March Madness, our Style Not Age challenge.

Hi there and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge, titled March Madness. I hope that you've been following the lovely group of ladies so that you may understand what madness means to each of us. Jacqui of Mummabstylish is quite conservative in her fashion tastes and therefore this mish mash of colours and patterns is indeed madness for her.

Style Splash editor Emma has gone all out in her approach to outfit madness from those crazy shoes to the cute fluffy clutch and everything in between. Personally it's something you'd see me wearing any day of the week!

Hilda's offering came from a murder mystery dinner she attended recently. The choice of this month's challenge was hers and maybe that's because she had this natty little number tucked up her sleeve. Do whizz across to her blog, Over The Hilda to read more about it.

Did I get the memo? Well yes, of course I did. Let me explain. The motto for my blog is "Let's bin the beige and have fun with colour" and therefore it's a form of madness for me to be seen dressed head to toe in beige. Beige = boring in my book. For some, such as my elegant friend Laurie of Vanity and Me Style, well beige is the height of sophistication. She looks classy in beige, I on the other hand, feel dull when I don beige. 

I know I look completely out of step with the other ladies, all jazzed up in their mad ensembles, but honestly, I couldn't find anything in my wardrobe, be it a bright pattern clash to some mad mix of colours that didn't constitute an everyday outfit for me. I do hope the collective don't feel I've let them down with this challenge.

Let's get down to details shall we? The boots are by Michael Kors, handbag is by Radley, trousers are hand-me-downs from my daughter, the brand is River Island, the sweater is pre-loved and is by Carolyn Taylor.

As for my accessories, I found the beautiful leather Radley bag in a charity shop last year and the fact that it was in pristine condition helped me get over the colour. I bought the patterned ring at an airport concession in January, the other one is a charity shop find. And I was gifted the Nordgreen watch a few months ago. 

I dug out my old favourite chunky pearls for the shoot too - these were from Debenhams many moons ago. And the mirror sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

I feel I would be letting down my style credentials if I failed to mention the fact that yes, beige is actually the height of fashion currently. Beige Is Back was the headline in January with People magazine amongst others and in the world of interiors beige is the new grey. What can say? Following the latest trend isn't high on my list of priorities, but if something I love happens to be on trend then that's a bonus for me.  Those who slavish follow the tidal wave of trends from one season to another will be easy to spot out and about being seen in all the right places as they sport the various shades of creams, tan, flax and cream. Hurrah for me then, that I've hit the mark this month, but it's all very tongue in cheek and you won't be seeing me in this washed out shade again soon.

I do hope you'll take a moment to visit the other ladies from the challenge to read their back stories too. Thanks for dropping by and I'll see you again soon!

Have a lovely week!

Anna x

That 60's vibe

Increasingly I seem to be drawn to the fashions of the 60's. I'm beginning to wonder if this is because that was the decade I was cutting my fashion teeth on as a girl. Do you have a penchant for the trends of your youth? Perhaps you do, but maybe you put up a bit more of a struggle than I do!

Today's look is strong and funky which is good enough for me. You may have seen the boots from my previous post when I'd hit the sales in Truro big time. The boots were a consolation prize for me. I'd missed buying a pair of white leather boots in the January sale at Topshop and have been hankering after something similar for weeks. 

I'm breaking fashion ground here as personally I really don't like white boots. I think they (and all white shoes) were classed at tarty by my mother when I was a young girl and that prejudice had remained with me for many, many years until just recently when I bought some white summer sandals. Maybe they opened the floodgates and are responsible for these kitten heeled boots from New Look. I would have preferred them to be leather, but I suppose you can't expect that for £7, can you?

So, last weekend I also did a tad of charity shopping and this skirt was one of my favourite finds. There's a new charity shop opened in Truro for the Cornwall Air Ambulance - a lifeline for the islands too, so I decided to pay it a visit. The shop is well laid out and seems to have quite a lot of new clothes with labels still attached. This skirt and a blue and black version were both brand new from Marks and Spencer. I paid £10 for it and don't begrudge that amount for this local cause. We never know if ones nearest and dearest may need the services of the Air Ambulance one day.

The skirt is a lovely fit, hip skimming and tummy smoothing, but best of all is the flap at the front, fully lined and sewn down to spare ones blushes. I also like the two pattern effect of the hounds tooth print. Sometimes M&S manage to surprise me with their designs. I would never have guessed the brand by just looking at it.

My black and white sunglasses by Quay Australia came into their own with this outfit - always a nice feeling when these things happen. The necklace was a purchase from a Truro shop last year, but not a charity one (I forget the name, sorry) and the rings are both old, real silver and from different shops, but again not charity ones. The polo neck sweater was however, a pre-loved purchase, new with labels on and chosen for these gilt buttons at the cuffs - adding a touch of class I think.

Our weather had improved this morning compared to the gales of late. Polly and I are having to be a bit more creative as to where to take our morning photos and if you look behind me you'll see why.

Yes, the entire frontage of the gallery is decked out in scaffolding in preparation for the builders to descend on us soon. The gallery roof has been leaking for some time now and at last we are having some work done. It does mean that Polly and I will be scouting around the area nearby to capture the outfit of the day. 

As Monday is the last one of the month, that heralds our Style Not Age challenge, so please do come back to see what we're all showcasing for you. I've found this one to be a bit of a difficult one, due to the lack of specifics - sometimes the abstract can just flummox me! Anyway, I've plumped for something bright, that's all I'm saying. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Anna x

The JD Williams spring campaign is live!

Yes, after much nattering on from me, I can at last share some of the final shots from the spring campaign which has now gone live. Watch the TV advert here. Paulina and I weren't used in the commercial this time, but can be seen over the social media campaign.

If you recall, this was day two of filming at the Dairy Shed just a 20 minute drive outside Cape Town. This was the middle of the day and the temperature was in the early 30's.

The wedding scene was set against this fabulous floral archway with all of the cast wearing pale pink and nude outfits. 

When the filming was done the stills photographer Elisabeth Hoff stepped in to take my shots. Once again it has to be said what a privilege it is to be photographed by Elisabeth. If you check out her profile you'll see that she's very much the photographer of the moment with recent subjects being Mary Berry, Marco Pierre White, Emma Willis and Davina McCall, to name a few. Elisabeth is making her name as a modern day David Bailey.

Elisabeth gives strong direction, thank goodness, and yet also helps to relax her subject with a great playlist. I have a funny clip on my phone of me drifting off into a bit of a reverie when the music had me dancing and singing as if I was on a music video - Elisabeth soon brought me back into the moment! 

View this post on Instagram

I AM starting to stand out.⁣ Embrace bright red this season like the gorgeous Anna who we think looks amazing in our red mac and spot print trousers. ⁣ Coat: BB177 Trousers: FH339⁣ .⁣ .⁣ #JDWLife #styleinspiration #ootd #colourpop

A post shared by JD Williams (@jdwfashion) on Mar 19, 2019 at 12:06pm PDT

The brief video above (working or not?) is from the JD Williams Instagram feed and can also be seen here. 

And so, back to reality. I've returned from my short trip to the mainland. Storm Gareth tried his best to disrupt my plans, but I arrived on the mainland, diverted to Newquay instead of Land's End and was slightly shaken not stirred from the flight. I had an appointment at the hospital for a bone density scan and will get the results anon. So what on earth did I manage to do with myself for the rest of the time? Shop, I can hear you all shout out. And shop I did! Below is a veritable rainbow collection of shoes, boots and separates to bulk out my already busting-at-the-seams wardrobe. When the big seasonal clothes changeover takes place I'll be turfing out the least worn pieces to go the next charity event locally.

The jacket from Primark (£15) matches a pair of trousers I bought recently and will make a fabulous summer suit.

The brand is Boohoo, price £7.99 and was a TK Maxx find.

Topshop had a sale on... these were reduced from £42 to £20.

Another TK Maxx scoop - River Island trousers at £9.99 instead of the ticket price of £40.

The New Look sale this time, and these sandals were £8 from £22.99.

TK Maxx again and the brand is Vera Moda, price £9.99.

A culotte jumpsuit by Spense, found at TK Maxx for £24.99.

Another TK Maxx bargain, from Zara at £15.

Ethnic print trousers from TK Maxx £12.99.

Topshop jumper reduced from £25 to £10.

Topshop polo shirt reduced from £15 to £9.

Various vest tops in the Topshop sale for £2.50 each.

New Look sandals reduced from £22.99 to £11.

Paint splattered deck shoes by Sioux Grasshopper at TK Maxx £20.

Stradavarius jumper from TK Maxx £5.99.

Black patent boots from Topshop reduced from £70 to £35.

White kitten heel boots from New Look £7 from £25.99.

Frida Kahlo tee shirt from Primark at £6.

Yes, this was me in the changing rooms at Topshop seeing what the camera had to say about this outfit. It said yes, obviously!

It's great to be back home again, back to work where Polly and I are still licking the gallery into shape as the first trickle of customers come in to see us. I'll be back soon with some work outfits made from these new separates. I hope you've enjoyed this image heavy feature and look forward to seeing you again next time!

                                                                                         Anna x

The north wind doth blow!

The past week on the Isles of Scilly has been a wild and windy time. Polly and I did manage to brave the winds one day to capture this spring-like outfit, but even then she battled with the force of the wind as it tugged against the camera. I took the much more practised route of leaning into the wind making one less likely to be blown over.

This is that much recognised stance aka the windswept look, another favourite of the locals.

So let's talk clothes, shall we? The pre-loved jacket is by Next, the jersey retro top is also second hand (no label), the paperbag canary yellow jeans are from Primark and are this season as I bought them less than two weeks ago. The trainers are by LA Gear and were from TK Maxx last year.

The gold chain necklace was a recent purchase from Primark too. I have a similar one already, but it's been such a workhorse that I worry it will one day fall to bits so this is my back-up piece. The perspex rings were a gift from my lovely friend Wendy - are you reading this? I hope you are.

White tops in the bay are never a good sign. The boats and planes have suffered disruption throughout the week, meaning delays to the post and food supplies - at one point milk ran out on both St Mary's and Bryher. The local dairy on St Agnes were working flat out trying to meet the demand. Most homes on the island have back up stores in either a shed or outhouse for times like this. An extra freezer is another norm for us all in our sheds so that we have sufficient food to tide us over lean time like this. I'm sure most remote communities exist like this too.

At the time this post goes live I hope to be back in Truro for the weekend, this time not for a jolly, but to attend a hospital check up - nothing serious. I say hope, as the weather may well have scuppered my plans. I've put this post together and have left it to be posted automatically so fingers crossed!

Thanks for all of the lovely kind wishes to Polly. All is well with the world when you see this backdrop and my crazy antics prompted by the fab photographer cum gallery assistant. Here's to another great season together!

Hope you have a fab weekend. Let's catch up again soon!

    Anna x