Two summer jackets (in autumn)

Hello there! At the time of writing it's blowing a gale outside with torrential rain battering against the windows which makes this seem a rather odd feature to be posting, but I've been promising this for days, so here we go. So far I've managed to get photos of two summer jackets and still have two more waiting in the wings, however they may have to wait until next year.

I was particularly pleased with the pairing of jacket and dress in this outfit. I love the stripes of colour echoed in each even though the patterns are different. The colours too work really well together. It's a real match made in heaven.

It's the first time I've worn the jacket (the brand is Divas) and it's a neat fit with discreet zip up pockets and zip front. The dress is by Per Una and is a perfect summer weight in linen with fitted waistband and inverted pleat creating a generous skirt and those lovely pockets making it a sure fire winner. The v neck kept me cool and the pretty pleating added a bit of style in what could have otherwise been an overly simple frock.

The dress, jacket and rings are all pre-loved pieces which just goes to show how second hand isn't just the green option, but can be a colourful and stylish one too. The necklace is by Drift jewellery one of the brands we stock in the Gallery. I collect Tresco sea glass from our beaches and send it to Fiona, the maker, who turns it into one-off pieces for us to sell. 

The Primark petal sandals have jewelled centres. I've had these for a couple of summers now and goodness, they're so comfy!

The second summer jacket is showcased just a day later in what was a real dose of pea-souper fog. It disrupted flights, delaying departures and arrivals with some guests not moving to or from the island at all. Fiona and I decided to go ahead, aiming for that atmospheric shot ...

The pre-loved jacket is by River Island. It's unlined, but has pockets and again this is its first outing. I seem to collect jackets as that handy item to finish off an outfit. I'm quite formal on the quiet, despite my efforts at rebellion sometimes. When I'm being smart, a jacket is the finishing touch and yet is easy to discard when it gets too hot.

The Topshop orange satin trimmed top is also pre-loved and very well worn by me. The off-white trousers were from F&F at Tesco many moons ago. They are great wash and wear trousers requiring the minimum of ironing to look sleek and smart. 

Comfort and style are combined in these glorious embroidered trainers by Replay, bought in the Harrogate branch of TK Maxx last spring. They certainly do draw lots of compliments every time I wear them. 

The shopping my closet theme continues with my jewellery too. Both rings and the tiny seed pearl necklace were all gathered along the way over the years. Vintage and second hand are always more interesting to me. 

And so here we are bang into autumn with fog, rain and gales. My newly found jackets look like the only place they're heading is into a suitcase along with the rest of my summer clothes. The big clothes change-over may be coming sooner rather than later...

In the meantime, I've got one more summery outfit coming up on Monday for our monthly style challenge with the posse from the Style Not Age collective. Our theme for September is "All dressed up with nowhere to go". It'll be no surprise to you if I say that I took this one rather literally! Do swing by on Monday to see what that might look like.

                                                                                                Anna x

September beach day

Apologies if you're waiting to see the next summer jacket installment as promised, but I just wanted to share this beach day before it seemed out of context. September has been a great month for picnics - Steve and I have managed to get off in our boat most weekends to escape to another island for a change of scenery. Last weekend we went to Great Bay on St Martin's. 

We plonked ourselves in the middle of Great Bay Beach and drank in the glorious view which included the ghostly outline of mainland Cornwall in the far distance.

I'd taken three beach outfits with me, not knowing which would be the one to wear depending on the weather. This ornate Ganesha top was a gift from a blogging friend many years ago and yes, surprise, surprise I've never worn it before. I wonder why on earth not as it's orange with sequins and beads and it's lovely and bright and colourful and fabulous and summery and goodness, what's wrong with me sometimes?

Anyway, this seems to be the year for showcasing all of these unseen gems so this is another one for the blog. Underneath is a bikini of sorts. Top from one, bottom from another, but they somehow seem to work. The different colours of trim are the only thing to give it away that they're not a pair.

I do wonder if you'd have noticed that this wasn't all one and the same bikini? I've no idea what make these are as I've had them for years. Every summer I check in with myself as to whether I'll brave the belly-exposing bikini scene again and then I get over it. When I visited my friend Bo in Portugal where she lives I was greatly heartened at the sight of every woman on the beach, regardless of shape, size or age, wearing a bikini. The beach culture there is all about catching some rays and the best way to do that is in a bikini. Lots of suncream and skimpy bikinis was the norm - I like that mindset.

The final variation on my beachwear outfits is this pair of pyjama trousers that I bought in New Zealand. In fact the whole ensemble is very southern hemisphere as the top is from Hong Kong. I totally love these trousers, both for the beach and for slouching around at home over the weekends. They tie at the front, are loose and cool - perfect easy summer wear.

Could this be my favourite beach outfit of all time? I do think so. All I need is a frisbee and  we're talking a perfect day on the beach.

This will be one of those heckling from the sidelines shots. Good old Steve for keeping me in line when I was talking too much, generally bossing him about and being gobby!

And this is the boating outfit - not in the least bit glamorous, but very practical for slipping my sandals off and jumping into the dingy. Well, I say practical, when in fact the shirt tails did end up trailing behind me in the sea at one stage. I suffered damp derriere for most of the day! The gorgeous shirt is heavy cheesecloth, a fabulous vintage find destined for Steve who refused to wear such an outrageous colour. It's now my go-to boating shirt, hurrah!

Bidding farewell to St Martin's. We'll be back again, but maybe not until next year! By next month Steve will be bringing our boat up before the winter storms arrive. 

The shots below are from the previous day, Saturday last weekend, when Fiona and I had done a wetsuit swim, the first one for both of us in a whole year. We swam from the beach below the Ruin Beach Cafe at Raven's Porth along the shoreline past the Blockhouse and Cook's Porth, Cradle Porth, along Rushy Porth finishing at the far end of Pentle Bay. If we were serious wild swimmers one of us would surely have a fancy gadget to measure how far our swim actually was. Sufficient for us was the fact that we swam for 55 minutes and still felt full of energy by the end.

This is us, two joyful, happy bunnies full of gratitude for being able to swim in such beautiful clear water. These are always pinch me moments - how very lucky we feel to live here!

                                                                                          Anna x

Hush dress and H&M sock boots

Hello again! How are you and how has your week been? It's been another busy week at work, which is great as the time has just flown by. Weather-wise, it's been a mixed bag of sunshine and fog making the job of getting photos together for the blog interesting to say the least. My good friend Fiona has stepped to the fore, helping out with some end of day sessions which has been great. I know I promised to share the newly-found summer jackets, but this summer dress seemed too lovely not to feature. 

The animal print dress is by Hush, a brand that I hadn't come across until last summer when a customer walked in wearing this exact dress, sparking an in depth grilling from me. I tracked one down online in the summer sale and have worn it again a few times this summer. Today I've paired it with my red H&M sock boots, which gives it a funky edge that garnered me quite a few compliments. Much as I'm not averse to buying high street brands, I do like to style them in my own particular way.

I'm suddenly very aware of the fact that we're hurtling towards the end of September and I still have quite a few summery outfits I want to show you as well as a beach shoot Steve and I did on St Martin's last weekend. We visited Great Bay for a picnic and also managed to take three variations on my beach outfit too. Anyway you'll see those in due course, although I'm not sure if that will be before or after the summer jackets...

The trapeze dress in pink and red zebra stripes with hankerchief hem and side splits is cool and airy, perfect for a hot day in the gallery. In fact, I did start the day off wearing a trouser suit and a long sleeved blouse, but by lunchtime it was simply too hot to bear. I often finish my lunch hour but doing a quick change due to the weather. 

I thought this Topshop tribal beaded necklace was a great partner to the dress, along with two pre-loved resin rings in tonal hues. My sunglasses today are by Radley London. Did you notice the animal print theme continues with these too?

I suppose today's look could be my first forray into transitional dressing between summer and autumn. My sock boots are much loved and do add an element of joy in what might be otherwise seen as the end of summer. I'll be squeezing every last drop out of these golden days of this, my favourite time of year. I'm sure the internet is full of the latest autumn fashion, but I'm not in any hurry to follow suit!

So, here we are, on the brink of the weekend yet again and the question is, what will you be getting up to this weekend? Much as I'm taking a break from retail therapy, I'm very aware that I would normally be taking a week off work at this time of year and be treating myself to bit of clothes shopping within that time. Will you be making your first autumn purchases this weekend, and if so, what are you looking for? Please share all the details - if I can't shop then at least I can enjoy hearing about your shopping. 

Have a lovely weekend!

                                                                                       Anna x

Summer jacket no. 1

Hello again and thanks for swinging by! 

It's half way through September and I'm on a mission to show you four new-to-me summer jackets that I've never worn before. Shame on me for hoarding these for so long! Anyway, here's the first of four. I was drawn to it because of the patchwork fabrics as well as the colours and patterns. It's such a cute little jacket and the first time I wore it was last weekend on a jolly jaunt to the beach. Steve and I cycled to the south end of the island to stretch our legs and get some photos for the blog - a two for one morning.

The outfit was built around the jacket, a lightweight cotton piece which I found in a charity shop in February.

Sorry about the blurry shot. I've never heard of Foul Fashion, so I did a search for the brand and had to laugh when I found a similar jacket, classed as suitable for fancy dress or hen party! Not that it'll stop me wearing this. I think it's great fun and all the more so when I came across this (pre-loved and unworn) long sleeved top (by East) which was lurking in the back of my cupboard. They look great together, don't you think?

I love the floral print and turquoise colours that tie both top and jacket together beautifully. My stretch jeans are from Tesco, a few years old now.

These satin ribboned Puma trainers have really come into their own this summer. They're perfect for being on my feet all day long and after a quick cycle in the washing machine come up good as new!

Today's rings are both charity shop finds, in keeping with the shopping my closet theme of late. 

Good ol' faithfuls, my Quay Australia sunglasses.

Check out the fabulous colourful lining of this too!

The back of the jacket is just as fancy as the front!

My next quest is to find a block colour shift dress from my closet to go underneath this for work. I surely have one of those don't I? In the meantime, I'll be looking at those other three jackets, trying to find some new outfits to go with them. It's 7 months since I last visited the shops and I've surprised myself how easy it's been to shop my closet instead. Are you inspired to give this a go?

                                                                                 Anna x