Ping Pong Piece no 5

Welcome to the latest edition of Ping Pong Piece, the new and improved version of Ping Pong Post which entailed three bloggers posting our clothes around the world in the name of creativity (see how it started here). Now, instead of pinging clothes back and forth, we ping ideas around to each other. This month Samantha, Ann and myself along with my guest of the month, Mary Murnane are styling a beach cover-up. 

Mary is an Emmy Award winning TV news reporter and anchor whose love of photography and fashion has led her to publish her own blog. I've followed Mary for some time now and am in awe of her sleek, polished style which still incorporates a playful element and a penchant for beautiful handbags and shoes. Her cover up is by Neiman Marcus and slides are by Zara.

Samantha has recently been playing happy families on the beach in Scotland where the temperatures aren't quite making the 20's yet. Sam's answer is to keep her top half cosied up against the wind which enables her to don her shorts to catch a few rays. See more of this on her blog Fake Fabulous.

Outfit details -

Jumper: Charity Shop
Gilet: Joules
Sandals: Vionics
Shorts: Fat Face

It seems that Ann has a similar approach to the beach cover-up idea. An old favourite of hers, this fisherman's jumper is her go-to casual wear for summer by the lake. Sunnies, flip flops and cut-offs complete her summer essentials for a day in the sun. Join Ann on Kremb de la Kremb. 

Outfit details are -

Sunnies--Forever 21

Sweater--HM

Suit and Flip Flops--Target

Cut-offs--DIY thrifted Wranglers

Beach Tote--Louella Odié

My beach cover up was a charity shop find earlier on this summer, from ASOS, and cost all of £3.99. I love the crazy hooped hemline which reminds me of a Lady Gaga costume. The shoot took two days and two visits to my favourite desert-island-of-the-moment, Samson. The black hat on day one, left me a bit non plussed, but the pistachio hat and coral sandals were more the mood I wanted. And the joy of these islands is that you don't have to wait too long before a yacht or two will sail on by adding that Caribbean vibe to the shot.

Body confidence is in the news currently thanks mainly to the Loose Women photo shoot where the presenters all stripped down to their cossies shunning the aid of airbrushing. When you consider that the oldest, Janet Street-Porter, is 70 it's a brilliant message for women of every age that we ought to love our bodies - wobbly bits, scars, lumps and bumps - it's all part of our unique story and a celebration of normal life. 

goodtoknow.media.ipcdigital.co.uk

Every summer I promise myself that this will be my last one for wearing a bikini and this year is no different. Will I dare to bare next year when I'm 60? So here's my (maybe) last bikini shot. I share it to celebrate a body that's given birth to two babies and over the decades has gained then lost many pounds all in the name of body confidence.

I'm heading over to the mainland today and may not manage to respond to your comments during the next few days, but please do drop me a line and I'll catch up with you when I get back. Are you still wearing a bikini in your 50's? And why not? I'd love to hear from you if you are!

Anna x

Black trouser challenge 8

Yes, I know it's just a couple of days ago that I covered no 7 in this challenge, but my week is all a bit upside down. On the 20th it's time for Ping Pong Piece again and is also the day I take myself off to the mainland for a few days. I'll schedule a post in for my regular slot on Sunday so by the end of the week I'll have posted three times which will be grand.

Week 8 brings the cost-per-wear down to £5 for these frilled fancy pants by River Island and that's surely a bargain in anyone's book! My blogging friend Sheila asked if I'm not getting sick of these week-in, week-out trousers and I can honestly say, No not yet. As a latecomer to this black trouser party I'm still pretty evangelical with regards to the flexibility that black offers. All the years of shunning this most sober of colours is suddenly like I've opened the floodgates and all of the options are revealing themselves to me. 

Today's offering of frills with frills along with beading and multicolour mules has me strutting my stuff with confidence. Orange is one of my favourite summer colours and I've been holding back this Coast top (a charity shop find, of course) until it was the perfect summer's day. Only it clouded over by the time I got to work! My early morning swim was in golden sunlight, the warmth playing on my back as I wandered across the sand to the sea. The temperature of the water has risen to about 14 degrees now which is a big improvement on the 8 degrees that I encountered way back in February. The forecast is for rain and lightening across the West Country today, ho hum!

Apart from my fancy pants, I'm wearing this Coast top, belt by Sainsbury's, mules by Carmen Poveda, pendant from New Zealand and other jewellery is charity shopped.

Thursday brings another edition of Ping Pong Piece with the piece to be styled being a beach cover-up. Do pop back to see how we fared and to meet my guest of the month...

Anna x

Summer show 15th July

I'd like to say that the sun always shines on this little island paradise, but clearly that would be a lie. On exhibition nights we always wish for the perfect evening so that the party can spill outside and our clients, with a glass in hand, can watch the sun sink down in the West. That wasn't the case last night, but I'm happy to report that the dull weather didn't spoil our enjoyment of what was a brilliant collection of paintings. To view or download the brochure of our three July shows follow here. The show of the moment features work by Neil Pinkett, Marie Mills and John Bampfield (as seen in the brochure) and has the gallery teaming with images of boats, beaches and flowers as well as a rash of red spots to indicate SOLD.

I spent the evening rustling about in this tulle maxi skirt that I'd found in a charity shop (surprise, surprise!) which is by Jesire and cost me £14. It did earn me a lot of compliments. The black devore body is by Ayanapa and the boots are by Jessica Wright, both are from TK Maxx.The chain belt is so old I can't recall where I bought it and my rings are charity shopped.

The team were in fine form, working hard to make the evening, as well as the wine, flow seamlessly. Thank you ladies for your support. From l to r - Polly, Heather, Ruth and Max - my dream team!

Linking with -

Cherie of Style Nudge

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Anna x

Black trouser challenge 7 and my #instarant

Another week and another variation based on these fabulous frilly fancy pants by River Island. No, this isn't a sponsored post, just my personal style challenge to see how many outfits I can create by building on these wonderful ruffled trousers. This week's offering is here -

I was toying with the idea of nude shoes to tie in with the nude and eau de nil shell top, but decided on these wedge sandals as they feature both colours and also are comfortable enough to wear all day long. I bought the silk top in a second hand store in Ireland quite a few years ago and still deem it as a special find. Costing only 20 euros it's down to less than 4 euros per wear now. The sandals were from TK Maxx: the brand is Refresh. The sunglasses were in the sale at Sainsbury's last year, rings are charity shopped and the pendant I bought when I was in New Zealand.

I'm gonna change gear a bit now as I'm brewing a bit of a rant. It's a #instarant in fact. For those of you on instagram I want to ask this question - "Since when did instagram become a dating site?" Blogging and instagram have proved to be a great way for me to build new friendships over the past couple of years. I follow all sorts of interests from yoga and fitness, healthy eating, fashion, sewing, swimming, holidays, all things Cornish, all things Scottish and generally anything interesting that takes my fancy. But recently I've been getting message requests from men of all ages and frankly I find it a bit of an intrusion. "Hello beautiful, how's your day?" may be an acceptable introduction if I were touting my wares on Match.com, but here I am posting fashion shots for the over 50's or pictures of the sunset from my garden. I deliberately include my marital status in my instagram profile in the hope of deterring this kind of encounter. What kind of guy would hassle a married woman? 

Just the other day I noticed that an instafriend changed her setting to private explaining that she's fed up getting inappropriate messages from men. She's baffled as to how her posts on sewing and food can be construed as encouragement for these stalkers. I decline and block these message requests as she too has in the past, but I'm annoyed to think that we are the ones who have to change our instagram lives to avoid this kind of attention. 

I can only imagine that these men are weirdos, a conclusion that I draw from the fact that they don't avail themselves of the convention dating routes. Why chase a married woman who lives on the other side of the world when you could pop into your local bar and chat to a single woman who has joined up for a bit of speed dating? Why indeed. Maybe because the man in question doesn't really want a relationship. Maybe he gets his kicks from chasing the unobtainable. Maybe he's not got the social skills to interact under normal circumstances? Maybe he's got two heads and six fingers and toes? Goodness knows! It's a blooming mystery to me.

Anna x