Do emerald green and fuchsia go together?

Happy Friday to you all!

Hurrah for Friday and hurrah for the joyful combination of emerald green and fuchsia! It's not for everyone this colour combo, but I'm delighted with today's look. I've worn the jacket and trousers before with black as the complimentary hue - see here. 

It's not just the wonderful colours that make me smile though. I'm so happy with this outfit because it represents my take on fashion perfectly. I've mixed vintage with pre-loved and high street finds to create a look that is totally unique to me. We're all individuals and I love to see a woman dressed with her own sense of style. For me it's not so much wanting to be noticed, more that I like to challenge myself to wear the same clothes differently each time. I may wear the same dress four times in a month, but each time the jewellery and shoes will be different. God forbid that I find my look boring!

The outfit details are - jacket is second hand, by Autonomy; trousers are from TK Maxx; the vintage blouse is by Shubette Separates, boots are from H&M.

This look is all about fun and oh, how good it makes me feel! The frothy, filly blouse screams glamour and even daytime dressing can be glamorous in my book. Another bookends look is a winner too. 

I paid £15 for these leather joggers and for the majority the price might reflect the fact that no-one surely would want green leather joggers. But hey, I do! I love the funky nature of leather plus joggers and on top of that they're really comfy.

It's great to bring out my Vivienne Westwood orb pendant again and doesn't it go well with this? My rings are pre-loved, charity shop buys. 

Another pair of Quay Australia sunglasses from my stash from this wonderful brand. The sleek black framed mirrored lens glasses top off the look perfectly.

Long live these pretty pink sock boots from H&M!

This weekend I hope to start, if not complete, my wardrobe changeover. It's with a funny mix of dread and delight that I approach this all-weekend task. I'm so ready to pack away furs and velvets and knee high boots, swapping them for lightweight fabrics like cotton lawn, chiffon and summer sandals. The weather is mocking me however, as we have a showery forecast for the next couple of days making me doubt if it's too soon for this. But it's the deed that must be done! We've been having some lovely sunny days lately causing me to struggle to find the right clothes, especially now that I'm back at work. Wish me luck with this!

                                                                       Anna x

Dressing up Friday

Hurrah for Friday!

Thanks for joining me for my first #dressingupfriday. Recently I've noticed some other bloggers and Instagram friends making an effort to dress up on Fridays and thought it might be fun to join in. As my husband has said before, "My wife will get dressed up for the opening of an envelope". Indeed that's about as much excitement that's happening in my life (and probably yours) at the moment. 

We took these shots last weekend, but the weather was cloudy with milky skies and ever changing light. No two photos had the same tones, but we just had to make the most it. The most important thing was surely the punchy colours and over-the-top frills that lifted this outfit out of the ordinary. The chiffon blouse is vintage, the skirt second-hand (it was a ridiculous bargain at £3) and the bubblegum pink sock boots are from H&M. I've worn all of this before, but not together which makes me wonder why as I love this colourful combination. The glittery waistband of the skirt could be mistaken for a belt but is actually just a stretch waistband.

I suppose I could have called this post "All dressed up with no-where to go" which I'm sure would resonate with many of you at the moment. I fancy that we're all tiring of lolling around in our joggers/PJ's as we sink further down that rabbit's hole known at Netflix. I've succumbed to that trance-like existence some days, but am fighting back now. Indeed, my next door neighbour Kate wowed us all last night when she turned up in her posh pink frock and zingy orange shoes to take part in the weekly clapping for carers. I clearly missed a trick there and also didn't have my camera to hand to capture her deliciousness! 

I'm pleased to report that today's to-do list is almost done: daily exercise, hand washing - all the way to the bottom of the laundry bin, hand sewing repairs x 3, hanging a photo montage with dodgy fixings, blog work and finally some hoovering meaning I'll be finished in time for dinner, hurrah!

My jewellery is a mixture of pre-loved and pieces that were gifts from friends.

My son bought these boots for my Christmas a couple of years ago and I've worn them regularly ever since. The trend for sock boots may well be over, but that makes no difference to me.

The gold coloured chain was another present as were the Radley sunglasses.

I'll be back on Monday with the monthly feature from our Style Not Age Collective so do please pop back to see what we've all been up to. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a lovely shot taken from just outside my house the other evening. Another moment when I stopped to count my blessings.

Stay safe everyone and take care!

Anna x

The Meghan trouser from JD Williams

Early October on the islands and we've had some fabulous autumn sunshine. I've been holding out for a sunny day to showcase my fab new trews from JD Williams, not gifted I may add, but bought after wearing them in the advert (see here). The Meghan trouser is the perfect crop length for my height (5'5") and the proportions are just right for my hour glass shape. I love the high waist which fits snugly at the right place too. 

The secret of the great fit of these trousers is the amount of stretch, including the Magisculpt panel around the tummy plus the secret stretch waistband (read more on the website here). These are classed as everyday wear and I have to say that yes, I could wear these every day as comfort-wise they deliver a 10. Sorry if this is sounding like a huge sales pitch, but if you'd seen me waltzing around in them, you'd understand how great they made me feel.

The sleek silhouette of the trouser acted as a plain canvas for me to play dress-up with this vintage frothy blouse. The shocking pink worked in harmony with the cobalt of the trouser which led me to finishing the style story with my pop art shoes, preloved and last seen here.

Johnny, the choreographer on the JD Williams set, had a phrase that he bandied about to prompt the right moves on the day - "super-sassy" - and that's how this outfit makes me feel. 

The slanted hip pockets are real, not imitation, and yet don't spoil the smooth outline of the trouser. Golly, I do sound like a marketing guru here, don't I! My silver buckled belt is by H&M, blue ring is preloved and pink ring was a gift, old faithful sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

Frills and froth are also falling into the remit of super-sassy. I love this vintage blouse, but tend not to wear it too often as I like to keep it as a special piece. The metallic necklace is another charity shop find costing the outrageous sum of £1.

I bought these pop art courts by Chockers in Harrogate in April, a happy find in a charity shop and only worn twice so far. Their story may well end here though, as after the photo shoot, during the course of my everyday work, the heel came off. I've seen this happen as a comedy feature in a movie, but didn't quite appreciate it the same when it happened to me. Luckily I always have several pairs of shoes at work so at least I didn't have to wobble about for long. Next time I go to the mainland I plan to take these to the cobblers to see if he can fix them.

Super-sassy me.

My footnote has to be that I promise you, my lovely readers, that I'm not on commission here. I'm about to order my next pair of these fabulous trousers and can't decide if it's to be the red or the green...

Have a great week!

Anna x

Very Yootha Joyce!

Hello again and thanks for dropping by. Here's an outfit from last week that really made me smile. The pink blouse is a vintage piece that's been featured on the blog many times before which is hardly surprising as it's totally fabulous, even if I say so myself.

It's a couple of years since I found this frothy delight in a charity shop in Exeter, but my love affair with it hasn't waned. One of my readers once commented that it reminds them of the British sitcom "George and Mildred", and after a quick search on Dougal (as my sisters and I have renamed a certain large search engine), I did indeed find Yootha Joyce wearing a version of this.

Vintage glamour at its best!

I chose to wear these culottes for the sprinkling of pink within the blooms and these sock boots to pick up the yellow tones too. I found the (brand new) culottes in a charity shop, donated from the retailer because the zip was broken. The British Red Cross shop in Truro benefits from this system where retailers pass on these flawed items which are then offset against their taxes. Everybody wins!

Oh how I love a bit of patten play! Boots are from Primark, trousers from H&M.

Polly and I somehow managed to forget the shot of me with my blue leather biker jacket, ho hum!

Almost all of my accessories are preloved, apart from the necklace which is made by jeweller Charlie Dodge who creates contemporary pieces from glass beads and semi precious stones. Follow the link through to her website here.

Yup, this is me beating a hasty retreat as a tractor comes hurtling along.

And here's where I spent the latter part of the afternoon today. I work until 4 on Sundays, giving me just enough time to scoot off on my bike to find a quiet spot to chill. This is Appletree Bay and as you can see it's rather idyllic. How lucky am I that within five minutes I can be on a deserted beach like this? It's also the beach of choice for me in the mornings for my swim mainly because regardless of whether it's high or low tide, there's always enough water in this bay that doesn't entail me having to wade too far reach deep water.

Summer toes.

The jet boats on the islands are the same as taking a taxi on the mainland plus the thrill of the speed. And that's about it for today. I'll be back again midweek, so do drop in again!

This week I'll be linking with -

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Jacqui of Mummabstylish

Anna x