Rose gold from jewellery to shoes

I'm not usually one to wear minis, but I fell for this dress as it looked so cute on the hanger. The first time I wore it was with my pink brogues rather than these rose gold ones. However, when I look at the dress with the jacket over the top, and then belted up, well we get into an area of mini-ness I'm not so sure about. I'm not really a short skirt or cleavage kinda girl - it's all about your comfort zone isn't it?

Rose gold. These two words put together are music to my ears. I just can't get enough of this golden-pink hue and won't be getting over it any time soon. When I came across this rose gold dress recently I was over the moon. I love the simplicity of it, and even though it's made of a static-inducing synthetic material, I really fell for the cut and shape which was enough to override my reservations. However, once I got home at the end of the day and checked out how these photos looked, I decided it was just too short for me. I know I wore a short tunic recently as seen here, but my long cardigan acted as the ideal cover up. 

All is not lost however, as Polly was more than keen when I offered the dress to her. She is shorter than I am, and therefore the dress is knee length on her. Also, she added a long cardi as I really ought to have done! 

I think she looks so sweet in this pink and burgundy outfit. And I'll still get the pleasure of seeing the dress without that niggling doubt about the length of it, so it's a win-win for both of us.

Dress: TK Maxx. 
Anna -
Jacket: charity shop. Shoes: TK Maxx. Vintage handbag: charity shop. Tights: TK Maxx. Sun glasses: Quay Australia. Pendant: Charlie Dodge. Watch: Michael Kors. Bangle: Kate Spade New York. Rings:old.
Polly -
Cardigan: H&M. Tights: Primark. Boots: H&M.

Linking with
Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb
Patti of Not Dead Yet Style
Lindsey of The Pleated Poppy
Cherie of Style Nudge
Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish 

As suggested by...Karren.

Today I thought I might introduce a new feature to my blog which has come about thanks to one of my readers. She classes herself as a "lurker", but felt the need to comment to give me some feedback. Well, I'm delighted to convert you to becoming a commenter Karren, and also to accommodate you with your suggestion. Karren wanted me to pair up my beautiful Micheal Kors boots with my leather jeans and a short jacket. Initially I thought this was a bit too racy for me, but I then realised that if I actually have these items in my wardrobe then I'm surely a bit racy anyway! I've no idea if this is what she had in mind, but I kinda ran with the idea of rock-chick seasoned with a liberal dash of sparkle.

This entire outfit flies in the face of age appropriate dressing which I find totally liberating. Since starting my blog nearly a year ago, I can say that I'm increasingly becoming more myself. What? you may well be asking. Let me explain. In the run up to launching my blog I followed lots of fashion blogs and also did a lot of reading and researching into all sorts of aspects of self development. One very useful book was "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. This contained an abundance of wonderful, empowering advice, but the one phrase that struck a chord with me was her advice to herself to "be more Gretchen". I took that to heart and have used it daily to help me redefine myself if I feel I'm losing my way. I still urge myself to be more *Gretchen at times when I think I may be in danger of becoming a lesser version of myself through emotional or physical neglect, or even by being swayed by outside influences which are not to my benefit. So, what I mean to say is; the freedom to have somewhere to express myself through my outfits has enabled me to explore my heart's desire and be my true self. Clothes and shoes I may have previously looked longingly at, I now pluck off the rack and try them on. You, my readers, and fellow bloggers have played a massive part in my fashion liberation, and for that I thank you. I'm neither a slave to trends, nor am I aspiring to be a trend setter, but I know what I like and I know how I like to look. The joy of the platform that is my blog, is that I may share my whimsical outfits, and racy get-ups with you from behind the relative safety of my laptop.

*Yes, I know I'm probably meant to say "be more Anna", but the power seems to come from what her name reminds me to do, thanks to the book (it's also more comical when I say it out loud). I contacted Gretchen once my blog was up and running, and told her how influential her advice had been. She was indeed happy to have helped and said she would become one of my first background followers - my readership figures seem to reflect a fair few of these amongst you.

I have two more "As suggested by..." posts already lined up where I'm responding to fellow bloggers suggestions. Please do feel free to pop your suggestion in my comments box, whoever you are. Anything you've already seen on my blog can be paired up with anything else (within reason) according to your fancy. I'm interested in having different viewpoints and ideas to work with over the next few months. My other new feature "Ping-Pong Post" is going to become a regular monthly feature and there's no reason why "As suggested by..." can't be too. Please come along and join in. See you all again on Sunday x

Jacket: Micheal Kors. Top: H&M. Trousers: H&M. Boots: Michael Kors. Necklace and rings: old.

Linking with
Cherie at Style Nudge
Jess at Elegantly Dressed and Stylish
Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy 

Happy Easter!

I know we all think Easter generally heralds the start of spring, but I, for one, am not quite ready for the warmer weather. You see, I really need to gad about in my wonderful, crimson winter coat for just a little while longer. I'm very happy to be bundled up in this bright woollen vision of loveliness, huddled up against the chill winds.

Don't get me wrong, I love the warmer weather too, just not yet. I think it'll be a few more weeks until I start to pull out suitcases from under the beds where I store all of my spring and summer clothes. In the meantime I've got a trip to the mainland coming up and that will be another opportunity to see what delights my regular charity shops have in store for me. This year I've made a commitment to have a big clear out of not only clothes, but everything that is clogging my storage system up. When I say storage system, I'm being rather grand in describing what has become a state of grid-lock within the house. The more sensible and organised amongst you may well question what I'm doing heading off to the shops to buy even more. Well 1) I now run a fashion blog, therefore need to inject new clothes to keep things interesting, 2) I'm a clothesaholic, 3) there is no 3. In my defence, I would say that clothes have been a passion of mine since a very early age. Also, as I don't smoke, drink alcohol or eat chocolate I feel that my life really ought not to be about total denial. Like everyone else I want to enjoy the good life and that for me means the daily pleasure of dressing up for myself. I'd like to think that if you're reading this you may be sharing that enjoyment too. Please let me know if that's the case as I do love reading your comments and having feedback to work with.

Coat: Palermo. Sweater: H&M. Culottes: charity shop. Boots: c/o J D Williams. Tights: Dorothy Perkins. Belt: old. Necklace: Emily Nixon. Watch: Michael Kors. Gold bangle: Kate Spade New York. Pink bangle: gift. Pink ring: gift. Blue ring: charity shop. Gloves: charity shop.

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

Polly's back!

Yes, I'm thrilled to say that Polly, my very capable gallery assistant and wonderfully creative blog photographer, is back working alongside me for another season. After having a diverse range of jobs over the winter as well as a couple of holidays, she is equally happy to be part of our small island community once again. Our first photo shoot, before our working day began, was as fun as ever, and I do hope her infectious sense of humour comes across throughout the season ahead.

It was my turn to apply a bit of sabotage when Polly was trying to appear poised.

Am a bit cross with myself that I didn't remove the label out of this top very well.

Gold Chelsea boots. Oh how I love them!

Today's outfit is all about the shaggy top. I found this in a charity shop in Truro and it was brand new, hurrah! I love the colour as well as the shape. The chilly easterly wind is still blowing across the islands so this extra layer is just what's needed at work to keep me cosy. Black leggings and the black turtleneck were my first thought, but when I tried them on underneath the bottle green top it all looked a bit flat. After a quick regroup I decided on these floral jeans from Zara to keep the whole thing funky. And there's nothing more funky than my fab gold Chelsea boots. My dancing girl necklace shows up so well against this dark colour, don't you think? Thanks for dropping by and I'll see y'all again on Sunday!

Top: charity shop. Jeans: Zara. Black top: charity shop. Chelsea boots: River Island. Necklace: Charlie Dodge. Rings: charity shop.

I'm linking up with my hosts
Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish 
Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb