My little ray of sunshine

Hello lovely! How are you? Last week I had a little Orla Kiely moment when I wore my new Orla raincoat and dress to work accessorised with my Orla handbag. It was a drizzly start to the day which gave me the perfect opportunity to don the lightweight raincoat for its first trial. The coat was a Vinted buy recently, a note of resignation to the fact that even in springtime it rains, but maybe I don't have to be kitted up in full wetgear.

I love the iconic prints of the Orla Kiely brand for their homage to the fashion of the 60's. The strong, bold prints and colours are the epitomy of joyful dressing. 

My Stem Leaf print handbag was a present from a girlfriend and has been a constant favourite of mine over the past years. Read about the iconic design and the talented designer here. 

My fabulous dress was a recent buy, again from Vinted, in response to the gloomy grey days that seemed to be wearing me down. Winter depression has plagued me over the years and one of my ways of battling through it is to drench myself in colour. Today's look is indeed all about colour drenching with yellow being a wonderful antidote to the damp morning when I opened the blinds.

A yellow dress clearly called for yellow tights (by Snag) and yellow suede boots (ASOS). 

I donned my bright yellow necklace to compliment the look along with my Radley sunglasses. Grey hairs abound currently as I wait for the appointment to have some colours sprinkled over my tresses and oh golly, I can't say anything about the jowels and saggy neck apart from the fact that I'm 67 and am not inclined to be doing much to hide the years. This is the true passage of time showing on me now and much as I would accept a magic wand to turn back time, it's not really an option.

And so, as I stand here on my self-imposed confessional, I have to say that my fitness levels have dropped significantly over the winter. I've not had a swim since September and my walking has been sporadic to say the least. However, I find that the brighter evenings are helping to motivate me to get out after work into the evening glow for a brisk walk of the island. I have a lap that takes an hour which dovetails neatly between finishing work and preparing dinner. As for swimming, well I've had various legitimate excuses to stay out of the water and the final one being that I'm waiting for the horrible easterly wind to abate before I throw myself back into the sea. But trust me, you won't be seeing any swimsuit shots for some time...

The outfit isn't for the faint hearted, that's for sure, but it certainly kept a smile on my face. The look could almost be a rousing call to arms, to encourage everyone to don a sunny colour in defiance against a dull weather day. Feel free to join me!

                                                                        Anna x

My rather fabulous new coat

Sometimes lady luck just smiles upon you... Well, that's how I feel about this rather fabulous new coat that I found as I was browsing through Vinted last month. If you're a regular reader then you'll know that I love everything ornate, in fact the fancier the better, so this coat almost had my name emblazoned across it! The beautiful embroidery sold the piece to me straight away and when it arrived it was everythig I'd hope it would be.

The brand is Savage Culture, a boho brand from what I can tell, and is definitely worth my investigation in due course. Anyway, after the first wear I discovered that the buttons were all a bit small for the buttonholes and so I set about remedying that by customising the coat with some buttons from my button box. Most of them are ceramic, bought from one of our suppliers when I used to stock buttons in the Gallery. 

The length is great, the fit is perfect and it seems like the ideal coat for this time of year when it's still chilly enough to need a coat, but not necessarily a winter coat. This is my springtime special, I would say!

This was my outfit of the day for yesterday, the first day the Gallery opened up after our winter break. The dress has been featured on the blog before (see here) but this time I've added boots and tights to extend the wearabiltiy of it. The brand is IVIVI and was a Vinted purchase.

 I wore a long sleeved thermal top underneath the dress and the tights are bamboo ones from Boots - a cotton feel that are cool and comfy. 

The patent boots are from Topshop from years ago. I've had them reheeled recently and am so happy to have them for a while longer.

Sunglasses are old (from Radley London), the fabric necklace was from Vinted, the perspex ring was a charity shop find and I'm also wearing my beautiful birthday ring.

We've been blessed with good weather for the past few days. What about you? Does it feel more like spring with you? As the season begins with us once again it does help to have this gentle easing into another year of hospitality on our tiny island paradise. Do pop in to say hello if you're ever on the Isles of Scilly - Tresco is definitely worth a visit!

                                                                                    Anna x

Lovely Leather our SNA challenge for February

Hello and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge for February, chosen by Hilda this month, and the theme is Lovely Leather. Apologies for my poor submission, but life has been stacked against me this month and I didn't manage to get my chosen outfit photographed. So here's my new Laidback London leather boots as a poor offering. But let's move swiftly along to see what the ladies of the style collective have for us...

Jacqui is showcasing her faux leather trousers from Tu in this season's favourite mocha shade. Her leopard print trench is imitation suede and is a great finishing touch to the look. See the full details on her blog Mummabstylish. 

Hilda's fabulous full length leather coat is a dream in cream! I too had planned to feature a long leather coat and, like hers, mine was a charity shop find. Do swing by her blog to read more about this beautiful coat on Over The Hilda blog. 

Emma's sporting faux leather culottes with knee high boots and a fabulous orange coat for this challenge. Like me she's not entirely happy with the outcome, but hey, you can but try eh? Read her backstory on her blog Style Splash here. 

My sheepskin lined leather boots are from Laidback London, a purchase earlier on this winter when I was having pain on the top of my foot and couldn't find anything to make me comfortable all day long. They're called the Setsu Crochet boot (see them here) and are available in lots of different colours. The brand has a 40% sale on currently so it might be worth a look.

These photos are from a visit to Hell Bay Hotel in January when I was involved in stocktaking all of the art collection. The weather wasn't the best, but I felt my new boots were worth capturing. The sweater was from Vinted and black jeans and socks were from Primark.

Nothing new with these sparkly rings - both are charity shopped from years ago.

I'm not sure if this has been our best style challenge but as Emma has said, it's good to experiment even if it doesn't always work out! Please do drop by again next week and I'll be giving it another try.

                                                                    Anna x

Are you a lemonader?

Hello there! I'm so happy to report that the veil of depression has lifted and it's business here as usual. I'd forgotten how quickly I sink into despair with any (small) physical setback. It only took some kind words of encouragement to remind me who I really am - a strong willed, capable and resiliant woman - and I was on the way back up. My sister Sandra sent me this link from Saturday's Guardian about Lemonading. What particularly struck a chord with me was this; (Lemonaders) infuse quality and enjoyment into everyday experience. This does indeed summarise my aim in life and could be my mission statement.

Another reminder of who I am came from a friend who prompted me to go back through my Instagram feed as if it were someone else. She pointed out that the images are not just of my outfits but of my joy at living where I do and squeezing as much happiness out of the everyday as possible, joy which others might overlook. The view across a bay, although familiar, is still a source of absolute delight for me. I can find pleasure in the smallest of things from a tiny shell found on the shoreline to the first page of a new book which holds such promise. Gratitude is an eveyday ritual, to be repeated often as these pleasures arise.

And so, on to the outfit. The sun shone sharply on Saturday, shaming me into getting out of my pit of despair and wallowing in the mini drama I was inhabiting and to look beyond the comfort of the sofa. I needed to shower and find some joy in colourful clothes. This is what I came up with - a bright medley of soft shades of pink, purple and coral with a dollop of turquoise to finish it all off. You'll laugh at the fact that I opted to walk to my intended photo site wearing this gold jacket as I believed it to be low key compared to the feather jacket thrust inside my tote bag.

The feather jacket was from Vinted last year, costing £5 - ridiculous but true! The jeans are from Primark, blouse and waistcoat are both from Vinted, as are the fabulous patent boots.

The cotton waistcoat is by Erika Classics Clothing in case you wanted to search for it. I've got a penchant for patterns of all sorts currently and this one ticks all the right boxes for me. I have a pair of pink trousers that will work really well with this as the weather heats up.

Simple accessories this week - sunglasses (old) from Radley London and my new ring by Emily Nixon along with silver and gold band (it says In Heaven On Earth) by Diana Porter.

This was colour therapy at work here, that's for sure. I'd moped around in grey old joggers and a brown wooly jumper for over a week so it was almost transformational to not only get outside again, but to feel bright and confident in gorgeous colours and textures. Of course, we all have times when illness and/or depression take us over, but that light at the end of the tunnel has to be pursued when it shows itself. I'm so grateful to be on the mend and to have had loving support at a time when I needed it.

                                                                        Anna x