Cornflower blue dress from Fat Face

Hello lovelies!

Yes, you may recall I left a little teaser at the end of my last post about a cornflower blue dress and here it is! This is the Margot daisy patchwork midi in cornflower which is still in the sale, but is going fast (see here). I saw this on Instagram on the very day I was leaving the mainland and it really set my heart a flutter. On getting home I did a search online, but my size was sold out. I rang the local branch in Truro and they kindly offered to hold one for me until I could get in to collect it. A dear friend hot footed it down to the store and popped it in the post. Isn't it lovely?

My summer wardrobe feels complete now with this lightweight frock in such a super colour. It was a really windy corner of the island that Steve and I chose for our shoot, so some of these photos are less than perfect. My belt is askew and the clasp is drifting off-centre. My new hairstyle is being blown all over the show and the dress is behaving like a cling-on in most of the shots. Ho hum.

Side pockets are a bonus feature. The frill above the bust does draw the eye to that area which isn't really my thing, but I can live with it. The dress has elasticated sleeves and waistband, but I thought the addition of a belt was a better finish.

Next time I shall wear my midi length net underskirt with this. 

Rings and belt are all pre-loved.

Sunglasses are Quay Australia and my disc necklace is by M&S.

My white patent Puma's are ideal for wearing on the beach.

And last of all, here's the new haircut (and colour) without the windswept look. It's great to have a healthy mop of hair again. Hurrah!

Thanks for dropping by!

Anna x

Yay, I've been shopping!

Hello lovelies!

Yes, I've been off-island and survived the fray - hurrah! My four days in mainland Cornwall were hectic, but without incident, thank goodness. Most importantly, I returned to the joys of retail therapy like a duck to water. Having said that, I was much more restrained than I expected, taking a more considered view of shopping than on previous shopping sprees. The old "this might be useful" was a no longer an option. Instead I questioned "how will this fit in my wardrobe?" or was happy that "this will be good to replace".

Finding that changing rooms were closed was a bit of a surprise, meaning I did spend a lot of time trying clothes on in my hotel each evening and then jumping on the train to return them the next day. But that was no bad thing as I wasn't so rushed and was able to be much more honest about every item. Do I really need this or do I love this enough to justify lugging it home, were critical questions. 

These red Mary-Jane's were the first purchase I made on day one. I had been sent by Steve on an errand to Penryn to buy supplies for his boat. The Chandler's was a 15 minute yomp downhill from the railway station and a 20 minute hike back up again. The trains ran every 30 minutes therefore I had time to spare before I could catch the return. It was a happy discovery to come across a retro clothes shop only 100 metres along the road. 

There was little evidence of these being worn. Obviously I'll be calling them my Dorothy shoes.

Both of these skirt suits are vintage pieces bought in the same shop. One was £15 and the other £40. I shall keep the green one for the autumn and plan to wear it with knee high boots. The pale peach two piece will be a dream to wear during summer. It's lightweight and in beautiful condition. I'm a big fan of suits and have quite a few trouser ones and so it's a thrill to add these two skirt suits to my collection.

 

I've been a bit obsessed about finding a linen dress for the summer ever since I missed buying three of them on my last shopping trip. This one was from TK Maxx and fits much better than the others would have - result! The following will show the rest of my TK Maxx haul. 

This ditsy flower print dress has a dark brown background with pale pink and green flowers. It's similar to another one I own, but it has an element of stretch and is also a drop waist, both of which make for a very attractive fit. 

This DKNY dress just says summer to me. The price reduction was down from £129 to £39.

This Reebok swimsuit was a great fit and it's orange too!

Red, wet-look, skinny jeans for £7.99. Well of course I was going to buy them!

A great fit. This is already stashed away for autumn/winter.

Top centre and left are both TK Maxx purchases. The trainers are by Replay and are similar to my other ones. Embroidered trainers are too good to miss; the mix of comfort and style is a winner in my book. The Juicy Couture mules will be great for beach days and weekend wear. The turquoise trainers are for my lunchtime walking and were charity shopped. The Beach Dogz nagged me in a shop window for two days until I finally gave in to them. They will be replacements for my orange ones which were downgraded to beach shoes last year. These will be for work when I need flatties.

So let's fill in the gaps, shall we?

This was a last minute purchase from Primark. I so love the white checked one from there a couple of years ago that I thought this would be another good buy. Will one be more favoured than the other? Only time will tell.

I have a pink shirt just like this in man-made fibre so will replace it with this linen one. I paid £5 for it in the Cancer Research shop. I'm not sure that I've ever worn the other pink one - I'll pack it up for the next charity shop donation.

Another £5 M&S charity shop find. This is to be a summer post-swim jumper. It's in that lovely crunchy cotton and also has a high neck to keep me warm. 

M&S charity shop linen skirt for £3.75 was a no-brainer. Perfect for work or play during the summer months, it'll surely pay its way in no time at all.

Pre-loved and new, this Topshop skirt will be a great little beach item. It's flirty without being too short and will be great for hopping in and out of our boat.

Another charity shop find, this combination of paisley print and frills makes this top a winner.

I fell for this yellow linen jacket big time. At only £4.50 I'm happy that it's worth it.

At only £3 this orange and black dress was the same price as a cup of coffee. Need I justify this more?

I have two pairs of jeans in this colour already and yet neither of them fit - these will replace them for £5.

Another £5 bargain pair of trousers. These will work well with the Juicy Couture sandals.

This floral jeans jacket was a charity shop piece, bought because the weather turned warm and I only had a raincoat with me. At £7 for a Topshop jacket I thought it was a good buy and something that I'll definitely get lots of wear out of. It made me smile that the label says size 8. I say that because the range of sizes I bought went from 8 through to 14. Just shows how no two brands are the same, eh?

This vintage maxi dress was probably my star purchase. Not only because it's a vintage piece, but simply for being a super fit and a beautiful dress to boot.

This blue polka dot dress was the charity shop bargain of the whole trip at £2.50. It was only when I put the dress and shoes together that it dawned on me to add the red tulle petticoat. 

All of my accessories are pre-loved too - belt, rings and necklace. The sunglasses are by Quay Australia. 

I couldn't resist a quick twirl for you!

So that pretty much winds up my shopping trip. I've incorporated everything into my wardrobe and look forward to mixing some new outfits together. It was great to have that rush of retail excitement again, but I'll be honest with you - I'll be happy to leave it another year until I go mainland shopping again. I only have one thing that's on my wish list now and that's a cornflower blue dress. I missed one from Zara last summer while I was on my shopping ban, but I may have one on the way and will report on that next time...

Until then, have a great weekend!

Anna x

Take four pieces ...

Yay, I'm home again! 

Oh my goodness, how lovely it is to be back on Tresco once again! Four days away on the mainland was quite enough for my first foray in 15 months. Travelling back and forth on Wednesday and Saturday left me with two days of various hospital check up's around which I sandwiched retail therapy involving train journeys to Truro to get to my favourite haunts. 

My major worry had been how it would feel to be thrown into the boiling pot that is mainland life, but honestly it soon became apparent that people were respectful of social distancing and everyone seemed be wearing masks at all of the appropriate times. My fears of feeling unsafe were unjustified and I shall be happy to go off-island again when necessary, although Steve and I have no plans to go away on holiday this year. What about you?

I nipped to the beach on my return on Saturday evening to capture this outfit of four simple items - jacket, dungarees, tee-shirt and pumps. No fancy accessories or even jewellery for this easy weekend look and yet it earned me a couple of compliments along the way. 

The cropped puffa jacket is by Topshop and is a few years old now. It's been a great jacket for winter walking as it fits snuggly up around the neck, capturing the body's heat. The punch of orange is an instant mood lifter too, making it a go-to piece.

And a small drum roll please for this pair of corduroy dungarees. Yes, brand new from the shopping expedition this comes from Enjoy Clothing in Truro. The colour is a bright turquoise, but may look more blue on your screens. I love dungarees for weekend wearing as it signals downtime for me and hopefully to those around too. Don't ask me about work is the secret code when I'm dressed like this.

 

This is casual dressing at its best - no buttons, zips or poppers to do up and best of all, huge pockets! 

Slouchy and oversized, I can see that these will be weekend favourites very quickly. I have to share a funny story about them though. I was served by a new assistant in the shop; I overheard her being talked through topping up stock and moving things around to make the displays look eye-catching. When I took the dungarees to the till she was great, telling me to wash them in cold water the first time to set the dye. What she ought to have said is to wash them before the first wear... By the time I had returned home from the beach, I went to the loo, only to discover that my legs were bright blue as was the white of my tee shirt! The tee shirt has been washed and is fine now, but my legs needed a good old scrub to get all the dye off!

I bought myself a hairband while I was away as I realised it was still another week until I have my haircut. This orange and yellow one was on half price sale in Boots.

These lightweight pumps are rugged enough for moors and beach walking. The brand is Sketchers, although I fancy I bought them in TK Maxx in Edinburgh in 2019.

I'll be back on Friday with a bit more about my retail therapy. I had to send some of my bags home by freight ship and therefore it may be a little while before I can lay the truth of the matter before you. Suffice to say, I had a lovely time shopping and have no qualms about the big reveal. My shopping ban is over and therefore there was no guilt attached to my purchases. I look forward to catching up with you again on Friday.

Take care and have a great week! 

Anna x