Orange and pink - what joy!

Hi there! How are you? I'm firing on all cylinders again and wanted to share this, my favourite outfit from last week. As you know, I'm all about bold colours and this is certainly bold! 

There's nothing new here and yet the look is a joy to behold. I love the marriage of orange and pink especially with this ornate and embellished outfit. The skirt was a Dorothy Perkins purchase and is well and truly vintage now. Every so often I check it over to see if the moths have gotten hold of it or if the stitching is unravelling but so far, so good. Underneath is a white stretch bodysuit from Primark, a basic and essential to buy every year as the white gradually dulls. 

The gold trimmed jacket was a Vinted purchase last year and is still looking bright and fresh as a daisy! I added a gold coloured link chain belt (from Primark) to tie in with the gold trim of the jacket. 

My cute pink Furla Candy bag was a perfect addition to the look as it just cries out Fun! My sunglasses are rather ancient, by Quay Australia and my rings are both by Emily Nixon. My gold link chain necklace was a cheap and cheerful buy from years ago.

I seem to wear these pink and orange bejewelled sandals all of the time lately, but why not? I totally love these and they're all-day-long comfortable too!

Another fun element to this look is my pink and orange net underskirt. I'm so proud of the fact that I made this (two years ago, see the post here) and that I still love it. This resurgence of love has meant that I've been wearing the petticoat with many an outfit of late so I'm sure you'll be seeing it again soon - sorry!

Aside from the outfit I've not got much to report. July is upon us and the island is teaming with happy families returning for their dose of Tresco magic. Rachel and I are rushed off our feet at work, but that's exactly as it ought to be. The Gallery is looking fab - bright and colourful too, full of all sorts of paintings inspired by the views and clarity of light of the islands.

And here's me in yet another orange and pink outfit with the requisite net petticoat to finish it off. Rachel said this looks like an angel dress thanks to the huge sleeves. The painting I'm hanging is by Teresa Pemberton, one of our long term artists - you can see more of her work here. Thank you so much for joining me once again and I do hope you're having a lovely summer too!

                                                                            Anna x

July catch up

Hello! Apologies for my absence, but I've been a tad under the weather with a spell of vertigo that laid me off work as the room spun and I clutched onto the sick bowl. The doctor prescribed anti-dizzyness pills which thankfully worked and I've now returned to work and am catching up on the rest of life, including my much neglected blog.

This was a recent work oufit, a lovely burst of colours, a new collection of pieces brought together to create a joyful look. I bought the skirt in TK Maxx over a year ago and yet this is the first time I've worn it. The shirred elastic top is by Boden and was a recent Vinted buy as were the pink and orange bejewelled sandals that you'll have seen previously on the blog.

My hand-knitted bag was also from Vinted, customised by me with a gold chain and Barbie brooch to give it a unique bit of styling.

Anyway, after a week of being ill and well on my way to recovery Steve suggested we make the most of the lovely sunny day by going off in our boat for a picnic. We visited St Helen's, one of the uninhabited islands, taking a picnic and walking shoes so that we could walk to the top of the island to enjoy the 360 degrees view across the entire Isles of Scilly.

The island is mainly wild and overgrown with one pathway that leads to the old settlement and on to the top of the island. There's a small beach where we landed and stopped to picnic as we drank in the view.

In addition to these small dwellings St Helen's also had a small hospital known as the Pest House. The Pest House was built as a Quarantine Station in 1764. Any plague-ridden ship to the north of Cape Finisterre and heading for England was required to anchor there. It played a national role in safeguarding the country from ship-borne infectious diseases arriving via the Western Approaches. St Helen’s was chosen as it was uninhabited. The facility remained open in 1850, but was officially closed under the Public Health Act, 1896.

I've tried to add a video to here of the view but it's too large a file, however if you look at the strapline at the top of the blog and immediately to the right is the little camera icon for Instagram - click on that and it will lead you to my post showing the breathtaking imagery.

On reaching the summit we walked across the bouncy dry heather to reach the farthest point looking out into the Atlantic ocean to see Round Island Lighthouse (no longer manned but it still offers guidance to seafarers who pass by these hazzardous rocks).

And so it was time to go home. Another little island adventure was over, but the joy is that we can return again whenever we choose. Steve took our little dinghy down to the water's edge as I took some final snaps of our outing.

Leaving no trace of our visit apart from our footprints - soon to be washed away on the next high tide...

                                                                            Anna x

Dress for the heat, our Style Not Age challenge for June

Hello once again, and welcome to our monthly style challenge! Hilda has chosen well this month opting for the timely theme of Dressing for the Heat. Much as I'd like to report that the islands are basking in the UK heatwave, we are in fact sitting under a heavy cloud cover which is making for very muggy weather. My outfit is a preloved offering, but first let's see how the other ladies of the collective have fared...

Emma is basking under sunny skies on holiday abroad and is wearing a leopard print cover-up and gold sandals along with the essentail sunhat by Oliver Bonas. Catch up on her holiday news on Style Splash here. 

Jacqui is wearing her cover-up as an open shirt (by Salamander Shirts) with white top and shorts and white Lotus sandals. Catch up on all her news on Mummabstylish blog. 

Hilda is sharing her sizzling Sicily style from her recent holiday. The long, cool maxi dress is from Primark and her sandals are by Clarks. See more from her on Over the Hilda blog. 

No dazzling sunshine nor holiday backdrop from me, but Steve did land us on a brilliant white sandbar for my photoshoot of this white sundress by ME + EM, a lucky find in a charity shop in Penzance last month where I paid the grand sum of £5 for it! I found a similar one on their website here and it's retailing for £150! And let's not forget to mention that It's Got Pockets!

My green and white swimsuit was a Vinted purchase and works well with the chunky necklace from the bottom of my jewellery box. My sunglasses are old, by Quay Australia.

The beach dress is pretty but also pretty much transparent which might limit the opportunities to wear it, but I did in fact wear it to work last week...

I've added an orange vest top along with my hand made pink and orange petticoat underneath using the transparency to allow the colours to show through. I love the look as it's flamboyant and a bit different to the simple beach cover-up. 

I've continued with orange as my accessory colour - nothing new here apart from my Emily Nixon birthday ring (18 carat gold with sapphires and diamond).

I finished off the look with my favourite this season sandals (from Vinted) to tie in with the pink and orange theme. I did actually wear an orange jeans jacket over the top when I popped out at lunchtime, but forgot to capture that version for you...

And one final flash of petticoat reveals the orange trim and pink netting. I'm delighted to find another reason to bring out my fabulous underskirt again.

Many thanks for joining us for this month's Style Not Age challenge. As ever, I do hope you've found some inspiration amongst our offerings!

                                                                            Anna x

The peapod trouser suit

If you're a regular reader you'll be familiar with my peapod trouser suit, a super stylish co-ord from H&M in collaboration with the late Iris Apfel to celebrate her 100th birthday. The suit is one of my most prized possessions, a very special addition to my wardrobe. This summer I've been making a point of wearing it once a week as I feel there's no point in having special clothes that simply reside in my closet. 

These photos were taken last night after our drinks party which is taking a break over July and August. My assistants for yesterday's party were Lucy and Issey, two young girls who are spending the summer working at the Garden Cafe on Tresco. The girls are drafted in on Wednesday evenings to pour wine, chat with guests and generally help out with the practicalities of the night. It's lovely to have the youngsters on board - I swear they inject the place with energy!

Issey did the honours taking the photos last night. I was keen to capture the summer flowers that are suddenly in bloom along my garden wall and don't they make a great backdrop to my outfit?

My styling of the suit is always pretty flashy, but that's because I feel it simply lends itself to as much bling as possible. The peapod pearls always get noticed, as they're such an unusual feature. My accessories are: Elvis style bejewelled belt (from Amazon), dancing girl necklace bought from Gallery Tresco many years ago, cowrie necklace by Julian Warrender, another of our Gallery Tresco jewellers, multi jewelled bracelet by Magpie Vintage, again from a Gallery Tresco jeweller and last of all my rings are both by Emily Nixon, one of our best selling jewellers.

My white cowboy boots are by Besson, a purchase from Vinted last year. 

The bracelet is created from lots of vintage jewellery that has been deconstructed and made into a stunning, modern piece of jewellery.

If you'd like to read the first post about my (now almost famous) peapod trouser suit see it here. It was also my post to celebrate 7 years of blogging which means it's now 10 years that I've been writing this my online diary of island life, family adventures and Gallery tales. If you're a long term follower or a newcomer, you're much appreciated and I do hope you're enjoying the journey. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit!

                                                                Anna x