy over the past few months. I had decided to rein myself in, use my powers of self control and only buy pieces that would be really useful within my existing collection. I'm having this print framed up to act as a reminder of this new mindset. Pity I found this at the end of my stay and not the beginning!

Anyway, with this statement firmly to the fore, here's what I succumbed to -

I'll confess that these neon sweaters may not be the most stylish, in fact when I got them home I did a double take at how terribly bright they really are. But this is what seems to happen to me when I get my first sniff of the shops. A friend of mine who lives just along the road said she suffers the same problem. We go a bit stir crazy you see. Living on this tiny island (only one mile by two) with very limited retail opportunities, well it can make you impulsive when you get to the mainland and have your first dose of retail therapy. The excitement can go to ones head, resulting in some rather dodgy purchases. Thank goodness this was only a Primark splurge - it didn't break the bank!

The two pairs of dressy courts are a completely different ball game. Each of them was £20, both are Italian made and are indeed very classy (I think). These will be ideal party wear for our summer exhibitions.

In the sale at TK Maxx for £24 the brand is Tokyo Laundry and is a very practical purchase indeed. Ideal for dog walking or for wearing on the boat, this jacket is cosy and fits like a glove.

Pretty and practical, these Replay trainers were £35 in TK Maxx. Being pretty alone would have been fine, so it's a real bonus that these are comfy enough to be drafted in as afternoon shoes when the heels from the morning session are playing havoc with my tootsies. 

This Topshop skirt was a charity shop find and like so many pieces you come across it was stained. I trusted my instinct (and stain removing prowess) et viola, it's as good as new.

Another charity shop piece here, this time by Classic brand and coming in at under £5. The apricot shades are what attracted me - such a flattering colour for me.

And yet another charity shop find. By Boden, I thought this might look good with a black polo neck sweater and some pink or silver brogues - what do you think?

It was very exciting to find these snakeskin boots in New Look in Harrogate. I'd tried these on in Truro a few weeks ago, only to discover that one was a size 5 and the other a 6! The sales assistant scoured the entire store to see if she could find the other odd pair, but with no success. Clearly someone had bought them believing they were a pair. These were a 5 and had been reduced to £10, so it was a win-win.

This M&S dress is brand new with tags still attached. The retail price was £89, but thanks to the Scope charity shop, I only paid £14 for it. I've come up with a kooky plan to stop this looking too frumpy - watch this space.

Last of all are these leather and hessian sandals by Dune, from TK Maxx. They are nice and broad and the wedge belies the fact that they seem to be high, but the angle of them is very slight, making them all day sandals.

The next thing on the agenda for me clothes-wise is to change over my wardrobe for spring and summer wear. I'm keen to see what I've had packed away for these past few months. What about you? Do you do a seasonal changeover or are you someone who believes in layering up for the winter instead of having a complete change of clothes? Do share!

                                                                                           Anna x