My 60's style

Hi there! Are you well? Hope you're doing fine. All's good here, busy of course, now that it's July, but that's as it should be. This was yesterday's work outfit, homage to the 60's, first seen here on my birthday. Bright colours and psychedelic prints were popular in the 60's just in time for me to find my first influences. I cut my fashion teeth on Mary Quant and Pan's People as I grappled with mini skirts, flares, skinny rib tops and fringed waistcoats in suede.  

 

I love the soft pastel shades of this two piece (from Asos). I've added a simple white vest top and pink stretch belt to the outfit plus my pink and orange cowboy boots to give the look a bit of an edge. See the boots here.

White sunglasses are the ultimate accessory for this 60's look - these are a charity shop find, for the bargain basement price of £3. I remember saving up my pocket money to buy the perfect pair of sunglasses in my early teens, mine had orange frames and I thought I looked fab wearing them.

Steve and I had just returned from a drinks do and so I cashed in on the fact that he was a bit tipsy and asked him to take my blog photos. I plonked myself on our front wall and he clicked away, regardless of whether I was actually in the shot or not! Luckily he captured me a few times.

Necklace is from Zara, this season and rings are both old.

Looking back at my birthday shots you may notice that my hair was a bit shorter. I've decided to let it grow this summer although am still having it trimmed to try to maintain some sort of style. I thought I'd try something longer for a change. What do you think? The wind did make it look a bit scruffy didn't it?

                                                                                Anna x

Jumpsuit June our SNA challenge

Hello again and can you believe that it's the end of June already? Another month seems to have just whizzed past us don't you think? This month's Style Not Age Challenge comes from Hilda and was a great choice for me as I have this new jumpsuit to share with you. But more of that later. Let's take a look at the rest of the collective first...

Emma's hot pink frilly number comes from Zara and oh, how I have jumpsuit envy! Silver sandals and handbag are from Yaa Yaa London - brilliant accessorising Emma! See more on her blog Style Splash.

Jacqui's jumpsuit is from Roman and is totally fab too! I'd wear this in a heartbeat, but she's unsure if this is right for her. What do you think? Hop across to her blog Mummabstylish to let her have your thoughts.

This elegant jumpsuit of Hilda's is by Coast, but not new. Cool and stylish as ever Hilda carries this off with her usual aplomb. See her back story on Over The Hilda blog.

Here's another fab jumpsuit, from Gail this time. I love the double polka dots! This isn't new, but was from Phase 8 and Gail has accessorised it with red espadrilles and necklace. See more from her on Is This Mutton blog.

So here I am in my brand new (not even bought from Vinted) jumpsuit from Onjenu - see it here. I stumbled across this on social media, as you do, and immediately fell in love with it. I've worn it twice already and it's beautiful; so soft and easy to wear and very flattering indeed. No zips or buttons, you simply pull it on and smooth the pleats over the waist and bust to fit. It's soft fabric is lovely and drapey earning me lots of compliments.

And I mustn't forget to mention that IT HAS POCKETS! OMG, there's nothing nicer than a slouchy pocket to make a gal feel cool. That clever feeling of being dressed up but having hands deep in pockets makes it all look so uber casual. I wore this recently to a party evening at work and I felt a wonderful combination of chic and yet comfortable.

My necklace was a Gallery Tresco purchase from jeweller Charlie Dodge, rings are both pre-loved and sunglasses are by Radley London. 

The jumpsuit is quite long so I wore high platform sandals in natural suede from TK Maxx.

My photographer this week was Jodie who works locally in Tresco Stores. She appeared as I was lining up my tripod and camera and offered to do the honours - and didn't she do a great job! Thanks Jodie for stepping in and for making me feel so at ease.

So, here's a rather strange postscript to today's feature...

On Thursday my puffin swimsuit was stolen from my washing line. It was a bit of a shock for this to happen here on our idyllic island paradise as it kinda shattered the dream world I seem to live in. As you'll see from below, my washing line sits next to the main road on Tresco island in full view of everyone. Anyway, I posted about it on Instagram and my son Jamie did a similar post on Facebook.

Fast forward to Sunday lunchtime when the swimsuit was tossed over my garden wall. It begs the question that the perpetrator felt this was too hot to handle and that they might be rumbled if they tried to wear it here. I had suspected that the thief had scarpered to the mainland being a dodgy day-tripper, but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, I'll be keeping my swimsuits indoors to dry in the future.

                                                                        Anna x

Overalls, my fun weekend wear

Hello and how's tricks? I hope you're well and are enjoying Father's Day. This is my weekend outfit, as worn today, a pair of funky Lucy & Yak dungarees or overalls depending on what you call them. I found these on Vinted and have managed to find another pair here if you'd like them too! These baggy overalls are made from stretch cotton and have three front pockets, one of them on the chest, perfect for storing your sunglasses and tissues.

I got up early this morning to take some blog photos before the rest of the island woke up. We had a busy day ahead with some friends coming to visit us from St Martin's, so Steve and I pushed to get lots of chores done ready to have a day of leisure. We met them at the Abbey Garden where we stopped for coffee and cake, then meandered to New Grimsby where we had a long lunch at the New Inn, finally making our way slowly to Old Grimsby in time for their boat back. It was a good day of eating, drinking and chatting in no particular order.

My Lucy & Yak dungarees require little jazzing up; a plain white top (pre-loved) and white Replay trainers (TK Maxx) complete the look. Dungarees have no age limit and look equally good on toddlers or oldies like me. I intend to be wearing these well into my dotage!

My plastic rings are both pre-loved as is my blue and white necklace. My sunglasses are by Radley London. 

If, like me, you have broad feet, then you might like to try out Replay trainers. I've now bought four pairs and love that they're all-day comfortable.

The sea was temptingly calm this morning and it would have been rude not jump in for a swim. It was my first time swimming on Appletree Bay for a while as there had been a big influx of blue jellyfish washed in on the big tide last week. Today I didn't see any which was a relief!

Wishing you a fab week!

                                                                                         Anna x

Sheer maxi over palazzo pants

Hi there! How's June for you? Are you enjoying sunshine or are you, like us here, having a mixed bag of weather? So here we have Saturday's work outfit, a new mash up, not seen previously and worth showcasing here I thought. 

I struggled with end of day fatigue and was also trying to people-dodge around teatime to find the right backdrop for the earth tones of this ensemble. Green was a good contrast, but the road looked a bit scrappy with these weeds.

This was a good jewellery shot however, so let's start with that today. My friend Maggie gave me this fab shell and chain necklace for my Christmas and somehow it ended up at the bottom of my jewellery box until recently. It was from Zara of all places! My rings are both old and sunglasses are from Radley London.

My second location after the Great Pool was the road overlooking Appletree Bay, which even on a low tide looks lovely. And so to the outfit - the nutmeg trousers are a silky fabric and I bought them last year in TK Maxx, fully expecting to wear them over the festive period, but never did. The sheer maxi dress is by Zara, but was a charity shop scoop for a fiver! The white vest top is a brilliant basic, seen often on the blog, and is from H&M (wish I'd bought a couple of them as the quality is really fab and they wash very well). The stretch belt with leather clasp is very old, from Principles. 

My third and final location is on Saffron Cove offering shades of green as well as white sands to provide the perfect backdrop. I'd been lurking about, waiting for everyone to go home at the end of the day and finally had the beach to myself. How spoilt we are to expect such luxury even at this time of year! 

I'd had a couple of compliments on this outfit which is good as I wasn't sure if this was very me. A few years ago I might have been happy to wear it without the sheer overshirt, but now I'm in my mid sixties, well my arms resemble anemic dimpled blancmange. Maybe a bit harsh, but depressingly true. I'm working on them though with a touch of fake tan supplemented by lifting weights to try to stop the decline.

Moving swiftly on, the daisy bejewelled sandals were from Amazon last year. They're super comfy as well as being very pretty. They have an elastic strap at the back making them easy to wear all day without any discomfort. Pardon me if my age is showing so much in today's post!

It took me almost an hour to find my perfect spot, but it was worth it, with photos taken and time to sit and chill, enjoying the view and looking forward to having a couple of days off. Thank you for joining me and hope to see you again soon!

                                                                                       Anna x