The joy of brogues







My favourite shoes are brogues and as far as I'm concerned they never go out of fashion. You magazine of 10th May featured actress Sarah Gordon sporting a pair of similar brogues by Christian Louboutin, however I fancy they may cost a tad more than mine did. Mine are from Bertie and I've had them for about 2 years now. I usually wear them with black and white tartan trousers, but they also look very cute with a dress as you can see. The splendid silver lily ring was a prize find in a rummage basket on the counter in a Truro charity shop for the grand sum of £12. I'm dedicated to finding the best bargains, even in my charity shops!

Yesterday was a bit of a downer for us locals as this amazing painting which has been such a fabulous backdrop for my photo shoots was returned to the artist, Anthony Garratt in Bristol. This piece along with three others had been on loan for a year as the outdoors exhibition "Four". Three of them were dismantled and shipped to the mainland to be relocated, but one remains here permanently. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing the last of my photos featuring the paintings and happily will still have access to the 4th one which I'm sure you'll get to know as well as you do this one. Thanks Ant, you've really added a bit of glamour to the launch of my blog x

Dress : Gok Wan at Sainsbury. Top : M&S. Shoes : Bertie. Necklace : Dorothy Perkins. Glass ring : Dorothy Perkins. Silver Amaryllis ring : charity shop. Handbag : retro shop, Ireland.

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I'm off shopping!









This may look a bit different to your average shopping trip, but living on an island we lack that whole chuck-it-in-the-boot option.  Hence this cute little shopping trolley to take the strain out of the grocery dash. The guys on the boats are always happy to carry it up and down the quay steps, so life couldn't be more simple!

My piece of the day has to be this gorgeous blouse with pussy-cat bow. I found it very recently on eBay when I was suffering shopper's withdrawal symptoms. As you'll have seen from my blog I much prefer to do old fashioned shopping from a shop. I like to feel the fabric, check out things like stitching and linings, but most importantly try it on. However, sometimes I get the urge to shop and just can't wait until my next trip to the mainland and that's when the vintage section of eBay comes into it's own.

It probably hasn't escaped your attention that the fab yellow jacket has made it's second appearance after only a week. But what else could I have worn with this? It looks made to measure. A boat trip, even on a sunny day, can still be breezy so I had to wear a jacket and this is The Perfect One.

Jacket : charity shop. Trousers : Boden. Blouse : eBay. Sandals : New Zealand. Silver "in heaven on earth" ring : Diana Porter. Multi colour ring : old. Shopping trolley : TK Maxx.

 
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Flashback to my April show outfit




As my blog is newly birthed I will occasionally rewind to share a particular outfit, event or memory and show nights are good examples of this.

Exhibition nights are the culmination of a year's preparation, planning and hard work for the artists and therefore deserve a bit of proper dressing up to honour the occasion. April's ensemble is a fab little black number which requires a liquid diet for at least 24 hours prior to the event! I love the simple lines of the dress which needs a minimal approach to accessorising to keep it looking sharp. Dressing up usually means great heels, of which I do have a few, but after being on my feet all day I'm keen to go with these stylish flats whenever possible.

Dress : Zara. Pendant : Vivienne Westwood. Tights : Topshop. Shoes : Dune. Gold ring : Accessorize. Glass ring : Dorothy Perkins.

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Once more with feeling!

Apologies for publishing this as a stand alone article, but it's here by popular demand.

The three M's that make women marvellous 

I think that women are great. Does that mean that I'm a feminist? A doctor once remarked that he saw me as a strong woman, a true feminist. So, if it's as simple as that, I suppose I must be. It also means that most of my close girlfriends are too. Well done to us then.  Anyway, I want to talk about the three M's that shape women - menstruation, motherhood and menopause.

Girls as young as nine nowadays have their tender lives challenged by the physical and emotional upheaval that menstruation brings. For two weeks out of every four, the hormonal surges of PMS followed by the backswing at the onset of the period can cause huge mental disruption at a time when these youngsters are struggling to discover who they are and how they fit in with those around them. They sit in class alongside their male counterparts to find themselves at the beginning of a lifetime of disadvantage. Where a young boy's only hormonal challenge is his sometimes uncontrollable desire, the young girl is tossed about in a repeated cycle of mixed emotions which must be masked from those around her, sometimes even from her best friend. The truth of the matter is that at times she will feel quite mad, scared at how mad she feels and this then is compounded by the paranoia that everyone is talking about her being mad. The return to feeling normal which floods back at the very moment she realises her period has begun is short-lived. The cycle continues, the roller-coaster ride has no end.

So there we have the formation of the character of the young woman. The essential need for secrecy so that she feels included rather than marginalised. The extra effort needed to keep her studies on track despite the monthly cramps and the seesaw of emotions. The sense of injustice that her male counterparts are having such an easy time of things. And the knowledge that this state of affairs will continue for what seems like a life sentence. With drive, motivation and a determination that the boys will never have to exercise, she forges towards her 20's.

She survives heartbreaks that rock her mental stability even more - how can a boy understand the pain of breaking up when his girlfriend is in the midst of her darkest PMS? Oblivious, or worse, regardless of this he dumps her, suggests they have a break, needs to get out. But she survives, stronger, and by the time she's at Uni she has matured enough to be open with (girl)friends and share the monthly torments and tears. These are the bonding years when deep friendships are formed, secrets shared and dreams are fed and watered - marriage and babies beckon. Still the monthly hormonal surges continue, even once the babies arrive. Add to this, the trials of breast feeding (or God forbid, the guilt of not), sleepless nights, the return of the menstrual cycle and this is shaping up to be quite a mental battle. Survival is her default setting. She copes, she calls her mother and cries, she shouts at her husband, but inside she is growing into a mighty warrior. She would kill for her babies. She is a staunch friend to her girlfriends. She is motivated to win this battle as she has every other.

The years pass, the kids fly the nest, and then the hormones change bringing the last onslaught, the menopause. This almighty battle is the final insult. After all the years of the overwhelming evidence of a woman's sexuality, the plug is pulled, but painfully slowly. The flushes, the night sweats, fuzzy brain and insomnia bring the woman to the edge of the abyss once again. But she is older, wiser, well-read, less vulnerable than when this crazy journey began. Five, ten or sometimes even 15 years later she emerges like a butterfly from a chrysalis, with renewed energy and a strength built from her experience. The journey has been tough, but she has been tougher. Throughout she has more than coped, she has loved, cajoled and supported her family and friends while fighting her background battle. She is marvellous, she is magnificent, she is woman.
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An outfit for the outspoken


This is the outfit that I would probably choose so far to be my favourite, not least because of the amazing Philip Treacy hat. I do a little bit of buying on eBay and it just so happened that I was browsing one winter evening, looking for a hat when I came across it. After a little skillful bidding the beautiful creation was mine - oh joy! Gusty winds can be a regular feature on an island so I don't get a chance to wear it too often, but today was fine.

Jacket : Jones New York (eBay). Top : eBay. Hat : Philip Treacy (eBay). Shorts : ASOS. Belt : Portugal. Bag : NW3 (charity shop). Dragonfly brooch : Innocent Chaos. Shoes : Office. Hand of Fatima : Noel. Rose gold bangle : Kate Spade New York. Russian ring : wedding band. Garnet ring : gift.

The outspoken I refer to in the title is because of a piece I published yesterday on my health page. I've been asked to bring this onto my home page so that it can be viewed more easily and by more readers.


The three M's that make women marvellous


I think that women are great. Does that mean that I'm a feminist? A doctor once remarked that he saw me as a strong woman, a true feminist. So, if it's as simple as that, I suppose I must be. It also means that most of my close girlfriends are too. Well done to us then. Anyway, I want to talk about the three M's that shape women - menstruation, motherhood and menopause.

Girls as young as nine nowadays have their tender lives challenged by the physical and emotional upheaval that menstruation brings. For two weeks out of every four, the hormonal surges of PMS followed by the backswing at the onset of the period can cause huge mental disruption at a time when these youngsters are struggling to discover who they are and how they fit in with those around them. They sit in class alongside their male counterparts to find themselves at the beginning of a lifetime of disadvantage. Where a young boy's only hormonal challenge is his sometimes uncontrollable desire, the young girl is tossed about in a repeated cycle of mixed emotions which must be masked from those around her, sometimes even from her best friend. The truth of the matter is that at times she will feel quite mad, scared at how mad she feels and this then is compounded by the paranoia that everyone is talking about her being mad. The return to feeling normal which floods back at the very moment she realises her period has begun is short-lived. The cycle continues, the roller-coater ride has no end.

So there we have the formation of the character of the young woman. The essential need for secrecy so that she feels included rather than marginalised. The extra effort needed to keep her studies on track despite the monthly cramps and the seesaw of emotions. The sense of injustice that her male counterparts are having such an easy time of things. And the knowledge that this state of affairs will continue for what seems like a life sentence. With drive, motivation and a determination that the boys will never have to exercise, she forges towards her 20's. 

She survives heartbreaks that rock her mental stability even more - how can a boy understand the pain of breaking up when his girlfriend is in the midst of her darkest PMS? Oblivious, or worse, regardless of this he dumps her, suggests they have a break, needs to get out. But she survives, stronger, and by the time she's at Uni she has matured enough to be open with (girl)friends and share the monthly torments and tears. These are the bonding years when deep friendships are formed, secrets shared and dreams are fed and watered - marriage and babies beckon. Still the monthly hormonal surges continue, even once the babies arrive. Add to this, the trials of breast feeding (or God forbid, the guilt of not), sleepless nights, the return of the menstrual cycle and this is shaping up to be quite a mental battle. Survival is her default setting. She copes, she calls her mother and cries, she shouts as her husband, but inside she is growing into a mighty warrior. She would kill for her babies. She is a staunch friend to her girlfriends. She is motivated to win this battle as she has every other.

The years pass, the kids fly the nest, and then the hormones change bringing the last onslaught, the menopause. This almighty battle is the final insult. After all the years of the overwhelming evidence of a woman's sexuality, the plug is pulled, but painfully slowly. The flushes, the night sweats, fuzzy brain and insomnia bring the woman to the edge of the abyss once again. But she is older, wiser, well-read, less vulnerable than when this crazy journey began. Five, ten or sometimes even 15 years later she emerges like a butterfly from a chrysalis, with renewed energy and a strength built from her experience. The journey has been tough, but she has been tougher. Throughout she has more than coped, she has loved, cajoled and supported her family and friends while fighting her background battle. She is marvellous, she is magnificent, she is woman.







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Here's my lovely new kilt

This is a recent prize find from a Truro charity shop - a kilt for the princely sum of £6.20! As a child my siblings and I all had kilts and I do have fond memories of how special it felt to wear. This is my first kilt since then, so a few decades have marched past between one kilt and the other. My childhood kilt was of Kerr tartan, our clan, and was predominantly red and green. This is a genuine tartan also, but not one that I know, so if someone out there recognises it as their clan I would love to hear from them.

My biggest worry about styling the kilt was that I would end up looking like an old dear who works in The Edinburgh Woollen Mill. Teamed up with a pea-green cashmere cardi didn't cut it, nor did my favourite fairisle cardi from H&M. But last night I opened up the new copy of Red magazine to find a fashion piece on mixing acid colours for the latest look. So here's my eclectic mix for working the kilt a la Anna's Island Style!

Kilt : charity shop. Top : Miss Selfridge. Cardi : New Look. Tights : old. Shoes : New Look. Belt : charity shop. Necklace : Dorothy Perkins. Orange ring : old. Turquoise ring : Accessorize. Bangle : old. Silver and green Amethyst bracelet : Morocco.




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No, it's not beige, it's caramel

So today's look is much more pared down than you've seen so far. I hate my style to be too predictable so every now and then I like to do something different. The main feature has to be these lovely trousers from H&M. The fit is very slim and yet they are so easy to wear due to the little bit of stretch. I found them when I was on the mainland in April and when I came home decided I really ought to have bought them in another colourway (which I promptly did - I got a black and white version). The caramel top was a find in a charity shop last year and again has a bit of stretch too. The outfit was actually finished off with a long slate grey very masculine cut jacket and my truly beautiful orange handbag (not shown).

Top : charity shop. Trousers : H&M. Shoes : New Look. Ring : East. Rose gold bangle : Kate Spade New York. Pendant : Noel.




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The fab yellow jacket

Earlier this spring I saw a fashion spread declaring that yellow was the latest trend to follow. Great news as it's a lovely colour for me, from pale primrose to thick dark mustard, it's all good. Well, you can imagine my delight when I came across this little beauty on one of my foray's to my favourite Penzance charity shop. The fit is perfect, the cut very Chanel, the fabric even has a touch of gold yarn running through it (I'm partial to a bit of sparkle), but best of all it's so bloomin' versatile! This will play out over the months and I make no apologies - I can't wait to see how many outfits will benefit from this finishing touch.
P.S. I need to point out that these fab tights actually have a green pattern at knee height hence the odd poses trying to show it off!

Jacket : charity shop. Shirt : Austin Reed. Skirt : Pedro Del Hierro. Tights : Topshop. Shoes : Boden. Yellow barrel bag (as seen on cover page) : NW3 (charity shop). Green pearl necklace : Rose Cecil. Rings : old. Brass bangle : Rose Cecil.

 


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