Baggy trousers

Hello and happy Easter to you! Have you enjoyed a lovely weekend? And did the Easter bunny deliver lots of choccies to you? This is my Easter outfit which I would have worn had we gone anywhere. Instead we've been helping my son to move house from one side of the island to the other, and some four days later we're still not done. Today is all about culling the gathering of some 6 years to fit into his brand new home. He's keen to create a minimalist pad, but that takes a bit of discipline at this stage. Dejunking is the name of the game.

On to the outfit. This is from my recent shopping trip, a super spring outfit bought from various shops in Truro. The stars of the show are these fabulous baggy trousers which I found in TK Maxx, although the brand is Zara. I love the colour and the fabric, but it took a little bit of mending to get them wearable. The heavy woven material had one of those nasty catches where a strand of thread had been dragged through to the front which is probably why they were reduced to £9. I managed to tease the thread through to the inside of the fabric and then pulled them back into shape. The other issue was that they're an XXL and I'm a medium in Zara... I loved these straight away and bought them regardless of the size and when I got them home I stitched them up along the seam on the derriere taking in a couple of inches. They're still oversized, but the bright orange belt helps to cope with that.

The rest of the outfit came from Primark - belt at £2.50, ribbed body £4 and ribbed cardigan £6. The whole look is fresh and very spring-like don't you think? I'm so pleased with it all.

This pic makes me want to sing Baggy Trousers by Madness! 

Nothing new jewellery wise: pre-loved rings and rose gold heart pendant a long time ago purchase from a now defunkt boutique in Truro.

Old sunglasses from River Island many moons ago work nicely with this look.

My Missoni style trainers are by LA Gear and again aren't new by any means. Another purchase from TK Maxx some years ago and are still going strong.

I'm looking forward to wearing this new ensemble to work one day this week. It's one of those feel good outfits, perfect easy wear trousers and the sleek body helps to give a streamlined fit that avoids that constant tucking in. Pastel shades are always flattering to the skin too, don't you think? Until next time, have a super week!

                                                                                            Anna x

Two in five million

So, here's the explanation for my recent absence. Steve and I were two of the five million people in the UK who reported having Covid19 last week. And that's just the five million who reported it, not those didn't. It's alarming isn't it? And yet, this is indeed our new normal where businesses are closing temporarily or paring down their services to accommodate the prevalence of the virus. Tresco, like the rest of Great Britain, is awash with the illness. Steve and I are still at home waiting to show a negative test result or at least feel well enough to return to work. What about you? They say that one in 14 of us has the virus currently so we all know someone who has it. If it's you then I'd say stay home until you're well, keep warm, take paracetamol to control your temperature and pain, drink lots of fluids and suck on ice chips to soothe an inflamed throat.

Today's post is from last month, Mother's Day to be precise, when we went to the beachfront Ruin Cafe at Old Grimsby for lunch. Our table view was pretty idyllic and being indoors meant we were out of the driving Easterly wind too. I had flowers and gifts from my children, including a gift card for TK Maxx, but more of that later. I dressed a la 70's style for my lunch date.

It's been a while since I've worn this flower power jacket by Anja Rock. I remember I bought it when I was in Manchester four years ago on my modelling stint with JD Williams - read all about that here. TK Maxx in the centre of Manchester was a wonderful haven full of all sorts of fashion delights and bargains. See the first time I showcased the jacket here - it was a fabulously bright and breezy post that's worth another look if you missed it.

Steve and I had taken a stroll home through the woods after our leisurely lunch when we hit this golden pool of sunlight. Too good an opportunity to miss, eh?

The heart patterned flares were from Asos, the sweater is totally ancient, and the stone coloured boots of the moment are also from Asos. The observant amongst you may have seen that my pre and post-lunch sunglasses are different, but both are from Quay Australia.

My 70's jewellery collection is all pre-loved charity shop finds. 

My print clutch bag is from Zara and was actually part of the gift packaging of a new blouse, a birthday present from my dear friend Bo in January. See here for that. 

My boots of the moment are these chunky ecru dreams from Asos. The beautiful Chelsea boots can be found here. 

So, in between Mother's Day and Covid19, I've been to the mainland again for another health appointment, this time for some pre-cancerous cell removal on my face. The upside was that I went off clutching the lovely gift card and oh my goodness, what a super time I had! Not only did I shop there, but I snapped up some fab charity shop purchases too. 

These beaded sandals were from TK Maxx and the almost matching necklace was a charity shop find, hurrah!

Gradually I'll showcase these and give you the lowdown on where and how much etc, but in the meantime you'll just have to feast your eyes on the pretty colours and textures of my new springtime wardrobe. The fact that I've ousted 32 boxes of clothes and shoes out of the house means that this has been a guilt-free splurge - whoohoooo!

Wishing you a super week ahead!

Anna x

Inspired by Iris Apfel, our Style Not Age challenge for March

Hello again and welcome to this month's style challenge. I'm over the moon to be given this opportunity to channel the fabulous style icon that is Iris Apfel. If you're not familiar with her then click this link to find her Instagram page. The flamboyant 100 year old is a legend in America for her work not only as a fashion model, but as an Interior Designer to the stars as well as to nine Presidents who entrusted her to remodel the White House. At the age of 96 Iris was the oldest woman to have a Barbie created in her image and at 97 the oldest model to be signed up by the global agency IMG. On the 31st of March H&M UK will be launching a new range of clothing (see here) created in collaboration with Iris that promises to be their most ornate and eclectic yet - I for one am on the mailing list for that exciting release! So, what did my style sisters make of this challenge?

Hilda chose this month's theme, lending an Irish slant with this glorious green outfit and an abundance of bangles and necklaces borrowed from her daughter. See more from her here. 

Gail is channeling Iris perfectly in this pink and green ensemble - I've seen a photograph of her looking just like this! Catch up with Gail's story on Is This Mutton blog.

  

Inspired by Iris, Emma chose one of the icon's favourite colour combinations of red and turquoise to great effect. Read her back story on The Style Splash blog.

Beads, beads and more beads is how Jacqui has approached this month's challenge and hasn't she truly captured Iris's style? See how Jacqui tackled this on her blog Mummabstylish.

What fun I had putting this look together! My recent trip to the mainland enabled me to visit lots of charity shops to find necklaces to compliment this outfit. Iris, as Emma had observed too, showcases red and turquoise together often and that's what I wanted to emulate also. The shops were full of necklaces and I had the pick of beads and gemstones in all shades of turquoise and aqua. The red and white gingham trousers are by Zara, but purchased from TK Maxx at the bargain basement price of £8! 

My rings too were charity shop finds from a while ago, creating that Iris Apfel more is more signature style. In fact, did I wear enough, I wonder? The rose gold watch is by Micheal Kors, a cruise purchase from long ago.

These white kitten heel boots were from New Look in the sale a few years ago, costing only £5 and have surprised me by lasting so well. The toes were getting a bit scuffed as pointed toes often do so I gave them a swipe with a white marker pen I found in the basket at work.

And right on cue, here came the photo-bomber of the day. Fiona and I had hoped to avoid the evening rush hour, but Andrew the Head Gardener had other ideas!

The rest of the outfit comprises of this fab ruffle shirt which I bought in TK Maxx a couple of years ago. My sunglasses are also quite old, from River Island.

I do hope that you've enjoyed this month's style challenge. And now I'm off to join the H&M queue for my very own piece of Iris Apfel clothing. I fear it'll be one of those sell-out events, but I'll be giving it my best shot!

Have a super week!

Anna x

I found a lump...

Three weeks ago I discovered a lump on my neck and straight away I shall tell you that it's all fine, nothing to worry about. However, I didn't know that at the time and am afraid that my initial reaction (probably a common one, I'd say) was to immediately worry it might be cancer. I was seen by two different doctors locally and they agreed that it needed to be investigated quickly, putting me on the two week cancer pathway. Those two weeks were the longest of my life. One of them I spent in isolation as we had Covid on the island and I needed to provide a negative test in order to see the consultant on the day. I passed a lot of the time researching lumps and swellings of the throat and thyroid, as one would, and became quite informed about goitres, cysts and cancers, of which the survival rates vary from 100% down to 20% depending on the types and aggressive nature of the tumour. 

My appointment finally came round on Thursday last week. Steve flew across to the mainland with me as support, hanging around while I was in the hospital for 3 hours having tests and waiting, waiting, waiting. The lump was diagnosed as a benign cyst on the left lobe of the thyroid and for the moment needs no treatment. Our little family see this as cause for celebration. We had braced ourselves for the worst and of course hoped for the best. The moral of the tale is - please check yourself out for lumps or bumps regularly. I somehow had failed to see this growth despite taking endless photos for my blog and editing them to showcase necklaces and necklines of outfits. I also apply neck cream every night and can feel this lump now whereas it wasn't so prominent until recently. 

Anyway, as you would expect in a small island community, the news travelled fast and on my return from hospital I was greeted with warmth and affection. I've been touched by the kindness and genuine concern of co-workers and islanders in a way that I didn't expect. Life is all the sweeter.

And so, on to yesterday's work outfit. The trouser suit is a gorgeous coral shade of corduroy by Adidas which I bought quite some time ago. I've paired it with a new pale aqua shirt from TK Maxx - it won't come as any surprise that on getting the good news, I insisted on celebrating in the only way I know, to go shopping! I'd found an unused gift card at home with £200 credit on it and this seemed like the perfect time to spend it!

The two colours together are very spring-like and just right for the spell of fine weather we're experiencing at the moment. I do love a trouser suit for work as it's such a sharp business look and yet in this colourway it's so very feminine too. I did get a few compliments along the way.

However, we also encountered a few photo-bombers while Rachel and I were trying to do our photo shoot early in the morning...

Why, you'd think we were actually standing on the main road trying to take photos in the middle of the morning rush hour!

Ah, see that bright shiny orb in the sky...

I brought out this ornate (pre-loved) handbag from River Island to go with my brocade boots just to add another dimension to the look. As ever it's always more is more with me!

My necklace, rings and leather belt are all charity shop finds and my sunglasses are from Radley London.

It's great to be back to work and open to the public again for another year. We're all looking forward to a busy 6 months here on Tresco, welcoming our guests back to the island and functioning more and more as we did in those pre-Covid19 times. Please do pop in to say hi if you're in the vicinity!

                                                                            Anna x