Ping-Pong Post no12

Hello and welcome to the 12th edition of Ping-Pong post, the monthly collaboration between myself, Samantha of Fake Fabulous and Ann of Kremb de la Kremb. To see the background of this style challenge read here. This month Samantha proffered her black drapey top which almost flummoxed me completely. Despite being simple in shape, it was still one of my least favourite of colours to work with. Let's start with Samantha who certainly didn't seem to struggle -

The black top has a scoop neck and cross over front, but very cleverly Samantha has chosen to wear it back to front revealing a stunning strappy feature below. Wet look leggings, and patent boots lift this plain cotton top into the realms of fabulousness. She has finished this off with a statement bag and necklace leaving no room to doubt that she is indeed a true style icon. Follow Samantha on Instagram here.

Details -

TOP: Yong Kim

NECKLACE: Oliver Bonas

LEGGINGS: Pamela Mann

BOOTS: Vagabond

BAG: River Island

Ann has given the top a more casual spin with her snakeskin jeans, biker boots and striped shirt, but hasn't forgotten a dash of glamour by way of her diy ostrich handbag (see the link below). A roll neck and gloves give a nod to the cooler weather Ann is experiencing in Hong Kong this week when she took these shots. Black doesn't look very difficult to wear when you've got the right hair colouring does it? Fab styling Ann! Follow Ann on Instagram here.

Details -
Outfit Details

Earrings--my guy Ben in Jardines Bazaar, a great ladies market in Hong Kong

Turtleneck--heat technology, Uniqlo

Striped Shirt--Zara

Black Top--Sam's

Gloves--market in Shanghai

Ostrich Bag--Kremb de la Kremb DIY

Snake Jeans--Bershka

Moto Boots--boutique on Houhai Lake, Beijing

Those who know me will recognise my default setting here - when in doubt, dress it up! Glitter tights and glitter boots, seemed like a great way of detracting from the pallor-inducing colour of the top. Adding some softer, more neutral tones against the skin also helped. One feature I did like was the pockets and by adding a belt the tunic took on a bit more shape. A splash of silver jewellery and studded clutch were the finishing touches. Samantha - I gave this my best shot, but heck it's been my least favourite of our challenges so far!

Details -

Top: Samantha's

Dress: H&M

Belt: Dorothy Perkins

Tights: H&M

Boots: Topshop

Necklace: M&S

Rings: old

Handbag: charity shopped

The news on Ping-Pong Post is that having completed a whole year of this style challenge we're going to evolve the series a little next month, so do come along to see exactly how on the 20th of March.

Linking with -

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Anna x

Decisions, decisions.

As you may know, I'm currently on holiday at home and spending most of my time indoors on a huge decluttering mission. Scruffy jeans and trainers aren't really going to inspire you much, so I'm taking a break from time to time to get out into the sunshine and take some shots for the blog. I recently posted this on instagram -

I wrote "When you can't decide which pair to wear" and got a lovely response to help me decide. However, the fact was that I'd already worn the outfit and the shoes for my photo shoot.

The majority of votes were in favour of the navy and silver shoe, as seen in isolation it might look like the best match, but when you consider the total outfit I think the brown and yellow is carrying its weight too. I added a pair of gold lurex socks which tied in with the gold sweater as well as the yellow shoe. But really, it's just a bit of fun and suits my personality too. I like the quirky nature of the look. It's not either or, it's - this is a pair of shoes as I'm wearing them. Odd shoes for an oddball you might say.

And as if to prove that there's no such thing as an original idea, this evening as I was flicking through the March edition of Marie Claire, I came across this -

My progress report on the home front is that the filing cabinet has arrived and is now almost full of newly organised wallets and files; lots and lots of old paperwork has been shredded along the way. I've swapped my sea swimming for two weeks of pool swimming so that I can do an hours practise a day to improve my freestyle. Rolling, breathing, reaching, catching are being broken down into drills to drum each element into my fuzzy head. At the moment when I think about rolling, I forget good (bilateral) breathing. When I concentrate on the breath, then the rolling slips away from me. I have a reference book that takes me through all of the steps to create the perfect stroke, but I do wonder if I'll reach that stage within this timescale. I do hope that I'll be able to see a difference when I get back to the beach.

Outfit details - Leather bomber: Next, gold sweater: H&M, jeans: Zara, tee shirt: Dorothy Perkins, socks: ASOS, shoes: Boden (sold out, but these are fab), sunglasses: Quay Australia.

Anna x

Seemed like a good idea

The other day I had a long walk around the outskirts of the island, stopping here to take in the view and decided that this ruin (The Old Blockhouse) might make a good backdrop for a photo shoot. That day it was sunny and very calm, but when I returned a day later the wind had risen to almost gale force meaning that I had to take cover as best as I could. 

There was a holiday maker walking along the path below the castle while I was setting up my tripod and camera. He probably thought I was crazy, taking off my coat and changing out of trainers into my heels to stand there getting blasted in the wind. It was totally impossible trying to get some decent close-ups as the tripod was wavering about, in danger of completely blowing over in the gusts. I tried to weigh it down with my bag and shoes, but it was all very precarious and a bit of a worry in case my camera got smashed to the ground.

Anyway, it was quite exhilarating to stand on the top, watching the white tops on the sea and the surge of the waves out beyond Men-A-Vaur rock. I wanted to capture that to show you but my battery died just after this final shot. 

I paired up this tweed jacket (charity shopped in December) with my long loved tweed skirt (ancient from TK Maxx) and these leopard print shoes (also from TK Maxx by BCBGeneration - these are rather lovely) and a roll neck which I bought on eBay a couple of years ago. The handbag is crocodile skin and was a charity shop trophy for my last big splurge in Exeter about 18 months ago. Sunglasses are by Quay Australia and my rings are old.

The reason I bought the jacket is for this wonderful gem trim. I love the colourful lining too. Can you guess the brand? It's Next. I was really surprised. You'll no doubt see this again in the Spring - I can't wait for Polly to capture it a bit better than I did!

Linking with -

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Cherie of Style Nudge

Anna x

Velvet + embroidery = my perfect jacket

This gorgeous jacket was a Christmas present from my husband, albeit with a bit of guidance from me. I love embroidery on most things and on this velvet jacket it's a great addition. I have lots of bomber jackets, each different, but all so useful as that extra layer at work for when it's a bit chilly.

I bought this nude pleated skirt in Tesco in December, but have been waiting to find the right pieces to style it up. I also had another (Christmas jacket) in burgundy that would work just as well, so may redo this another time. The blouse was from Topshop (sold out but this is pretty), the vest is from River Island (charity shopped), and the jacket is by Glamorous from ASOS (it's in the sale here). The shoes are from my favourite supplier of brogues, Office, but currently they have nothing similar. And last, but by no means least are my silver glitter socks by ASOS.

I'll apologise in advance if these links don't work. I seem to be having a technology blip at the moment. Instagram decided not to work for the day on Tuesday. Then yesterday my camera went all huffy on me when I was out and about, supposedly to take some shots of the island. The blog links have been a challenge for the past week, meaning I've fought shy of posting a blog in case it keeps happening. Fingers crossed it'll be OK!

News on my staycation is that I'm having a lovely time, thank you. I've just ordered a new filing cabinet to set to with the dreaded task of sorting out my paperwork; filing, shredding and dealing with all the collected clutter along the way. Next week will herald the start of the big clothes cull. I'm going to group into jumble, which will go to the clothes bank on the islands, eBay for anything that's worth selling, and finally the keep pieces which will be checked for any mending or dry cleaning needed. 

Running parallel to all of the bigger jobs are the daily swimming, shopping, tidying etc as well as batch cooking for the freezer so that I don't have to cook at the end of the working day. Yesterday I also went to yoga and had a walk around the beaches as I tried to find the perfect spot for my swim - we've had some wild weather recently, and that means big ground seas leave the beaches awash with huge reams of seaweed (yuk) and also there is a big run of tide that sucks in and out of the beaches, sometimes a 15 foot drag that feels quite threatening when you get caught up in it. 

I've just read Leap In by Alexandra Heminsley which has been very inspirational. The story of her determination to crack open water swimming resonated with me, and best of all she shares so much of what she learnt. Alex traded up her strong breast stroke for a hard-earned front crawl which took her out into the sea as well as tackling river swimming and finally a crossing from Kefalonia to Ithaca. Inspired by Alex I too want to trade my strong breast stroke for the less labour intensive front crawl. My daily efforts at this streamline stroke are handicapped by a poor breathing technique which impacts on the smooth glide and rhythm. All of this is covered in the book and fills me with excitement that I too, may conquer this challenge. The book is a great read, not just for those who swim or want to, but it's more about her dogged determination that shows her true spirit. 

Anna x

Staycation

At this time of year my husband and I would normally be heading off on holiday somewhere, but this year I've opted to take the whole of February off to catch up at home. Steve is currently visiting friends on the mainland and at the end of the month will be helping our daughter move into a new flat in Truro. My month off will be filled with chores and downtime in what hopefully will be a restorative balance.

You may recognise my photographer's style today - Polly works nearby and I managed to hijack her on her lunch break. She's due to return to the gallery once again at the start of March, but in the meantime I'll be hoping to sidetrack her as often as I can.

Today's outfit was mostly found in charity shops at the latter end of last year. The dress, tights, boots and bag were all from those in Penzance or Truro which are my local stamping grounds while I'm away. The bag was brand new and is Italian made. The jacket was from Tesco in the pre-Christmas sale and my necklace was a Christmas present. My sunglasses are by Quay Australia and my rings are old.

I hope to get out and about this month, provided the weather permits, and showcase some island views. The boat service is still limited at this time of year, so I've no plans to island hop quite yet. In the meantime here's a couple of shots from the past week. 

This shot from my office window is untouched, without a filter, showing an eerie lilac light at the end of the day. As I walked to the shop it was like being on a film set. Awesome.

And this was just two days later, where common sense prevailed and I decided not to have my daily sea swim!

On the 2nd February plans were passed to reinstate the helicopter service between the UK mainland and the Isles of Scilly. For those of us living on the islands and for all the businesses and holiday makers this will greatly enhance our lives. This reinstatement of the helicopters will help to ensure a comprehensive travel service in and out of the islands. The windsock flies over the heliport once again with a real sense of purpose. 

Anna x