Black trouser challenge 12

Week twelve of this personal style challenge and I'm still not tiring of these frilled fancy pants from River Island. I'm hoping that I'm managing to keep you interested too...

We're still clinging on to the remnants of summer here on the Isles of Scilly even though there's (seemingly) wild weather due this weekend. I thought I'd better bring out this little top which is a tad late to the party re statement sleeves, gingham and cold shoulder trends. Lots of bloggers are already airing their wishlists for A/W17 making me dig my heels in a bit - I'm not finished showcasing my summer pieces yet! This pre-loved top originates from F&F at Tesco and fulfilled all the requirements for this summer's hottest trends - florals, checks, bell sleeves as well as the obligatory cold shoulders. I'd promised myself that I'd not be entering into the yards of flesh being exposed in the name of fashion that is the cold shoulder look, however these split sleeves seemed like a tiny nod to the trend without being too revealing for the workplace. 

The white mules were a supermarket purchase last year (Sainsbury's) and have taken me a whole year to get them on the go, as it were. Now that I've managed to stretch them a little I feel I ought to get some wear out of them before boots and brogues take centre stage. The clutch is pre-loved, but no brand label to be found. The belt is a new purchase from eBay and I have it lined up with a vintage blouse for another styling soon. The sunglasses were also from Sainsbury's sale last summer and the bangle and rings are from random sources (gifts and pre-loved).

I'm still getting a kick out of these frilled trousers and they get me a fair few compliments too. It'll be interesting how long this challenge will fire me with enthusiasm, but I promise to drop it before my passion wanes. The joy is in discovering pieces within my wardrobe that work well rather than just can be worn with black - the difference is huge in my book.

Please join me on Sunday for another edition of Ping Pong Piece where we'll be styling wide trousers for our sins! In the meantime, I do hope that the hurricane Gert swoops over the top of us all without causing too much damage. Stay safe x

Anna x

Penultimate summer show

How quickly this has come around! I can barely believe that we have only one more summer exhibition to host and the schedule will be over. 

Yesterday we opened another collection (see here) with our attending artist, Flynn O'Reilly. This was Flynn's first show with us, but he wasn't in the least overcome by the occasion and chatted to clients about his work which was the result of his winter residency on the island. Flynn lives and has a studio in Cornwall and has been holidaying on the Isles of Scilly since he was a young child - consequently he knows his subject inside out. Congratulations to him for making his first two sales with us by the end of the evening!

My outfit for the evening was not what I had planned. I have a really lovely vintage maxi dress in a sheer black fabric printed with orange flowers that I had hoped to wear, but after much faffing about with underskirts of various lengths combined with camis/bodies I gave up. I really need to line it and do in fact have black satin bought with that in mind. Time has been sadly lacking to get this done over the summer months, but hopefully before the October show I will manage to get my sewing machine out to tackle the job. Instead I wore - skirt: QED London, top: Tu at Sainsbury's, belt: eBay, shoes:H&M, necklace: Dorothy Perkins, rings: pre-loved.

My thanks as always to the dream team of the evening - Heather, Polly and Max who were all in fine fettle as you can see!

On Friday I'll be featuring my Black Trouser Challenge and on Sunday it'll be time for Ping Pong Piece once again. Do please join me!

Anna x

The joy of colour

I'm never happier than when I'm wearing bold colours and today's outfit is pretty much as bold as it gets. Fuchsia and orange just sing out, signalling joy to anyone who cares to take a look. The overcast sky was a bonus this morning as I think bright sunlight might have bleached the overall effect. 

My outfit is a mixture of new and pre-loved (my new favourite word for a favourite way of shopping). The top is from TK Maxx, by Figuerola & Flower, trousers are from New Look, the sky scraper sandals are by Catwalk, necklace is pre-loved as is the orange ring and bangle, whereas the pink ring and bangle were birthday gifts from years ago, sunglasses are from Quay Australia. The pink culottes are still on sale, see here. I bought mine in the Truro store last month during the summer sale (£8) and they were the last pair on the rack. I fell in love with the colour and grabbed them to try on along with the armful of summer fripperies I'd found. Well, when I took them off the hanger I discovered that they were a size 18 (I'm an 8/10), but that didn't put me off. These plisse fabric culottes work fine on me in this size as they don't cling, sit on the hips (allowing a large lunch to be consumed without worry of mid-afternoon-belly-bloat) and therefore are more like wide leg crop trousers than mid-calf culottes. I'm a huge advocate of ignoring sizes in favour of trying on to see how things work out. Yes, I could have searched online to see if these were still available in my size, but the thrill of the chase was on and I needed these at that very moment. Impatient, impetuous, impending broke - yes, that's me!

Anna x

Black trouser challenge 11

Another week, another variation on the black trouser challenge. If you missed the start of this then you can catch the first instalment here. 

So here we have the 11th styling of my fabulous fancy pants and I thought it was time to go the whole hog with leopard print. In my book, there was a time when this print was very Bet Lynch of the Rovers Return - way be before your time? 

Since then, I think leopard print has graduated into the classics. No longer is it tainted with that slightly seedy influence, but has become mainstream fashion. Hands up out there if you don't have one single piece of leopard print, not even a scarf, in your wardrobe. Why do I think that both my sisters have are sitting at the back with their hands held high and eyes rolling? 

Anyway, I'll skip right along now to the bit where, right about this time of year, I send my apologies to my fellow bloggers and those of you who very kindly take the time to comment here and on my instagram account. Yep, I'm confessing to being over-run at work, home and life generally and am just about keeping the blog on track - apart from the fact that I'm not managing to answer my comments or visit other bloggers. Please know that I have the best of intentions, but have had to make the decision between keeping posting my own blog or doing the rounds to others as well as responding. All of this takes time and I thought it best to keep you coming back to see new features. Hopefully, in about a month's time, I ought to get back on track and do hope that I won't have lost too many followers through neglect. Please hang on in there - I love reading your comments!

Outfit details - trousers: River Island, cardigan: H&M, shoes: BCBGeneration, necklace: gift, rings: old.

Anna x

5th August show night

I'm surely not the only one to be slightly alarmed at the speed we're whizzing along currently. Here I sit, typing away frantically on the 9th about the event on the 5th while I have my mind on the 11th! So let's stop, breathe and just be in the moment.

I've been waiting for months to show you these fabulous new shoes. I bought them in the River Island sale in April when I was in Harrogate and have been keeping them for the right outfit. Fuchsia and red make for a stunning combination don't you think?

My frock is a recent charity shop purchase. The brand is Monsoon and I was delighted to find a dry cleaning label attached meaning I didn't have to undertake that myself. It's a lovely coral colour that works perfectly with the shoes.

 The breeze made for an interesting photo shoot with the majority of the photos being discarded thanks to my lack of fringe - oh how I hate to see my white forehead!

And here are the girls, also battling the effects of the wind. Max, Polly and Heather were on top of things for the evening, making everything run smoothly as usual. Many thanks to them.

The artists featured in this week's show (see here) are Teresa Pemberton, Tom Rickman and Jenny Ulyatt, shown above with her husband. They spent a couple of days on the island winding down after her opening night. Jenny works in watercolours, but with a very fresh, contemporary feel. See the link above to view her work.

Apologies for being brief, but I must head on out for my morning swim now. The sun is shining and there's still a brisk wind blowing, but the sea beckons no matter the weather.

Outfit details - shoes: River Island, dress: Monsoon, necklace: Debenhams, rings: charity shopped, sunglasses: Quay Australia. 

Anna x

5Over50 style challenge - orange is the new black

Welcome to our August edition of the 5Over50 style challenge.This is where one of the fashionable five over 50's choose a theme for us to style and yes, this month we're giving our interpretations of Orange is the new black, thanks to Ashley who's a huge fan of the TV series. My fellow bloggers have all entered into this one with great gusto so let's not shilly-shally any longer...

Here's a taster of what I've offered up -

Never one to be too predictable, I've chosen orange with accent colours of white, blue and lilac along with a sprinkling of metallics to round things off nicely. But more of that later...

Jacqui of Mummabstylish has given us textbook orange in all its glory. I love her long statement necklace that adds an elegant edge to this two piece. See the full story on her post here.

Orange trews, orange bag, orange hat and even orange lippy - yep, Gail has entered into the challenge big time. This casual look suits her down to the ground (no pun intended!) and you can see the whole shebang on her post here.

Laurie is sporting a summer chic style in her orange ensemble and it's pretty stunning to say the least. The pops of colour sing out against her sharp white trousers and white shopper. Visit her blog to get the lowdown here.

Ashley has donned her Orla Kiely tee shirt dress for today's challenge partnered with orange sandals and a cute raffia bag. A picnic must be waiting just off camera, don't you think? Sadly, this is her last post with the group due to work commitments, so do pop over to her blog for the final feature.

These silver glitter socks serve a dual purpose. Firstly they make a fashion statement, whatever that may be - I'll leave you to decide. But secondly, they help ease the rather tight fit of these new sandals which I've had since last summer without managing to stretch. Et viola - today I can!

If you're a regular, you'll have seen this dress before (a purchase from Tu at Sainsbury's from last summer) so I've tried to mix it up a bit with the white and metallic trim belt as well as the socks and mules. For some reason I felt I was channelling Vivienne Westwood the minute I donned this footwear - have I seen her in this combo I wonder, or is it just wacky enough to make me think of her? No matter, I broke the sandals in and they fit much better for having been stretched a bit at last.

Outfit details - dress and sandals: Tu at Sainsbury's, belt: charity shopped, heart pendant: Vanilla Boutique, rings: charity shopped, watch: Michael Kors, sunglasses: Quay Australia.

Linking with - 

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Anna x