Another blast of colour!

Hello-ha! How are you? As you can see, I'm still holding on to my summer colours and my only concession to autumn is that I'm wearing tights. You'll have seen everything before, apart from my rather fabulous new handbag...

My hand knitted velour handbag is a recent find from Vinted, costing a mere £15! Being orange meant pretty much love at first sight. It's always exciting when parcels arrive and this was part of a rather large influx last week. At this stage I feel it might be fitting for me to say "Hi, my name's Anna and I'm an insomniac shopper!" 

Honestly, I have these spells when I fall into an online retail vortex and can't escape until I feel replete. Currently, I'm over the latest episode, until the next time of course... 

Anyway on to the handbag. When it arrived I discovered that it really would have benefitted from two handles as it didn't hang straight. Customising was the only answer and so started my endeavours to fix it as best I could. The result is that it now hangs fine and looks even more quirky. I threaded a gold chain through the handle and clipped it off to one side to stabilise the balance. The resulting gape in the stitches was covered by my Carmen Miranda brooch.

The tweed shorts co-ord is from Primark, bought last year and the boots are old too, from the MOMA shop, but found on Vinted. Sunglasses are from Radley London. The ruffle front blouse was also a Vinted buy and the orange tights are from Snag.

As you can tell, as long as the sun keeps shining I'll be wheeling out another burst of colour for you. The end of the season is fast approaching so I'll be snapping away at my outfits of the day to store up for the dark autumn days in the hope of spreading some joy via the blog.

I'll add another shot of this from a previous week, taken in the Gallery this time - I think it shows up the vibrancy of the outfit much better. Different accessories and top, but that's only what you'd expect of me isn't it?

Somehow I feel much more in context within the workplace. I may be a bit flamboyant, but against this colourful backdrop it all seems pretty normal eh? My wearable art ties in my surroundings as I'm often told.

                                                            Anna x

Holding on

Hi there! I'm late again with this week's post and have no excuse apart from life in general being a challenge. But hey, here I am, holding on. Holding on? Yes, holding on to my summery looks as I so dislike transisitional dressing aka the changeover into gloomy old autumn and winter seasons. 

The wind may be blowing but at least today the sky is blue and I'm determined to keep turning up in bright and breezy colours, the same colours that lift my mood and garner me compliments.

There's nothing new here, but all of it, every single piece, brings me joy which is pretty much my mantra. 

My life, indeed island life, is seasonal. I work in a retail position which relies on visitors to keep me in employment. By the end of the month the Gallery will be closed and I'll be busy with winter works. And winter works means no daily dressing up for the day job, so I'm making the most of things in this final push.

The majority of what I'm wearing is from Vinted, the second hand site that's helping to change how we shop. Second hand no longer means sad, smelly, worn-out clothes; Vinted allows anyone to move on their shopping mistakes, often never worn at all, to find a happy new owner. Vinted is also helping me dejunk my wardrobe all year round. I'm finally allowing myself to let go of pieces that don't fit or even spark joy as I know I'll be able to find replacements in a heartbeat. Sorry if this is coming across as an advert - it's just an enthusiastic post from a second-hand lover!

                                                                                Anna x

43 years ago

43 years ago on the 3rd of October Steve and I were married. I posted this image on my Instagram last week and it had the biggest response ever so I thought I'd dedicate this week's post to our happiest of days. 

We were married at the Registry Office on St Mary's followed by our wedding reception on Tresco - a half hour boat ride away by open boat.

The boatman of the day was David Stedeford, kingpin of Bryher Boats in those days. He told us that had it not been for the fact of our wedding that they would have cancelled the boattrip as the weather was so rough. This fact was wasted on me as I spent the entire day floating along on cloud nine! 

Steve and I sat under cover with my mother-in-law Kate and sister-in-law Gill with her children, Steven, Kate and babe in arms Gem. I recall that the sun was shining despite the atrocious state of the sea which I viewed as if I were somehow removed from it all. Seemingly it was a hellish trip. My best friend Marjory hung her head over the side of the boat for the entire journey puking her guts up as the waves crashed over her head - poor Marj!

We arrived at Old Grimsby and were met by the pony and trap, the traditional mode of transport for weddings at that time. 

Our wedding reception was at the Island Hotel which was also my place of work. I was a scatty chambermaid in those days. Our photographer was John Davidson a friend and fellow employee from work. 

Steve's fellow gig rowers were waiting for us at the hotel creating an archway with the gig paddles for us to pass under for good luck. Steve had rowed Stroke in the Czar for many years before I turned up on Tresco and he carried on with that for many more after we were married.

No blog post of mine would be complete without reference to my outfit... The wedding gown came from Pronuptia in Truro and was made of the finest Itailian tulle. It cost me £220 which in those days seemed outrageous. The lace was cream in colour and was beautifully weighty. The lace collar however wouldn't stand up as I had hoped despite much pinning and spraying the night before, however once on, I forgot all of that and felt like a princess for the day!

Marjorie has dried off by this time. I don't think she ever forgot that terrible bumpy boat ride where she thought she might die.

The last posed photo of the day. All too soon it was time for us to head off to the airport on our way to Tenerife for our honeymoon.

And this is my favourite photo of the day. The deed was done, the wedding breakfast and speeches over and at last we were able to relax. I was so relieved! In fact, I pretty much look like the cat who got the cream, which I was. Steve was Tresco's most eligible bachelor when I arrived on Tresco in 1978 and some three years later we were married. One or two of the local girls were not impressed that I'd swooped in and scooped him up, but hey, I fancy he had some say in the matter too. 

I do hope you've enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me. Steve and I have been together for 46 years now, married for 43 and can highly recommend it!

                                                                        Anna x

Second Hand September our SNA challenge

Hello and welcome once again to our monthly Style Not Age challenge! This month we're tying in with Oxfam who promote this annual event, Second Hand September. I have to admit that this is an easy ask of me as most of my purchases nowadays are second hand, either from Vinted or charity shops. We'll get to my outfit in a minute, but first lets check out my fashionable friends ...

Jacqui's looking extremely stylish in her Second Hand offering. The dress is by Monsoon, costing the grand sum of £6 from a local charity shop and her jacket is a hand me down from her daughter. Catch up on all of her news over on Mummabstylish blog.

Emma has also inherited a second hand piece from her family - her mum's skirt is part of this colourful outfit. Nothing new at all from her, so do skip across to her blog Style Splash for the full low down.

This cutsie look from Gail is based on a pinafore dress from Vinted which suits her down to a T! I don't think I have ever had a pinafore, not since I was a girl, but this is cute as a button on her. See more from her on Is This Mutton blog.

Hilda was invited to join Oxfam in Second Hand September and found this beautiful cashmere blazer by Louis Copeland - tres chic Hilda! She shopped her wardrobe for the rest of her look, so do pop across to see her interesting back story on Over The Hilda blog. 

£10 was all I paid for this frilly frock from Vinted and goodness, how lovely it is! The bright colours and that flirty frill sold it to me and when it arrived it was even better in the flesh. The last half of September has been a mixed bag of weather and this dress has come into its own a couple of times when the sun burst through and I needed something cool and airy for work. 

Nature's variety of greens really help to offset the vibrant orange and purple flowers of this mini dress. The button front and elasticated sleeves make it easy to pop on and off too.

I've brought out my Oliver Bonas handbag from last year and paired it with these elasticated slip on sandals from Primark, a find from my trip to Truro in June.

There's nothing new as far as my accessories go: rings are indeed second hand, sunglasses are from Radley (old) and my Storm watch is pretty much star of the show. 

Second Hand September has been a successful challenge for us all - I do hope you've enjoyed our diverse outfits too. Many thanks for joining us and I look forward to seeing you next time!

                                                                        Anna x