Suede, leather and sunglasses

I'm making the most of these last sunny days before grey skies become the norm. We've been lucky over the past couple of weeks with golden mornings accompanied by a cool easterly wind making our photo shoots look more balmy than they actually are. Lately I've been swanning about in this cute little ruffle top which I just happened to come across in the big clothes changeover recently. It's not actually mine, which I suppose might mean it belongs to my darling daughter who may just have left it behind when she moved out. I'm quickly having a flirt with it before she rumbles me (sorry Sash) and requests its return.

I've paired the top with these vintage suede flares that I bought in Etam many, many moons ago (last seen here). They were in the sale and cost me £25 at the time which was a huge amount of money. And as if that wasn't madness enough, they didn't even fit me! I fell in love with them and bought them as the proverbial dieters carrot. One day I'll be able to wear these, I promised myself as I handed over my hard-earned notes. Some 30 years later and here they are, fitting perfectly and thanks to the durability of the skin they've not aged a bit (wish the same could be said of me). 

The other item worth a mention has to be this nude leather jacket. I bought it in February while in London see here and am so pleased to have the opportunity to wear it again now that the temperatures have dropped. I rarely need a jacket here in the summertime as work and home are litterly a few hundred paces apart, so it's quite exciting to have a root through the jacket section of my wardrobe and choose an extra layer to finish off an outfit.

Polly leaves the island at the start of November and I wonder if I might manage to recreate some of the light hearted moments she and I have shared? I'm thinking that I might set up my tripod in this same spot and switch on the camera's timer to see if I can dash about changing poses without her prompts and intermittent barking "shu'up!" that brings on my laughter. We're busy trying to fill my draft box with lots of outfits before she goes. (Sob, sniff, sob).

Outfit details - trousers: Etam, boots: River Island, jacket: DSquared, top: unknown. necklace: charity shop, watch: Michael Kors, rose gold bangle: Kate Spade New York, rings: old, sunglasses: Tu clothing at Sainsbury's.

Anna x

As suggested by...Joan

Here we have one of my favourite features of the month. My readership really matters to me and for this reason I run this regular item where you decide what you want to see me in. This month my new friend Joan has chosen to see this blouse again which hasn't been out for a long time. Joan has been a great supporter recently, emailing me with her thoughts while I was having my blogging wobble (see here), so thanks for that.

My daughter Sasha brought me the blouse back from her travels in south-east Asia a couple of years ago. I love the unusual pattern as well as the colours which lend themselves to all sorts of mix and matching in my wardrobe. There were so many options to go with it, that I had a problem deciding what today's offering should be. I can see it's going to have to come out again to show you another variation on the theme.

I'm gradually getting into the swing of things now that I've come to accept the change in season, and one of my renewed pleasures has to be the rediscovery of my beloved brogues. These ones were a late winter purchase and therefore may be new to some of you. Pewter is a great colour to wear with this shirt, and as a neutral will be an ideal mainstay to play with this season.  And the other item of note has to be this silver Tiffany necklace which I bought from a charity shop in Ireland a few years ago. How lucky was I to find that?

I fancy that Joan may have had an idea how this outfit would turn out today, but I do hope that I've surprised her. Always looking to reinvent myself through the medium of clothes, I view them as my artists palette, my mode of creativity. My father and grandfather were both amateur artists, and I used to feel a bit frustrated that I couldn't emulate them. Now I can see I just needed to find my own path, my own creative voice. None of this is particularly groundbreaking stuff, but it does give me immense pleasure to find something new within the old.

Outfit details are - shoes from Office (on sale here), tights: old, skirt: charity shop (H&M), blouse: gift, belt: old (H&M), pendant: Tiffany(not current), rings: old.

Anna x

Check out these boots!

These boots are one of my two (yes, two) new pairs of jacquard ankle boots. This notion does in fact fly in the face of everything I boast about myself. That being - I don't follow trends and that I prefer to charity shop. Well, call me an out and out liar if you must, but I had a moment of weakness recently. I came across a feature on various trends for A/W and the one that really struck a chord was the opulent, decorated, velvet, textured, frilled, bejewelled, brocade, baroque style that's been strutting down the catwalks. I've been through the depths of my closets and have unearthed all sorts of wonders to recreate these looks, but the boots were nowhere to be found. And this is where the logic of charity shopping pays off: by saving on my shopping throughout the year, I give myself leeway to splurge on some beautiful footwear from time to time (yes, you know this is my weakness).

You'll have to wait a while longer to see the other pair of jacquard boots I'm afraid, but rest assured that they're worth waiting for. As is expected of me, my styling isn't the least bit catwalk or predictable for the real baroque look. I must admit I have worn these boots with a fab frilly blouse - you'll get a eyeful of that soon too. In other words, I'm back on form and loving this new injection of fabulous fun in my wardrobe. Thanks to you all for the wonderful response to my blogging wobble the other day. I'm so grateful to all who took the time to comment and for those who sent me emails too. (A note to Carol who emailed me - I have tried to reply but your server keeps bouncing it back). It was just the vote of confidence that I needed to get me back on track. I realise that I can only be myself and hope that's enough to keep you coming back.

I do have one link for you - for these awesome boots (everything else is charity, old or vintage) so click here if you fancy them too.

Linking with

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Anna x

What's this blogging all about?

The question has kinda come up out of the blue. If you're a regular reader you'll know how passionate I am about sharing my love of clothes with you. But a couple of things have recently caused me to question what this blogging is all about. The first being that my readership is dropping. This begs the question - why do I need to know how many page hits I have? Am I now to value myself by a waning rather than a growing readership? Was I naive not to consider this sooner?

Does running a popular blog have a format that I'm not conforming to? I know I'm not delivering the same content as many fashion blogs do. As I've said before, I've no experience or professional expertise in giving advice on what kind of clothes you ought to wear for your body type nor do I have the right to tell you what you ought not to wear when you're nudging 60 (like me) or at any age for that matter. I do my own thing fashion-wise, but I'm sure you know that. Is my passion and flair for putting clothes together enough to maintain my following?  I'm aware that I'm not able to give my readers details of where to buy clothes like mine. Charity shopping is my mainstay and therefore the clothes are rarely from this season and not always brands that are widely available. Does this matter, I wonder? As a reader, are you looking for inspiration and ideas on what to try out or do you expect/want current information as to where to buy clothes like mine? As you can tell, I'm having a bit of a crisis of confidence: am I too earnest, too gushing, too honest?

The second thing, is that I've recently been approached by agents regarding advertising brands on my site. After much soul searching I've decided that I need to be autocratic. I see the blog as my own journal, featuring not only my outfits of the day, but my hobbies, friends and events of note. Is this the right vehicle for advertising? Can I honestly start to represent brands that I've never bought before in an attempt to influence you? I've discussed this with friends, the lure of free stuff; clothes, shoes, jewellery, beauty products or even cash for writing about said products - it's a huge draw for the majority of bloggers. But can I honestly don a nice pair of slacks that are aimed at women of my age group and tell you how wonderful they make me feel? Maybe I've shot myself in the foot. Is it possible to be a blogger and not chase the status of influencer? Or is it just that the right brand hasn't come along yet?

So, to go back to my question: what's this blogging all about? Well, my aim remains the same - the blog is a platform to share my story through my clothes and how I style them; my love of sea swimming and the friends I've made thanks to this; and equally important, my health story which has been a difficult yet empowering struggle and one that may help others with their own battle. But, my main objective is of course, to inspire: to help the reader to become all that they can be, regardless of age or size or preconceived notions of what they think they ought to be. If today's post has been of interest, I'd love to have your feedback, whether you're a blogger, a lurker or a regular.

Anna x