Vintage frock for a fun Dress Up Friday



Welcome to another dose of Dress Up Friday!

It's great to have you back again for Dress Up Friday. I love the excuse to get dolled up for this Friday feature and hope that you enjoy the results too. Today I'm wearing a vintage chiffon frock from Borghese by Toplet which was one of my first vintage buys when I started buying pre-loved fashion. The fitted bodice and drop waist style are form flattering and the generous skirt was showcased to its best in the breezy day.








The frock epitomises old fashioned glamour and romance.






Sunglasses are from Sainsbury's (old), rings are pre-loved and gold chain is from Primark (old).




These floral fabric shoes with gold high heels represent my most exciting Primark find over all the years I've been shopping there. I found them in the sale corner at the end of one summer and they were marked down to £5. They're the least Primark looking pair of shoes ever!




This is the perfect posing frock!




As of next week, Friday's will be a normal work day for me. The gallery re-opens for business on Monday with me holding the fort on my own for the first time ever. We'll be trading by appointment only with on-island clients being my priority. This weekend I'll be brushing up on my risk assessments, putting everything in place to make sure we all have a safe retail experience. If July 4th signals a return to your new working schedule I wish you good luck and keep safe!

                                                                                   Anna x

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Style or mish-mash?


Welcome to my midweek mash-up!

We none of us live in a bubble and sometimes I'm very happy to dip into the latest magazine to see what's trending or what those in the fashion know are predicting. Other times, like today, I have no fashion compass, no style road I'm trying to follow or icon I'm trying to emulate. Today is all about colour and very much harps back to my fashion motto of "Let's bin the beige and have fun with colour".  


The fun comes by way of the vibrant mixture of checks, leopard print and another pair of vintage boots - not so very different from what I wore in my last feature actually!  I didn't plan this or even notice the connection until I started putting this post together and noticed the similarities.


The season of winter coats is well upon us now; this beauty of mine is a vintage piece from Sicily. You'll have seen it over the past couple of winters no doubt, but not paired with these stretch trousers (Zara). You know how I love a bit of pattern play!


The leather cowboy boots are vintage too, bought from a charity shop in Penzance last year.


The fluffy jumper is a bit old, so much so, that I've forgotten where I purchased it. No matter, the power of the fluff is all that counts. I've layered a thin thermal top (M&S) underneath which truly signals that we're in winter now. 




Today's necklace and rings are pre-loved and my sunglasses are by Zara.


With only 20 days to go until Christmas I'm starting to look out my Christmas jumpers along with all of the sequins and sparkles I've got stashed away ready for the festive season. My recent shopping expedition to London has supplemented the cache which is very exciting. Is it too soon to be adding a glitter cardi to the outfit of the day I wonder? I'm off to check out some of my favourite bloggers to see if they've succumbed to the lure of the glitter yet ...

I'll be linking up with -
Catherine of Not Dressed as Lamb
Jacqui of Mummabstylish

                                                                                           Anna x

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The Style Not Age Collective goes back in fashion


Welcome to our monthly Style Not Age challenge. 

It's Hilda's turn to choose our theme this month and this time she's given us all the opportunity to showcase a blast from the past by way of one of our own vintage pieces. For me this means my 20 year old leopard print fur that I bought from Dorothy Perkins two decades ago. I remember turning up to Sasha's Christmas play wearing this and as I walked into the room someone joked that I was wearing Bet Lynch's coat - everyone laughed, including me. (To my 10 year old daughter this was probably one of her first public exposures to parental embarrassment.) Some 20 years down the line this coat doesn't draw a comment as it's back in fashion, although in my eyes it never went out!

But, let's shilly-shally no longer. Here's what my blogging friends wore as trend setters all those years ago...


Hilda found her beautiful velvet jacket and ornate boots when she was clearing out her attic. What a great discovery! They hark back to the 1990's and haven't lost any of their charm, have they? See more on Over The Hilda.


Jacqui of Mummabstylish is sporting her vintage trench coat which dates back to 1987, a purchase from Principles. I love the handbag which is vintage too. The black and white shot is a great touch Jacqui!


Emma of Style Splash has been raiding her attic too and has come up with this fabulous mix of old and new to create her very unique look. Do pop across to her blog for all the details. 


My gold dress has a vintage feel to it although it's not (well, not that I know). I bought it in a charity shop earlier this year. It's from M&S and somehow feels a bit 1940's - maybe thanks to the pussycat bow.


Rings are pre-loved.


There's nothing vintage about these boots though. I don't think Zara even existed 20 years ago, although I do remember having knee length sock boots when I was only about 12 years old, making that fashion over 50 years old. Wow, that makes me feel rather ancient!


I like the notion that this doorway may indeed be a back-to-the-past portal.



Ah well, it seems a magic portal it's not, just the gateway to a very windy viewpoint.

I do hope you've enjoyed our fashion stroll down memory lane, and please do hop across to my fellow bloggers to read more about their outfits. 


                                                                                                                                       Anna x

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My new Chelsea boots


Hello and welcome to Sunday's post. How's your day shaping up? Will you be having some leisure time today? I'm meeting up with an old girlfriend for lunch, so what to wear will be the question. But first, let me show you what I wore to work yesterday. I've recently bought these rather fabulous Chelsea boots from Office (see the link here) and they sparked the following look. The boots reminded me of Bill Nighy's character, Billy Mack in Love Actually - know what I mean? I do love this androgynous look.


This outfit brings together old, new and vintage pieces which is one of my favourite mixes. The (men's) trouser suit is vintage and was a charity shop find. I don't wear it very often, only because of the huge shoulder pads - I need to feel particularly brave fashion-wise to sport this one. But I'm having a trousers suit moment (see another recent one here) and thought this would be the perfect way to showcase my new boots. I could have gone all out with the rockstar look by adding a frilly shirt, but decided to play it down with this pink rib knit from Primark instead.


The pink sweater is actually fluorescent pink, but doesn't show that in the bright sunlight. It was one of two that I purchased early on in the season. The other is a bright green and has yet to have its day on the blog. I thought the very blue theme would benefit from a splash of contrast. Also, the boots have a few daubs of pink which ties in too. 


The pink and black leather checkered belt was another pre-loved purchase that ties in well with the sweater. I'm always on the lookout for accessories that are just that little bit different.



Statement rings in pink and blue, one a gift, one a charity shop piece, complete the look.




I can't help but cast a critical eye over these shots, noticing the soft tummy rolls. Last week it was the dimpled arse and this week it's the belly fat. Oh dear, I fancy that I'm in need of a new exercise regime!


One final longing look at the view and it was time for me to get back to work. A lunchtime photo shoot with this backdrop of Appletree Bay was a lovely interlude in a busy day. I've not swum here for over two weeks now as we've had unseasonal visitors in our waters of late. The influx of Portuguese man o' war jellyfish have an excruciatingly painful sting which in extreme cases can kill. They can even sting when they are washed up on the shore, dead. I'm not keen on the chance encounter with them so have hung up my cossie for the moment. Hopefully by the time I return from the mainland next week our waters will be clear. 

In the meantime, have a great week!

Anna x

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Recycled fashion, our May Style Not Age Challenge


Hello again and welcome to this month's challenge with my blogging friends as we present our Style Not Age challenge for May. Recycled fashion is the topic this time, as chosen by yours truly which I thought was very fitting given my love of charity shopping. So without further ado let's see what the ladies made of my suggestion shall we?


Jacqui of Mummabstylish has been tied up with a family wedding this weekend, but has still found time to put a post together. Her offering is an M&S dress with a story behind it, so do skip across to see exactly what ...


Emma features a denim jacket, gifted from a girlfriend which she has customised with patches and badges - see more of this over on her blog Style Splash.


It's another denim jacket from Hilda of Over The Hilda with hers being a charity shop find paired up with this cool maxi dress borrowed from a girlfriend. See more of this plus the update from Hilda regarding her TV debut - quick, get over there to see it!


My recycled fashion comes in the shape of this fabulous blue suit that I bought recently in a charity shop in Truro. It has no label, but the tailoring is top notch making me wonder if it's a sample suit. I found it in the ladies section, but when I took it to the tiny changing room to try it on, why the shoulders of the jacket nearly filled the space! It's either a very small men's suit or is a wonderful 80's piece. Whichever, I don't mind as I think it's rather sexy. Sexy for me isn't about cleavage or thigh skimming skirts, no it's about that feeling an outfit imbues and this is cool and sexy to my mind.


The bright pink chiffon top adds that feminine touch to this masculine suit. The blouse is by Shubette Separates and is a vintage piece. I've done a search on the Internet and most of these pieces are coming up as 1940's. 


Steve and I nipped into the Abbey Garden at the end of the day for our photo shoot. I love the drama of this blue bridge and thought it would be a great backdrop for my blue and pink ensemble. The only problem was the combination of my silver boots, or rather the stiletto heels and the gaps in the planks of wood - I kept on getting stuck!


Another recycled item is my monochrome clutch. I've had it for a couple of years but it got lost at the back of my closet. Not a bad find for a couple of quid, eh?



The rose gold belt is another charity shop piece - £1.99 for this one.


Both rings are recycled but the rose gold bangles are new - the one with the knot is by Kate Spade and the other was from the gift shop at The Barbican when we stayed there in 2017. See the post here.


More rose gold by way of these Guess sunglasses and the ripple rose gold pendant was from a small boutique in St Andrews when I was there in January.




I think you may well be seeing this outfit again, perhaps for one of my summer exhibitions this year. The silver Buffalo boots add an edge to the look which says more than summer sandals (I tried those and couldn't find anything that worked as well) so it may have to be a complete re-run. But surely that's the point of good fashion? We ought to wear and wear something we really love which is the complete antithesis of fast fashion isn't it? I do hope you've enjoyed our Recycled Fashion feature today - maybe you'll drop in again ...

Wishing you a fabulous week!

Anna x

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