This Old Thing, our Style Not Age challenge for April

Hello lovelies and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge! Gail has come up with this month's theme of This Old Thing sparking a variety of offerings. Mine is an old thing that my sister Dianne saw on a mannequin in the window of a charity shop and immediately thought of me. Someone had clearly tired of it and decided to move it on, but their loss is my gain - I love it! Let's see what everyone else has to show us with shall we?

Jacqui has shopped her closet for this month's feature coming up with her old favourite this denim jacket, paired with cream culottes and matching boots - read her back story on Mummabstylish.

Hilda seems to have gathered together a host of oldies but goodies. The trenchcoat is over 40 years old, boots are 20 and jeans are 15. A self confessed hoarder, Hilda was more than prepared for this month's theme. Read more from her on Over The Hilda blog.

Proving that Emma is as trim as ever, here she is wearing a pair of cut-off shorts that she's had since was 13. Wowee, how fab she looks too! Catch up on her story on the Style Splash.

Gail is sharing her grandma's jewellery for the challenge and noted that her cat also falls into the category of an Old Thing as she's 16! See more on Is This Mutton blog.

Another week, another photo-bomber! This time it's my dear friend Jilly who stopped to collect a painting on the way past.

Jilly thought the all-in-one delivered the wow factor and I must admit it did earn me a few compliments at work. There's no brand label, but the care label did say AX Paris SS19 denoting it's three years old.

The jumpsuit has a zip up back and an under the bust tie which cinches in at the waist making for a very flattering silhouette. I popped an old sweater from Primark underneath for warmth and  added a long wooden animal necklace, found in a London charity shop 4 years ago.

My rings are pre-loved and the rose gold watch is by Michael Kors.

My Zara boots are quite old, so much so that I've forgotten how long ago it is since I bought them, but they're still looking sleek as ever.

Probably the most notable feature of the jumpsuit is the additional front layer of fabric that floats about flapping in the breeze in an eye-catching manner. Fiona insisted that I hold these out to let you see these better. I do hope this has proved to be another inspirational post for you, maybe giving you some ideas for this week's outfits.

Keep well everyone!

Anna x

Baggy trousers

Hello and happy Easter to you! Have you enjoyed a lovely weekend? And did the Easter bunny deliver lots of choccies to you? This is my Easter outfit which I would have worn had we gone anywhere. Instead we've been helping my son to move house from one side of the island to the other, and some four days later we're still not done. Today is all about culling the gathering of some 6 years to fit into his brand new home. He's keen to create a minimalist pad, but that takes a bit of discipline at this stage. Dejunking is the name of the game.

On to the outfit. This is from my recent shopping trip, a super spring outfit bought from various shops in Truro. The stars of the show are these fabulous baggy trousers which I found in TK Maxx, although the brand is Zara. I love the colour and the fabric, but it took a little bit of mending to get them wearable. The heavy woven material had one of those nasty catches where a strand of thread had been dragged through to the front which is probably why they were reduced to £9. I managed to tease the thread through to the inside of the fabric and then pulled them back into shape. The other issue was that they're an XXL and I'm a medium in Zara... I loved these straight away and bought them regardless of the size and when I got them home I stitched them up along the seam on the derriere taking in a couple of inches. They're still oversized, but the bright orange belt helps to cope with that.

The rest of the outfit came from Primark - belt at £2.50, ribbed body £4 and ribbed cardigan £6. The whole look is fresh and very spring-like don't you think? I'm so pleased with it all.

This pic makes me want to sing Baggy Trousers by Madness! 

Nothing new jewellery wise: pre-loved rings and rose gold heart pendant a long time ago purchase from a now defunkt boutique in Truro.

Old sunglasses from River Island many moons ago work nicely with this look.

My Missoni style trainers are by LA Gear and again aren't new by any means. Another purchase from TK Maxx some years ago and are still going strong.

I'm looking forward to wearing this new ensemble to work one day this week. It's one of those feel good outfits, perfect easy wear trousers and the sleek body helps to give a streamlined fit that avoids that constant tucking in. Pastel shades are always flattering to the skin too, don't you think? Until next time, have a super week!

                                                                                            Anna x

Two in five million

So, here's the explanation for my recent absence. Steve and I were two of the five million people in the UK who reported having Covid19 last week. And that's just the five million who reported it, not those didn't. It's alarming isn't it? And yet, this is indeed our new normal where businesses are closing temporarily or paring down their services to accommodate the prevalence of the virus. Tresco, like the rest of Great Britain, is awash with the illness. Steve and I are still at home waiting to show a negative test result or at least feel well enough to return to work. What about you? They say that one in 14 of us has the virus currently so we all know someone who has it. If it's you then I'd say stay home until you're well, keep warm, take paracetamol to control your temperature and pain, drink lots of fluids and suck on ice chips to soothe an inflamed throat.

Today's post is from last month, Mother's Day to be precise, when we went to the beachfront Ruin Cafe at Old Grimsby for lunch. Our table view was pretty idyllic and being indoors meant we were out of the driving Easterly wind too. I had flowers and gifts from my children, including a gift card for TK Maxx, but more of that later. I dressed a la 70's style for my lunch date.

It's been a while since I've worn this flower power jacket by Anja Rock. I remember I bought it when I was in Manchester four years ago on my modelling stint with JD Williams - read all about that here. TK Maxx in the centre of Manchester was a wonderful haven full of all sorts of fashion delights and bargains. See the first time I showcased the jacket here - it was a fabulously bright and breezy post that's worth another look if you missed it.

Steve and I had taken a stroll home through the woods after our leisurely lunch when we hit this golden pool of sunlight. Too good an opportunity to miss, eh?

The heart patterned flares were from Asos, the sweater is totally ancient, and the stone coloured boots of the moment are also from Asos. The observant amongst you may have seen that my pre and post-lunch sunglasses are different, but both are from Quay Australia.

My 70's jewellery collection is all pre-loved charity shop finds. 

My print clutch bag is from Zara and was actually part of the gift packaging of a new blouse, a birthday present from my dear friend Bo in January. See here for that. 

My boots of the moment are these chunky ecru dreams from Asos. The beautiful Chelsea boots can be found here. 

So, in between Mother's Day and Covid19, I've been to the mainland again for another health appointment, this time for some pre-cancerous cell removal on my face. The upside was that I went off clutching the lovely gift card and oh my goodness, what a super time I had! Not only did I shop there, but I snapped up some fab charity shop purchases too. 

These beaded sandals were from TK Maxx and the almost matching necklace was a charity shop find, hurrah!

Gradually I'll showcase these and give you the lowdown on where and how much etc, but in the meantime you'll just have to feast your eyes on the pretty colours and textures of my new springtime wardrobe. The fact that I've ousted 32 boxes of clothes and shoes out of the house means that this has been a guilt-free splurge - whoohoooo!

Wishing you a super week ahead!

Anna x

Inspired by Iris Apfel, our Style Not Age challenge for March

Hello again and welcome to this month's style challenge. I'm over the moon to be given this opportunity to channel the fabulous style icon that is Iris Apfel. If you're not familiar with her then click this link to find her Instagram page. The flamboyant 100 year old is a legend in America for her work not only as a fashion model, but as an Interior Designer to the stars as well as to nine Presidents who entrusted her to remodel the White House. At the age of 96 Iris was the oldest woman to have a Barbie created in her image and at 97 the oldest model to be signed up by the global agency IMG. On the 31st of March H&M UK will be launching a new range of clothing (see here) created in collaboration with Iris that promises to be their most ornate and eclectic yet - I for one am on the mailing list for that exciting release! So, what did my style sisters make of this challenge?

Hilda chose this month's theme, lending an Irish slant with this glorious green outfit and an abundance of bangles and necklaces borrowed from her daughter. See more from her here. 

Gail is channeling Iris perfectly in this pink and green ensemble - I've seen a photograph of her looking just like this! Catch up with Gail's story on Is This Mutton blog.

  

Inspired by Iris, Emma chose one of the icon's favourite colour combinations of red and turquoise to great effect. Read her back story on The Style Splash blog.

Beads, beads and more beads is how Jacqui has approached this month's challenge and hasn't she truly captured Iris's style? See how Jacqui tackled this on her blog Mummabstylish.

What fun I had putting this look together! My recent trip to the mainland enabled me to visit lots of charity shops to find necklaces to compliment this outfit. Iris, as Emma had observed too, showcases red and turquoise together often and that's what I wanted to emulate also. The shops were full of necklaces and I had the pick of beads and gemstones in all shades of turquoise and aqua. The red and white gingham trousers are by Zara, but purchased from TK Maxx at the bargain basement price of £8! 

My rings too were charity shop finds from a while ago, creating that Iris Apfel more is more signature style. In fact, did I wear enough, I wonder? The rose gold watch is by Micheal Kors, a cruise purchase from long ago.

These white kitten heel boots were from New Look in the sale a few years ago, costing only £5 and have surprised me by lasting so well. The toes were getting a bit scuffed as pointed toes often do so I gave them a swipe with a white marker pen I found in the basket at work.

And right on cue, here came the photo-bomber of the day. Fiona and I had hoped to avoid the evening rush hour, but Andrew the Head Gardener had other ideas!

The rest of the outfit comprises of this fab ruffle shirt which I bought in TK Maxx a couple of years ago. My sunglasses are also quite old, from River Island.

I do hope that you've enjoyed this month's style challenge. And now I'm off to join the H&M queue for my very own piece of Iris Apfel clothing. I fear it'll be one of those sell-out events, but I'll be giving it my best shot!

Have a super week!

Anna x