Ping pong post

Classic lavendar courts with pale blue tights and ?

Well, this biker love affair continues, but that's no surprise is it? What it's covering may be however...

...yes, nearly 60 and I'm wearing a mini.

Ping pong refers to the game I've been enjoying with my dear friend Samantha Blair from Fake Fabulous where we dare each other to test our style limits. It started when Samantha wore her over the knee boots (as seen here) and I suggested she try them with some shorts. She egged me on to wear some shorts too, not realising that I already have (as seen here). And recently Samantha has posted her shorts styled (see here) for the winter in a lovely autumn themed colourway. So, here I am with my next challenge from Samantha - to wear a mini with coloured tights. This is the outfit I wore for our end of season party, but Polly and I were too busy having fun to remember to take photos for the blog. Anyway, we had glorious weather on Sunday so I did a bit of photography for my blog and thought I'd showcase this. Ping...pong...ping...pong. Ball's in your court Samantha, what are we planning next?

The vintage mini dress was from my September shopping trip to Exeter. When I tried on all the clothes the changing room had no lights so I didn't notice that the hem of the dress had come down. After putting it in the wash, I hand stitched the hem back to it's original length and discovered that it wasn't knee length, but in fact a mini. Problem is, after all my sporting efforts during my youth, I have decidedly chunky thighs! Please don't try to tell me otherwise; them ol' thighs have done a whole lot of running, played volleyball, basketball, and hockey in their day building them up to perform all of the tasks required. And I'm happy, nay proud, of their achievements, but they're not these slim, lithesome legs that look fab in a mini dress. Having said all that, this is still wearable for me and is as short as I would chose to go.

The next bone of contention could be the photos showing mini dress, drapey neck and wrinkled face - do these things sit together in harmony? Well, and here's the rub, I'm happy with who I am, otherwise I wouldn't be here doing this. But somewhere out there, "those who sit in judgement" may well be shaking their heads. And to them I say, "So?" 

The beautiful fashion blogger Catherine Summers of Not Dressed as Lamb runs a campaign called # I Will Wear What I Want (as seen here)- and I wholeheartedly agree with her sentiments. As intelligent, thinking women we really ought to get over these "rules" and be our true selves. To quote the wise words of the Bard himself - 

"This above all: 
To thine own self be true, 
And it must follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man."

Jacket: TK Maxx. Dress: Vintage charity shop. Shoes: TK Maxx. Tights: charity shop. Necklace: Charlie Dodge. Blue ring: charity shop. Turquoise ring: old.

Thank you to all the ladies I'm linking up with (see the links on the right) 
Jess of Elegantly Dressed and Stylish
Catherine of Not Dressed as Lamb
Patti of Not Dead Yet Style
Ann of Kremb de la Kremb

#Ping Pong Post 6

Yes, it's crazy I know (where is the summer going?), but here we are already, the three of us with another dose of Ping Pong Post. Ann of Kreme de la Kremb and Samantha of Fake Fabulous are my blogging partners in crime who together over the past six months have been swapping clothes amongst each other. Nothing unusual in that you may say, but when you consider that Ann lives in Hong Kong, Samantha in Scotland and I live on the Isles of Scilly, off the end of Southwest England, then you can see this style challenge has taken some commitment along with a fair bit of planning to make it happen. Read here to find out how this all came about. This month Samantha threw her little shrug into the arena to see how we might style it up and for the first time ever I think we're all singing from the same sheet.

First up is Ann who wears the shrug to top off an utterly feminine, floaty dress with her favourite cowboy boots and leather pouch. This look is perfect for Ann, the tomboy of the group one minute and sexy siren the next. By donning her rough ol' boots she toughens the vibe making it so very Kremb de la Kremb. If you rewind to previous Ping Pong Posts, you'll see that Ann is highly creative with the item of the month and this time I half expected that the shrug may well have been reinvented as a modern day pair of bloomers by her. I think you might have missed a trick there Ann! 

Follow Ann on Instagram here.

Outfit details for Ann are -

Earrings--Boutique in Florence, Italy

Coral Beaded Necklace--made by Venezuelan girlfriend, Mariana Morrill

Evil Eye and Half Circle--Fireworks

Shrug--Samantha's

Dress--Forever 21

Belt Bag--Francesca's

Cowboy Boots--Old West via Zappos

Samantha has chosen to wear the shrug with a print dress too. She is sporting her bolero in a perfectly relaxed style, just popped over as an extra layer to keep her shoulders warm at the end of the day. Her leather clogs add an edge to steer away from an uber cutesy look (it's not Sam's fault that she's so pretty) as does the funky handbag. Samantha always seems to pull out a winning card with these feature handbags of hers and this is one no exception. The finished look is sleek and cool. Full marks Samantha. 

Follow Samantha on Instagram here.

Samantha's outfit details are -

DRESS: Old (new look)

CLOGS: Old (timberland)

BELT: Old (Topshop….there is a theme here :oP)

BAG: Old…actually belongs to my daughter, but she seems to have forgotten that it is hers!

SHRUG: Very old

Introducing a bit of print was my first thought too as this skirt from Jaeger caught my eye when I scanned the rail in my wardrobe. I like the vintage vibe conjured up by adding the big belt and net underskirt. I'm always trying to inject an element of fun into my outfits and the frothy fullness of the petticoat does exactly that. Never one too underplay things, I've added jewellery in lots of colours drawn from the skirt. My shots are looking very cool coloured as they were taken way back in April when the sunshine was a bit weak and watery. I'm also still carrying a bit of winter weight around my middle, a feature I'm only happy to share now that it's all shifted. I did wonder about choosing the shots that don't show my middle ripple, but then I thought it's good for me to show I'm less-than-perfect. I'm no model, nor am I pretending to be, and so it's only fair to show my imperfections to highlight that I'm as ordinary as everyone else. Keeping it real is what they say nowadays isn't it? 

You can follow me on Instagram too, see here.

And my outfit details are -

Shrug: Samantha's

Tee shirt: M&S

Skirt: Jaeger

Underskirt: eBay

Shoes: New Look

Belt and jewellery: charity shopped

Sunglasses: Quay Australia

Anna x

#Ping Pong Post 4

Welcome to the fourth instalment of Ping Pong Post. For any new readers you can chart the progress of this feature back to the start here. This months challenge has been thrown down by Ann of Kremb de la Kremb fame and I have to say it has been the most difficult one for me so far. And yet when the dress arrived I fell in love with it. The white flowered voile looks so utterly romantic, don't you think?

I was pretty confident that I could style this up in a flash. The fact was, it took me three attempts to find a look worth photographing. But hey, let's gloss over that for a moment and move on to the vision that is Samantha of Fake Fabulous. 

Samantha picked up on that romantic feel too and wears the dress very demurely. I think she could be giving a bit of a modern spin on Downton Abbey. I had hoped that she would invite me over for afternoon tea and a glass of bubbly too, but no luck. The gorgeous hat really sets the whole look off making it feel very authentic for that period. Samantha has kept the palette to white and neutral which adds to the understated look. Very classy Samantha! And yet a cheeky little flash of thigh ensures a youthful vibe too. 

Follow Samantha on Instagram here.

Samantha's details are -

Dress: Ann's...from forever21

Slip: M&S
Hat: old
Shoes: Clarks
Nails: BarryM
Toes: Mavala
Necklaces: Various gifts and vintage pieces
Belt: Topshop
Glasses: Vogue

Ann opts for the other end of the dressing up spectrum with a beach babe look. We can always rely on Ann to raise the temperature a notch or two with her sexy take on these challenges, and hey who can blame her? If you've got it, flaunt it! Ann's theme of black and white works so well with her dark hair and sunkissed skin. I think I would love to have some of those shell anklets for my next beach day too. Perhaps you can pop some in the post Ann?

Follow Ann on Instagram here.

Ann's details

White Maxi Dress--Forever 21
Leopard Bikini--ASOS
Jean Shorts--Paige Denim
Puka Shell Anklets--Puka Beach, Boracay
Turkish Towel--Bowl and Pitcher
Sun Hat--Forever 21
Sunglasses--Target
Beach Bag--Bali

As you can see my take on the dress is a bit of a half-way house between the other two. Yes, it lends itself to a beach setting, but I had the same idea as Samantha with the short dress too. Initially I had tried this with a white linen maxi dress underneath, but it looked like I was heading for my boudoir! My next effort was with white linen trousers and an orange vest top, but somehow that seems to detract from the sheer effect of the overshirt. Finally I decided to try this floaty little beach dress in pastel hues of pink, tangerine and lemon. A matching necklace plus an armful of golden bangles all finished off with my neutral sandals completed the look. Once again, I can honestly say this has been great fun to see how these other two fashion bloggers created their own outifts from this challenge, and I look forward to next month when we'll be back on Scilly soil with my next offering.

Details for me are

Overshirt: Ann's -  Forever 21

Dress: Florence and Fred

Sandals: Bertie

Necklace: Magpie and Butterfly

Sunglasses: Quay Australia

Bangles: charity shop

Gold/nude ring: Boots

Cream floral ring: charity shop.

Linking with

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Cherie of Style Nudge 

Anna x

Ping Pong Piece no 5

Welcome to the latest edition of Ping Pong Piece, the new and improved version of Ping Pong Post which entailed three bloggers posting our clothes around the world in the name of creativity (see how it started here). Now, instead of pinging clothes back and forth, we ping ideas around to each other. This month Samantha, Ann and myself along with my guest of the month, Mary Murnane are styling a beach cover-up. 

Mary is an Emmy Award winning TV news reporter and anchor whose love of photography and fashion has led her to publish her own blog. I've followed Mary for some time now and am in awe of her sleek, polished style which still incorporates a playful element and a penchant for beautiful handbags and shoes. Her cover up is by Neiman Marcus and slides are by Zara.

Samantha has recently been playing happy families on the beach in Scotland where the temperatures aren't quite making the 20's yet. Sam's answer is to keep her top half cosied up against the wind which enables her to don her shorts to catch a few rays. See more of this on her blog Fake Fabulous.

Outfit details -

Jumper: Charity Shop
Gilet: Joules
Sandals: Vionics
Shorts: Fat Face

It seems that Ann has a similar approach to the beach cover-up idea. An old favourite of hers, this fisherman's jumper is her go-to casual wear for summer by the lake. Sunnies, flip flops and cut-offs complete her summer essentials for a day in the sun. Join Ann on Kremb de la Kremb. 

Outfit details are -

Sunnies--Forever 21

Sweater--HM

Suit and Flip Flops--Target

Cut-offs--DIY thrifted Wranglers

Beach Tote--Louella Odié

My beach cover up was a charity shop find earlier on this summer, from ASOS, and cost all of £3.99. I love the crazy hooped hemline which reminds me of a Lady Gaga costume. The shoot took two days and two visits to my favourite desert-island-of-the-moment, Samson. The black hat on day one, left me a bit non plussed, but the pistachio hat and coral sandals were more the mood I wanted. And the joy of these islands is that you don't have to wait too long before a yacht or two will sail on by adding that Caribbean vibe to the shot.

Body confidence is in the news currently thanks mainly to the Loose Women photo shoot where the presenters all stripped down to their cossies shunning the aid of airbrushing. When you consider that the oldest, Janet Street-Porter, is 70 it's a brilliant message for women of every age that we ought to love our bodies - wobbly bits, scars, lumps and bumps - it's all part of our unique story and a celebration of normal life. 

goodtoknow.media.ipcdigital.co.uk

Every summer I promise myself that this will be my last one for wearing a bikini and this year is no different. Will I dare to bare next year when I'm 60? So here's my (maybe) last bikini shot. I share it to celebrate a body that's given birth to two babies and over the decades has gained then lost many pounds all in the name of body confidence.

I'm heading over to the mainland today and may not manage to respond to your comments during the next few days, but please do drop me a line and I'll catch up with you when I get back. Are you still wearing a bikini in your 50's? And why not? I'd love to hear from you if you are!

Anna x

#Ping Pong Post no 9

Welcome again to our monthly style challenge where an item of clothing traverses the globe between my friends Samantha of Fake Fabulous who lives in Scotland and Ann of Kremb de la Kremb, a resident of Hong Kong. It's been nine months since we started Ping Pong Post and you can see how it all began back in March see here. This month it was the turn of Samantha to proffer up something - her pink dotty jacket was a fabulous challenge - let's see if we'd be foiled or if we'd flourish shall we?

The inclement weather didn't dampen Samantha's enthusiasm for her weekend spin on the pink jacket. Samantha's Scottish home is prey to chill winds and more rain than it deserves, but she works around this with a cosy pashmina and clever layering featuring shades of cream, navy and burgundy reflected in bag, boots and over shirt. I love the rosy pink glow created by her brolly which enhances her lovely, healthy complexion. Samantha is growing out her signature pixie cut in favour of a longer, shaggy style which suits her pretty features so well. Follow Samantha on Instagram here.

Shirt: Second Female

Poloneck: M&S

Jeans: Topshop

Shoes: Mini Boden

Bag: Charity shop

Ring: My daughters!

Ann too, has changed her hairstyle this month and is looking equally cute with this swept back look. She's added polka dots and snakeskin print to a black and white palette to showcase the pink jacket. The simple mini skirt paired with fantastic Stella McCartney patent, platform shoes almost steal the show were it not for those beautifully tanned legs of Ann's - the result of a recent beach holiday methinks! Metallic nailpolish and toning jewellery are her finishing touches. Follow Ann on Instagram here.

Shirt is Target

Top, Sams

The tie is Zara as is the snake bag--but from the girls department.

The suede mini is Forever 21

The shoes are Stella McCartney

Oh, the strings are from my buddy Ben from a market here in Hong Kong.

And the hair tie I found in a random jewellery shop in Kowloon. 

I must admit I thought the jacket was a fantastic offering this month. The fit was great, it had a little bit of stretch and the colour was a the ideal springboard for creativity. My initial thought was to add some jeans as I'm aware I don't dress down very often for the blog. I pulled out a couple of pairs, one black drainpipe and the other a dark blue cropped. Hmmm, not sure. The pink frothy blouse nearly leapt out of the wardrobe next and that really helped move things along. I remembered seeing these studded leggings of Sasha's when I was rooting around in a drawer the other week. Once I'd recovered them, the boots were a no brainer. The finishing touches of this tartan clutch and the belt were both trophies from my last charity shopping episode in September see here. Lots of silver jewellery was my final nod towards this rock chick look - at my age? - YES!

Thanks to Samantha and Ann for the Pink Pong Party this month (Ann's take on this) - it was great fun. Next month we'll be showing a bit of razzle dazzle thanks to Ann, right on the cusp of Christmas. Hope you'll find a moment to swing by for a look.

Jacket: Sam's

Trousers: borrowed from my daughter

Blouse: charity shop

Boots:Office

Clutch: Ness 

Necklace and rings: charity shop

Watch: Michael Kors

Linking with

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Cherie of Style Nudge

                                                   Anna x

#Ping Pong Post 2

Hello again! Here we are a month later, with our next instalment of Ping Pong Post. My two fellow fashion bloggers Samantha of Fake Fabulous and Ann of Kremb de la Kremb have joined me again, this time in styling up this overshirt/shirtdress in our own particular way for your entertainment. Having been on its travels to Scotland and Hong Kong, here's how I wore it to work last week -

This is only the second time I've worn this since I bought it last year. I love to see these tall, willowy women waft about it long overshirts like this, but being just under 5ft 5in I wonder if I can carry off that look. The first time I wore it, I had the buttons done up, effectively turning it into a shirtdress, but that only made me feel short and dowdy. Not a look I'm aspiring too. However, the material is lovely, and I really like the graphic pattern, so when we girls joined up to create #PPP this seemed to be a great candidate for our project. I was keen to discover what the others made of the challenge, so let's see shall we?

Samantha looks fresh as a daisy in black and white. She's chosen a casual, playful styling for the shirtdress which suits her down to the ground.  Worn with simple pumps and her black across the body bag, the eye catching feature piece from Samantha has to be this quirky fishbone necklace. Stop Press: Samantha was recently featured by Grechen Relter of the Independent Fashion Bloggers as one of the "13 Fashion bloggers over 40 you should follow now". A well-deserved accolade for Samantha. Congratulations you lovely lady!
Outfit details -

Dress: Anna’s

Necklace: Tatty Devine

Shades: Primark

Bag: Yosa

Cuff: A gift

Shoes: Guess

Ann's take on the shirtdress is quite different too. Paired up with this fab red trench, and cute white socks with her ankle boots, she has cleverly tied in this vintage inspired handbag with its red decoupage flowers. Ann is big on DIY projects; the makeover of this bag was featured on her blog last year see here. The addition of a black beret gives a very Parisian feel to the ensemble. Ooo la la! Ann could have stepped straight out of a French movie wearing this.
Outfit details -

Sequin beret--H&M

Double Back Red Earrings--Chinese Market

Red Trench--Shanghai Tailor

Dress--Anna's

Clutch--DIY with Découpage

Socks--Forever 21

Booties--Zara

My take on the overshirt relies on mixing lots of pattern with black and silver accessories. Once I got over the idea of it having to be a dress, I had more freedom to be creative and this unfolded quite quickly. The stars of my particular outfit are these shoes which I recently bought whilst in Harrogate. See the whole feature of my mega shopping scoop here. 

Thanks for dropping by to join us for this month's #PPP. I do hope you can come back again to see the next style challenge on the 20th May. We've had fun - I hope you enjoyed it too!

Outfit details -
Dress: Ichi at TK Maxx
Trousers: H&M
Top: Primark
Belt: H&M
Shoes: SixtySeven at TK Maxx
Bangle and rings: charity shop
Sunglasses: Quay Australia

Linking with 
Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb
Patti of Not Dead Yet Style
Jess of Elegantly Dressed and Stylish
Cherie of Style Nudge