Sicily and Rome

Our recent cruise around the Mediterranean was wonderful, giving us a brief introduction to new places and people which is really just a taster for more. Likewise I'm going to be as brief as I can and try not to inundate the blog with endless holiday snaps. Therefore today's post covers our first two stops in our whistle stop tour. The first photos are from Palermo, Sicily where it seemed to be a tad unusual to see a woman dressed in such vibrant colours. Maybe I looked like a circus clown to the local residents. But men and women alike, as we walked around the city, they certainly gave me more than a fleeting glance. 





Steve found himself promoted/demoted to position of blog photographer, but soon got into his stride. He spent most of his time heckling me whilst I barked instructions. We made a great double act - it was hilarious.


I bought this little bag in Rome the previous day. There were so many colours and styles to choose from, but I think this being the first choice was the right one. It's lined in pale yellow chamois leather (sorry Sally for yet again not taking a shot of the interior) and opens quite wide to hold a surprising amount of bits and bobs.



Jacket: Benetton. Maxi dress: eBay. Sandals: New Zealand. Handbag: boutique in Rome. Rings and watch: charity shop.







As we walked along this old fashioned street we found a wonderful vintage shop called "Magazzini Anita". 



It didn't take long for me to realise that this boutique was where I would spend today's pocket money. Steve loitered outside in the morning sunshine and I disappeared inside. I had a great time browsing and trying things on. The owner is a lovely lady called Elena who sources her wares from all sorts of places. The boutique was brimming with beautiful Italian shoes, bags and clothes, some of it new and some second hand. Elena was the perfect hostess helping me to find just the right pieces to suit my frame and colouring. For a fashionista this had to be the highlight of the trip so far. We swapped details, chatted about fashion and blogs and eventually I made my purchases.


Retail therapy complete, and bag in hand, Steve and I then continued with our stroll through the ancient streets of Palermo.



And here's what I bought.

Coat, trousers and blouse all from Magazinni Anita, Via Maqueda, 263 Palermo.




That evening was the first gala dinner on board the ship with the opportunity to meet the captain and his senior staff afterwards. We're on one of the diamond staircases which were the prime location for all of those wanting a glamorous setting for their photos. My outfit is the same as I wore for the island Christmas party as seen here. It was the right thing to take this ensemble along as I felt very comfortable in it. The first night on board had been a bit overwhelming. I knew we were going to be on a big ship, but little did I realise that we would be amongst over 4500 passengers. Considering our little island has a winter population of about 130 residents this vessel, MSC Preziosa, was a gigantic floating city by comparison. Some 18 decks high and 333m long we regularly got lost at the start and by the end of our cruise still hadn't discovered every bar, lounge or even all of the swimming pools.


Skirt: Susan Small, Enjoy Clothing. Blouse: Shubette Separates, charity shop. Shoes: Primate. Belt: eBay. Necklace: Debenhams. Clutch: Santa Cruz.



AND THIS WAS OUR TRIP TO ROME ON THE PREVIOUS DAY


The trip to Rome was the highlight of the cruise for most of us, with the Colosseum obviously being the major tourist attraction. We docked in the port of Civitavecchia which was an hour and a half away from Rome by coach.





Steve brandished the camera about today with great results.

Jacket: Vero Moda. Jeans: Gap. Waistcoat: Uniqlo. T shirt: Uniqlo. Belt: H&M. Trainers: Salomon. Handbag: charity shop. Scarf: old. Watch: charity shop.


We visited the Palatine ruins first of all which were extensive.






After a couple of hours we crossed to the Colosseum where we spent another two hours steeped in the history of this huge feat of architecture.




The tiers of marble seats were where the Senators sat to watch the gory battles.



As I stood here I couldn't help but wonder about all of the poor souls who had experienced the most horrifying of deaths in this arena.




 This must-have shot of the icon that represents Rome.



The dress theme for this evening was 70's/80's/90's disco. This jumpsuit was the best I could conjure up. My next post will feature Malta and Barcelona - see you all on Wednesday for that!

Anna x

Jumpsuit: H&M. Shrug: charity shop. Green pearls: Almost Perfect. Belt: eBay.
Share:

London highlights


Hi everyone. It's great to be back from my holiday and thanks to all my faithful readers for hooking up with my blog in my absence. I had a fab time in London and just want to give you a flavour of what I got up to over the few days we spent there before we went off on our cruise. I met up with my dearest friend Bo who lives in Portugal and we visited the Burlington Arcade first of all. Much to my absolute delight I clocked this fabulous display of brogues in the boutique window of Manolo Blahnik. Read more about Carrie Bradshaw's favourite shoe designer and his new boutique here - it had only opened in the previous week.
A veritable rainbow of suede brogues
Any of this trio would have been perfect with my outfit.
I'm in shoe heaven.
For my foreign readers, the Burlington Arcade, in the heart of London, is a alleyway of boutique designer shops showcasing the most exclusive fashions, perfumes, jewellery, men's and women's couture and every must-have item imaginable. Here's two more of the eye-catching displays...


This from Lulu Guinness.
And this Chanel sculpture with its golden discs stood about three foot tall.

Bo and I have been friends for many years now and one of our common bonds is our love of fashion. She's one of the few people I can happily go shopping with. I'm usually a solitary shopper, but she and I have such similar tastes and know what suits each other; we are always honest with our opinions on what works and what doesn't. As you can see Bo's style is very eclectic - she mixes things up in her very own inimitable way and she always exudes confidence.




Bo is grinning from ear to ear as we've revelled in the window shopping of the Burlington Arcade and next we're off to see this spectacular exhibition at the RA -



The exhibition exceeded all our expectations and if any of you can make it to London in time to see it I would urge you to go. The breadth of artists and art is extraordinary, and we were introduced to so many "new" artists and styles that we hadn't previously discovered. It was moving at times, breathtaking at others, and without question is the most impressive exhibition either of us have ever had the privilege to view.

And finally, Steve and I were luckily enough to be in Leicester Square on the evening of the premiere of the film Zoolander No 2. Amidst the jostling of the crowds of fans, and the TV cameras and crews we managed to catch a glimpse of some of the stars as they sashayed down the blue carpet.






My outfit from the Burlington Arcade was a bit middle-of-the-road as far as the fashionistas of London go, but my silver brogues did attract a few compliments. Thank you to the ladies of the Cath Kidston staff from opposite the Arcade who deserve a mention, as they would like to implement a funky tights and shoes combo as part of their uniform - hurrah and good luck with that!

Trench coat: Jessica Simpson. Skirt: Boden. Polo neck: M&S. Shoes: Office. Tights: Top Shop. Bag: charity shop.
Share:

Bedazzled in pink and orange - flashback to September








If all has gone to plan then this ought to be the 4th and final automated post while I'm gadding about on my holidays. I do hope that my readers and loyal followers have still been visiting the blog in my absence and have been rewarded with these posts from my draft box. This was drawn up in September when the golden sun bathed us with it's waning warmth before it started heading towards the Southern hemisphere. Read on -

Can there ever be too much of a good thing? If so, then I hope this isn't it. I have a couple of new favourites in my arsenal and this is one of them. I'm hoping to leaf this into my winter wardrobe to lift the dark colours out of the doldrums. But for today, the joy was in the pairing up of the wonderful fizzy pink blouse with my sedate Boden skirt. Well maybe a pink and orange skirt doesn't really constitute sedate in colour, but it's surely a classic shape. Ending just at the knee it's quite unassuming and simply cut, but by adding this vintage, chiffon, frilly bit of fun the whole thing positively sings. I'm clearly head over heels again. 

The autumn sunshine was bright today and I needed little prompting to give this outfit an airing. The new addition of pink to my wardrobe has my mind in overdrive thinking up ways to feature this and other rosy hued pieces. And when I recall all the times I've dismissed and zoomed past the pink racks and even whole sections of pink and red clothes - well, I just want to rewind to check what I've missed! However, I've got to get over that and move on. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to get a bit of retail therapy again soon and maybe have some pink successes.

The shoes today were going to be my silver brogues as seen here and here. But, I then decided to really play up the colourful girly outfit to the max. Heck, I probably wouldn't wear this again until next year, why not give it the full treatment? So, I introduced the green kitten heels which gave birth to the green gemstone crucifix necklace. And to finish, the purple tights were just the thing to pull everything together. The finished outfit may not be too different to the first time I wore it (quite recently I think) as here, but hey, shoot me for loving this blouse so much I just wanted to give it another reprise!

Vintage blouse: charity shop. Skirt: Boden. Shoes: Office. Tights: old. Necklace: old. Sunglasses: Quay Australia.

Linking with 
Catherine from Not Dressed as Lamb


Share:

Mid week mix

Apologies again for pulling this out of my draft box while I'm away on my holidays. Thanks to you all for hanging on in there and coming back to view.



Golly, I'm not too happy about my mop of hair here! I hope to be looking a bit more sleek upon my return.

Ditto.

These Irregular Choice shoes were a gift from my friend Bun. I've dollied about in them recently and felt totally cutsie-glam, if there's such a thing.


I'm a bit late showing my fake fur in February. Most fashion bloggers had theirs on show in December at least. 


The right shoes and tights can make such an impact on any outfit I think. Imagine this same dress but with flesh coloured tights and simple courts. It just wouldn't have this impact, would it? I would encourage anyone to experiment with coloured/patterned/lacy tights to inject a bit of personality to a dress that may have become an old faithful. It's an inexpensive way to add a pop of colour, to test the water too.

I've hesitated about showing the first photo, as it strikes me as a bit frumpy. The jacket was a purchase from eBay ages ago and I've never worn it until today. The rosette pattern was what attracted me, but when I put it on I feel a bit blah. However, it ended up in too many of the shots to edit therefore I'll let you guys be the judge. Don't worry about hurting my feelings as it's already been allocated to the recycle pile. It'll be heading off to eBay in a month or two when I finally get straight. Watch this space...

Currently we should be sailing towards Barcelona if my calculations are right. I do hope that my instagram account is firing on all cylinders showing snaps of our jolly trips out and about and that some of you may be keeping in touch with our travels. Thanks for taking time to visit the blog despite me flaunting my playing hooky. I'll try to keep abreast of all of my favourite bloggers antics too. See you all soon x

Dress: Ninewest (old). Shoes: Irregular Choice. Jacket: eBay. Thermal top: M&S. Orange necklace: old. Brown ring: East. Yellow ring: Martin James. Tights: Topshop (old).







Share:

A SUMMER'S DAY - FLASHBACK


Polly had watched me tip toe my way down the slippy incline onto the beach and had been snapping away furiously - I think she had hoped to catch me slipping onto my derriere!


This clutch belongs to my daughter who has moved out, but not moved all of her things out. She may decide to collect some of these featured pieces now that I'm making good use of them!

The little harbour behind me is always a hive of activity in the mornings with frieght being loaded and unloaded, and visitors catching the jet boats to make their trip homewards.




Here we are in the middle of winter and I just wanted to inject a burst of sunshine into your day. Some of these posts were forgotten in the days when we had perfect conditions to have a shoot, but I was too busy to organise them into a draft. It's lovely to go back to them now and see the glorious sunny mornings, see how relaxed the warm weather makes me look.

Polly, my lovely assistant and photographer, has gone to work elsewhere for the winter months and I do miss her help with not only the photos, but her feedback and advice on the blog, or how to style an outfit or even just give me her perspective on a pose that works or doesn't. My blog is currently full of selfies, albeit with the aid of a tripod and timer. The interaction with Polly is what I miss; her sense of fun and wish to get the best out of me. I hope she will be back in 2016, and in the meantime I'll potter along and hope you still enjoy what you see.

I featured this skirt on our final exhibition night and really glammed it up as seen here. Today however, it was a simple and slightly monochrome look I was after. I like the laser cut sandals paired with the studded handbag, I think they work well together. Much as the sandals look precariously high, they are really only high due to the wedge and are not to bad to walk in at all. I think the clever thing about them is the curve at the front which allows the foot to roll as you walk, very clever. The sleeveless white blouse was perfect for a sunny day in the gallery as it looked smart, businesslike and was also cool for the afternoon heat-bath we often endured as we stood near the gallery windows serving in full-on sunshine. I kept the jewellery to a minimum and not too colourful either as I thought the skirt was pretty much saying it all. Looking back on it now, I think it was a simple success, unfussy but still fun.


Skirt: H&M. Blouse: charity shop. Sandals: New Look. Bag: borrowed. Necklace and silver ring: charity shop. Yellow ring: Martin James.

Share:

Travel tales

The reality of this post is that I'm setting this up in advance in the hope that the technology works and it does in fact publish while I head off on the next stage of our holiday. On Wednesday morning, if everything works out, we ought to be sitting on the train travelling from Cornwall to London and my plan is that this is the outfit I'll be wearing. So here goes -


Travelling clothes have to be a mix of practical and stylish in my book. The jacket is practical as it doesn't crease even when I bunch it up to use as a pillow. And, yes you guessed it, the stylish element has to be these leather Chelsea boots with a bit of glittery sparkle to them.


I'm in boot heaven with these. I love Chelsea boots and I adore a bit of bling so this is the perfect marriage of the two.

These are my favourite jeans of the moment. I've never bought Gap jeans before, but the fit is really comfy and seems to be my shape exactly - I may have to look out for another pair.





As I said we're leaving Cornwall today after spending a couple of days with Sasha. I've got a hair appointment lined up as well as a facial so I hope to be looking a bit more groomed by the time we hit the bright lights of London. These posts may not be quite up to scratch as I'm feeling the pressure as we rise to a crescendo of printing off tickets, insurance papers etc as well as the packing of that ever elusive capsule wardrobe. So excuse me if I'm not quite delivering my best.

I've had this yellow tartan jacket for quite a few years now and it comes out every winter. I particularly like the cut which gives it a very feminine feel. The boots are new and came in the deluge of boots and shoes which were the result of my "influenza shoppingitis" episode and were lucky to have made the cut. Once I was well, I could see the error of my ways and was quite brutal with the returns. Only those with true merit were retained and these most definitely made the grade.  I even used these when I was trying some frocks for the cruise and despite them not being the exact look I was hoping for they were OK. Well see what you think -





This is a kind of half way house in the dressing up scale to my mind. It's not what I will want to be wearing on board our cruise but I could be taken out for a posh meal in London, say. I'm meeting up with my dear friend Bo on Friday to see the Monet exhibition and wonder if I might persuade her to stay on for a meal that evening. Well, I'm ready for all eventualities with this I think.

Jacket: Next (old). Jeans: Gap (charity shop). Cardigan: H&M (old). Blouse: eBay. Boots: River Island (sold out but these are similar). Dress: H&M.  Handbag: charity shop. Rings: charity shop.


Share:
Created by bo design