Ping-Pong Piece No 1

Hello and welcome to our monthly offering previously know as Ping-Pong Post and now rebranded as Ping-Pong Piece. After 12 months of posting our clothes around the world to be styled by myself and my two blogging friends Ann and Samantha, we decided to make life a bit easier. Now we're merely ping-ponging ideas back and forth, with each of us taking it in turns to suggest an item for us to wear in our own particular way. Easier too for us to invite a guest to take part. Ann has started the ball rolling with fishnet tights and has invited Mary to join in the fun...

Ann has chosen a large fishnet to add a bit of funk to her shredded jeans to brilliant effect. The mix of leather, denim, fishnet and those Stella McCartney patent beauties deliver all that's needed for today's hottest rock chick. See Ann's blog Kremb de la Kremb here and follow her on instagram here.

Details -

Sunnies and Tee--Forever 21

Earrings--H&M

Leather Moto--a swap

Jeans--Zara

Fox Bag--Hong Kong Salvation Army

Shoes--Stella McCartney

Tights--Hong Kong Ladies' Market

Ann's guest is Mary of blog Miss Mary Powers see here. Mary has taken black and tan as her palette giving a stylish edge to her street cool. Her accessories of black felt hat and suede booties are a real touch of class. Follow Mary on instagram here.

Details -

Jacket - BlankNYC

Dress - Shop Missa

Shoes- Sam Edelman

Hat - Rag and Bone

Samantha's love of colour and pattern is ever evident here. I love her pattern clashing as well as the khaki fishnets and toning brogues. See her blog Fake Fabulous here and follow her on instagram here.

Details -

Earrings: H&M

Top: old…can’t remember where from (I cut the label out as it was scratchy)

Skirt: Boden

Tights: 50p in a charity shop… M&S ones from about 100 years ago!

Shoes: Clarks

Bag: Vintage

When Annie came up with the suggestion of fishnet tights I was rather pleased as I'd been saving these blue ones for the right outfit since I bought them before Christmas. Finding the right outfit was to be the challenge however. Amidst the flurry of reopening the gallery on Friday and doing my sewing homework for Saturday, I was pretty pushed to find time to do much trying on. I took the easy option and was led by the blue trim on these gorgeous courts. This green and blue vintage dress was a no brainer that only needed a cardi to finish the look. The final hurdle for Polly and I was the gale that was blowing down from the north across the front of the gallery where I pose. Crazy hair day? Yes!

Details -

Dress: Peekaboo (vintage)

Cardi: Phase Eight

Tights: Topshop

Shoes: Roberto Gil 

Necklace and rings: charity shop

Ping Pong Piece is no more a competition than Ping Pong Post was - it's all about showcasing an item and hopefully doing so differently enough to give you lots of inspiration. I think we've pretty much filled the remit then don't you? I'd love to hear that you think of our new variation on the theme.

Linking with -

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Anna x

Spring is in the air

We are days away from the island being declared open for another season and spring is definitely in the air. Later this month the clocks will go forward and my morning swims will also move forward as I experience the joys of an early start. I love that feeling of anticipation, the excitement of another season ahead with all the new staff and holiday makers changing the dynamic of these small islands once again.

Very soon these blurry photo shoots will become a thing of the past as Polly takes on the role of my photographer for another summer season. Hurrah!

I just love the combination of camo and gold together. 

I'll make no apologies for showing this gold (H&M) sweater again. It made its debut on my birthday in January (see here) and then again last month (as here) which just goes to show how useful it is (thanks Sasha). I've yet to pair it with a skirt so you may see it next month in a new guise. The three quarter length tartan jacket was from Next many moons ago and yet is one of my winter favourites. The gold boots were in the River Island sale a couple of years ago. I'm sporting sunglasses by Quay Australia and my rings are from charity shops.

I have to thank Sasha too for these camo trousers (Primark) which she gave me for Christmas. I'm a bit late to jump on this fashion bandwagon, but you know me, I do things at my own pace. I've worn these on and off for most of the winter. Working alone, seeing so few people within the course of a week, never mind a day, led me to slip into slovenly ways of repeat dressing. These camo trousers and a pair of blue jeans became my uniform with a thermal layer and cashmere polo neck finishing the look, day after day. Comfort seems to drive me more in the winter rather than innovation. But hey, spring is here and I feel inspired, refreshed with new ideas and opportunities to dress up, mix things about and find new outfits within my closet. At the end of the month I'll be breaking my clothes shopping ban (three whole months without buying a thing!) as I head off to the mainland on business. During my downtime, I'll be rooting about in each and every charity shop I come across as well as visiting my most favourite of retail stores, TK Maxx. I can barely contain myself!

My original camo trousers from over 20 years ago. Check out my pixie cut!

Straight ahead is the island of St Mary's, the main island of the Isles of Scilly, and to the left are the tiny uninhabited islands called the Eastern Islands. These small atolls, surrounded by virgin white sands are a perfect escape for the day - all you need is a little boat, a picnic with some long cool drinks and your perfect castaway companion!

Linking with -

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Laurie of Vanity And Me

Anna x

Brilliant brogues

My default setting for most of the winter is to reach for a pair of brogues and build an outfit around them, which is what happened here. I simply love these chunky pewter brogues which are an uber trendy version of golfing shoes. I thought the argyll tights were the perfect compliment for them too. Polly and I did this photo shoot last year and for some reason it never got out of my draft box, but here it is now.

Black as you may know, isn't one of my favourite colours and neither is grey, but I wanted to show that it's not so much the colours that matter as the individual pieces which stop this outfit from being boring/dull and turn it into something out of the ordinary. The ruffles on the leather bomber, the wet look skirt with its pleats, the pattern of the tights and yes the magnificent shiny brogues all come together to make a quirky, playful look. The last time I featured the skirt I was in an equally playful mood (see here). The jacket was a find in a Truro charity shop, skirt from TK Maxx, top from H&M, shoes are by Office (sold out but I really fancy these), tights are old, the handbag was a find in a charity shop when I was in Ireland a few years ago, rings too are charity shopped and my old faithful sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

I'm really happy to report that my draft box will soon be filling with new outfits taken by my dear assistant Polly who is back working with me as we re-open the gallery on Friday. I'm sure she will spark some great ideas for outfits as she always does.

And finally many thanks for the emails asking about my month at home and how it all went. I can report that I accomplished so many of the tasks - the filing system is fully functioning and a huge amount of paperwork was shredded/burnt as a result. The swimming challenge I set myself was a great success as you will have noted. The spring cleaning was also successful, but I fancy the brighter weather will reveal some corners that I may have missed. My sewing project is coming along very well, but you won't see the big reveal for some time yet. I'm re-upholstering my sofa with the help of my sewing tutor, Jane Hurd on St Mary's. As you would expect of me, I'm not making it easy on myself by combining lots of different colours and fabrics to create a funky makeover. It's a crazy undertaking for a novice, I know, but for me it's important to keep learning, keep improving on the baseline.

The clothes part of my life laundry is an ongoing project and will be for the rest of my life I think. I'm pleased to have cleared out three huge boxes of clothes to send off to the Salvation Army in Penzance. 

All of the clothes on the bed will be heading to eBay over the next few months to see if I can recoup some cash to fund my next round of buying. I know you'll understand this carousel of buying and selling as just part of my lifestyle, a strange hobby for some, but a real pleasure for me. The big pile of clothes on the floor were for trying on before I decided what to do with them. Many ended up on the eBay pile and some were given a reprieve and will be rehoused in my wardrobe as I discovered a new found love for them. 

Linking with
Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb
Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

I thought I'd finish with a couple of contrasting shots both taken from my garden which overlooks the bay towards the island of Bryher.

The islands have been shrouded in fog since Tuesday.  We've been virtually cut off from mainland UK as we have no ferry service over the winter months and the small fixed wing aircraft that are our other link can't fly in fog. This shot was taken at tea time last night. Today, however the sky is blue and clear.

Anna x

International Women's Day

Yes, today is International Women's Day. I applaud every women who is marching, protesting, promoting, supporting, educating, influencing, empowering and attending an event to celebrate this important day. I also want to say to every single woman, that being a part of this huge sisterhood is a celebration in itself. If you can't take part in a large gathering today, then perhaps like me, you can visit the website here to learn more and find out about everything that's going on globally to mark the occasion and also to find out what you can do to forge a change for the better. If you're posting on instagram today then please add the hashtag #BeBoldForChange.

Some of you may recognise the beach and castle behind me from a previous post. It's Blockhouse Castle and the lovely sweep of beach below is one of my favourite bays to have my morning swim. I'm here on the low tide to showcase my pattern play outfit, and will cross the bay to show you more.

I've featured this jacket a couple of times before and I thought I'd use the colour to start a new story of autumn colours. The jacket is was in the Benetton sale a couple of years ago and is a lovely weighty woollen fabric that holds its shape beautifully. The wide legged trousers are from H&M, again not from the current season, but a bargain in their winter sale for £5. They're made from viscose and have a lovely drape to them, but best of all have pockets. And this beautiful gold and floral leather handbag is on loan from my daughter, although I may have forgotten to tell her that.

I'm wearing an old faithful too, in the shape of this fairisle cardigan (H&M) along with a ruffle blouse that I found in a charity shop. The nutmeg boots (from Office last year) are making another appearance this week, but that's because they seem to work with so many pieces in my winter wardrobe. I've added some matching rings and my string of genuine green pearls as well as my favourite sunglasses by Quay Australia.

In my last post (see here), I portrayed the highly dressed up, elegant version of myself which always has me holding back a giggle as that's not the real me. Today, sitting on this rock I felt an urge to be a tad more boisterous and this playful notion is just brewing here...

Hooray for International Women's Day!

There! I just had to get that out of my system.

These little chaps weren't in the least bit perturbed by my antics.

As I said, this is one of my favourite beaches for an early morning swim. The tide is high, the sun just coming up and I've had a swim across the bay and back before I head off to work.

Anna x

Summer flashback (all dressed up with nowhere to go)

I sit here writing while hailstones are bouncing off the garden by my window, hitting the daffodils as if there's a point to be made, "Spring isn't quite here yet!" maybe? A fierce gale is blowing outside and I'm sitting waiting, hoping that I'll get a call to say the annual beach-clean event this morning is being cancelled until kinder weather blesses our island shores. in the meantime I've decided to plunge deep into my draft box and bring out a lovely reminder of last summer. The all-dressed-up-and-nowhere-to-go look came about rather organically as I'll explain...

I found this elegant shift dress by Reiss in a charity shop in the early summer and thought it would be perfect for those days at work when I felt the urge to look smart. Dark blue and navy always make me look a bit pale (check out my peely-wally pins), but I'm trying to expand my repertoire of colours, so thought I'd give this a whirl. In an effort to bring some light to my complexion I've added my favourite chunky peals and that does seem to soften the dark dress. The beaded sandals (Monsoon) and clutch (Accessorize) were finds from the same thrifting session and a great ploy to lift the colour scheme too.

As the day was a bit breezy I decided I needed to add a jacket to the ensemble and this one seemed perfect. It's by Jaeger and was an absolute snip at £8.95 in a charity shop in Truro.

By the end of the day, just as Polly and I were cashing up, I remembered that I'd found a hat during one of my earlier shopping sprees. I mentioned that this might be a great finishing touch to this rather posh ensemble and here's how we finished the day -

Perhaps it can be seen as a trial run for some invitation yet to come? At least I know I've go this stashed away in readiness. My necklace was from Debenhams many moons ago, the rings are old, my watch is by Michael Kors and sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

The good news is that the Spring Beach Clean has been cancelled. And when you see the view from my kitchen window you'll understand why.

Linking with 

Laurie of Vanity And Me

Jess of Elegantly Dressed And Stylish

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

                                                 Anna x