Sparkling my way into 2021

Happy New Year!

Hello and welcome to 2021 a la Anna's Island Style! I've decided to start as I mean to go on, with lurex sparkles and wild animal print finished with these over the top yellow sunglasses. You got my memo about no shrinking wall flowers here, didn't you?

This outfit is what I actually wore to work in New Year's Eve although no-one really saw it as I had no customers at all. I packed up goods and did some admin and before I knew it, it was time to go home to celebrate with my family. It's been such a weird year that I was really happy to have an early night and just move on. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to feel that way.

The ensemble is made up from pre-loved and high street purchases from the past couple of years. The gold lurex cardigan is by H&M and was charity shopped, the black lurex roll neck is charity shopped but has no brand label, the leopard print jeans are by Zara, fave patent boots are from Topshop and last but by no means least are the new yellow sunglasses from Quay Australia which Sasha bought me for Christmas.

The gold petal ring was a present from a friend and the other jewellery is pre-loved. The cowboy belt was from H&M several years ago.

I just love these crazy yellow sunglasses. I put them on my wish list for Sasha along with a couple of other pairs and was delighted that she chose these. Wild and funky and just such a lovely cheery colour - what's not to love about them?

I've lost track of how often these Topshop cuban heel boots have appeared on the blog, but golly they've not lost their charm have they!

Many thanks to Fiona for turning up to take photos once again. Her cajoling and forthright observations make the whole thing a joy.

I'd like to send you good wishes for 2021 and hope that you stay safe and well.

                                                                Anna x

This Christmas I'll be wearing...

Happy Christmas lovelies and thanks for swinging by at this busy time of year! Without you, my dear readers, it would be a very pointless hobby indeed to run a blog with no viewers, so my sincere thanks go to you for turning up - I'm sending a virtual hug to each and every one of you. For those of you who take the time to comment, I'm indebted to you for the ongoing dialogue that ensues, giving me an insight into your fashion likes and dislikes as well as snippets of your own lives. It's a joy.

A couple of months ago I was asked to take part in a fashion feature about Christmas Day outfits, the resulting effort being here. I was delighted to be approached (forgive my vanity) and am thrilled that the feature is now live in the Christmas edition of Yours magazine. 

Regular reader Phyllis responded to my call out for a copy of the magazine and here it is, just in time for Christmas! We've not had newspapers or magazines in our island shop since March, so can you imagine my frustration to be told I've got a wee claim to fame and yet not be able to buy a copy? 

My spin on a festive outfit is based around these rather fabulous embroidered trousers which I paid £20 for in the Truro branch of Oxfam. Red may be a huge cliche for Christmas day, but sometimes you just have to play it how it feels and this felt right. We normally go out for a glass of fizz at our local pub at lunchtime on Christmas day, but we've decided to give that a miss this year. The ritual of standing in a lovely friendly huddle around the bar as people mill around hugging and kissing as they pass on their Christmas wishes is sadly a step too far now. 

I'm particularly pleased with this look especially as it's mostly created from second hand and vintage pieces. The only thing I bought brand new were the M&S tartan boots which are now two years old. The red duster is a vintage Chinese jacket scattered with sprigs of embroidery, costing the grand sum of £3. The pleated men's shirt was another pre-loved bargain at £4.50. The Tommy Hilfiger belt was another charity shop trophy find showing no signs of wear to the leather at all. 

The cocktail rings are both pre-loved, worn with my much loved Vivienne Westwood pendant and Quay Australia sunglasses.

Do florals and tartan go together? Why of course they do!

I'm counting my blessings more than ever this Christmas that I have my children living nearby. Our Christmas day meal will be the same as ever for the four of us; we all acknowledged our fortune as we shared our Christmas Eve dinner together this evening. How lucky are we to all live within half a mile of each other? Not only that of course, but to be in Tier 1 is what's relevant. 

I must sneak off now to wrap up the last few presents. Do take care of yourselves and I hope to catch up with you again soon.

Here's wishing you all a very Happy Christmas!

Anna x

Chartreuse and silver Christmas styling

Well hellooooooo! How's tricks? I can honestly say that I'm in full-blown headless chicken mode now. All my plans for Sunday and how many batches of fudge I'd manage to make dissolved into a state of choas with far too much time being taken up with tree installation and the hunt-the-box-of-decorations that ensued. Yes, I did manage to make one batch of fudge, but honestly if I'd been more organised that really ought to have been at least three if not four. And now that leaves me very behind meaning I'll have to get up super early to make one every morning before I go to work. I also seem to have failed to buy enough boxes for packing of fudge and truffles, meaning I'll have to gift wrap old boxes. Ho hum, the best laid plans of mice and men!

I recently promised you a festive month of Christmas dressing, including the obligatory Christmas jumper and here it is! My Elfie Selfie was from H&M a long time ago but is still in good shape as well as being great fun. 

Christmas wouldn't be the same without the odd cheesy jumper would it? Please tell me that you have a couple of these darned things too!

Silver and chartreuse is a new combination for me, but it's rather snazzy don't you think? Sasha bought me this fun fur coat for my birthday in January which was a wonderful surprise. I'd never have looked for this colour of jacket and yet it's a great zesty shade that really perks up my mood. It injects fun to any outfit and works so well with my new-to-me boots.

I'm not sure how well it shows up, but there's silver lurex thread running through the brocade which ties in perfectly with the silver and chartreuse of my ensemble. Oh, what joy that is for me to get these little touches working together!

These brand new ankle boots were a find from my friend Ben who lives in London. He saw them in the window of his local charity shop and suggested I buy them (pre-shopping ban). They only cost me £12 despite being brand new, with labels intact. The funny thing about them is that I managed to lose one of them during my autumn closet changeover - they were the half pair I mentioned when I tallied up how many pairs I owned. Don't ask, I think I've forgotten. 

The toning rings are also both charity shop trophies from long ago. My sunglasses are by Topshop from last year. I love the funky retro vibe of them.

Outfit details look like this: coat and jumper by H&M, jeans by Zara, boots by M&S. Yellow and white beaded earrings are vintage.

My thanks go to Fiona, photographer of the day, purely by default of being in the right place at the right/wrong time. We do have fun on these little stints together. Don't we Fi?

I'll post my Christmas Day outfit on Thursday as I'm sure you'll all be far too busy to be visiting blogs on the big day. Hope to see you all then!

                                                                                             Anna x

Christmas fashion inspiration

Hello lovelies! Here I am strutting my stuff on the island catwalk aka The Flying Boat Club slipway. Fiona and I grasped our opportunity of fine weather on Sunday to show you my latest offering of Christmas dressing. 

I promised you fur and lurex and here they are together with these fabulous paisley print flares with gold thread running throughout. The bell bottoms are from H&M and are quite old, but are perfect for festive outings. These hipster trousers have just the right amount of stretch to allow an extra mince pie or two.

Velvet and fur are fabulous Christmas fabrics, beautifully combined in this second hand Karen Millen coat which I bought a year ago when I was in London. If you missed that post you can see it here. The two fabrics combine to say luxury at its best. 

The lurex polo neck sweater is old (from H&M too). It comes out every year at this time and is a real workhorse of a piece. You'll probably have noticed that polo necks are essential winter wear for me. I love the simple figure hugging lines of this kind of sweater which also provides warmth and a physical barrier against the cold. The sparkle yarn of this one lifts it out of the ordinary and works with so many separates, so you'll no doubt see it featured again this month.

I've piled pattern onto pattern with these amazing black and gold brocade platform boots from River Island (old). To say that the colour palette is rather restrained today, the overall effect still delivers the wow factor. The richness of the fabrics counter what could be read as a brown outfit and God forbid I'd be seen in boring old brown, especially as this claims to be a post about Christmas fashion inspiration!

My mirror Quay sunglasses were a gift from a friend a couple of years ago. 

Both golden rings are pre-loved.

Coming up next time will be the second hand kilt that I bought in a charity shop for £5. I'm styling that up for Christmas to add a flavour of festive fun to what might be perceived as rather staid traditional national dress. It really is just a case of our imagination being the only limitation of our style. I do hope you'll join me on Friday for that one.

In the meantime, take care!

Anna x

When it rains ...

Hello again! Today I'm working on the principle of When life gives you lemons, except I've applied that to rain. My outfit choice was led completely by the need to take some photos for the blog despite the rain, plus the fact that the only umbrella I could find was this tartan one.

So, apart from the addition of a brolly, I've been chomping at the bit to bring out some of my festive clothes. Much like the sudden crop of Christmas decorations appearing both indoors and outdoors across the land, I'm keen to have this dazzling distraction from the woes that plague us currently. Therefore, I shall be littering the blog for the next few weeks with lurex and glitter, tartan and fur, and even the odd very cheesy Christmas jumper! 

But let's start with today's offering. This feather trimmed tartan shift dress was a Zara purchase some years ago. It's a wonderful twist on what is a simple shape made glamorous by the addition of feathers. 

I've layered it up with an M&S long sleeved thermal top and thick thermal tights, finishing with these rather fabulous tartan ankle boots also by M&S.  I love a bit of tartan at the best of times and it warms my heart how much we associate these checks or plaid (depending on where in the world you live) with Christmas. As a Scottish exile, it's wonderful to wear my national cloth with pride at this time of year. I have a real McCoy tartan kilt lined up for you, brought up to speed with an unconventional partner - so please keep coming back to see that!

Do you remember when you were young being asked what you want to be when you grow up? Well, I've just discovered that I want to be the Instagram fashion icon Blair Eadie. I hope you'll take a moment to click on the link to see what a delight this woman is. It's not her model girl figure, nor her youth that I hanker after, but the absolute magic she conjures up with her style. She covers every trend, colour and fashion turning them into a confection of playfulness and joy; in fact most of the time she does look utterly edible! When she does understatement it's sleek and sublime and likewise when she goes big, then it's totally fabulous! I realise how unachievable this level of perfection is, but it's so good to have a dream. We all need a bit of style inspiration and golly, this girl is mine.

Accessories are: rings pre-loved and Tree of Life pendant was a boutique purchase, but is old. Umbrella was from our local chemist on St Mary's.

My thanks go again to Sasha for her time taking these soggy day shots. I'll leave you with this atmospheric scene looking towards Samson island. 

Thanks for joining me. See you again soon!

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