Overalls, my fun weekend wear

Hello and how's tricks? I hope you're well and are enjoying Father's Day. This is my weekend outfit, as worn today, a pair of funky Lucy & Yak dungarees or overalls depending on what you call them. I found these on Vinted and have managed to find another pair here if you'd like them too! These baggy overalls are made from stretch cotton and have three front pockets, one of them on the chest, perfect for storing your sunglasses and tissues.

I got up early this morning to take some blog photos before the rest of the island woke up. We had a busy day ahead with some friends coming to visit us from St Martin's, so Steve and I pushed to get lots of chores done ready to have a day of leisure. We met them at the Abbey Garden where we stopped for coffee and cake, then meandered to New Grimsby where we had a long lunch at the New Inn, finally making our way slowly to Old Grimsby in time for their boat back. It was a good day of eating, drinking and chatting in no particular order.

My Lucy & Yak dungarees require little jazzing up; a plain white top (pre-loved) and white Replay trainers (TK Maxx) complete the look. Dungarees have no age limit and look equally good on toddlers or oldies like me. I intend to be wearing these well into my dotage!

My plastic rings are both pre-loved as is my blue and white necklace. My sunglasses are by Radley London. 

If, like me, you have broad feet, then you might like to try out Replay trainers. I've now bought four pairs and love that they're all-day comfortable.

The sea was temptingly calm this morning and it would have been rude not jump in for a swim. It was my first time swimming on Appletree Bay for a while as there had been a big influx of blue jellyfish washed in on the big tide last week. Today I didn't see any which was a relief!

Wishing you a fab week!

                                                                                         Anna x

Sheer maxi over palazzo pants

Hi there! How's June for you? Are you enjoying sunshine or are you, like us here, having a mixed bag of weather? So here we have Saturday's work outfit, a new mash up, not seen previously and worth showcasing here I thought. 

I struggled with end of day fatigue and was also trying to people-dodge around teatime to find the right backdrop for the earth tones of this ensemble. Green was a good contrast, but the road looked a bit scrappy with these weeds.

This was a good jewellery shot however, so let's start with that today. My friend Maggie gave me this fab shell and chain necklace for my Christmas and somehow it ended up at the bottom of my jewellery box until recently. It was from Zara of all places! My rings are both old and sunglasses are from Radley London.

My second location after the Great Pool was the road overlooking Appletree Bay, which even on a low tide looks lovely. And so to the outfit - the nutmeg trousers are a silky fabric and I bought them last year in TK Maxx, fully expecting to wear them over the festive period, but never did. The sheer maxi dress is by Zara, but was a charity shop scoop for a fiver! The white vest top is a brilliant basic, seen often on the blog, and is from H&M (wish I'd bought a couple of them as the quality is really fab and they wash very well). The stretch belt with leather clasp is very old, from Principles. 

My third and final location is on Saffron Cove offering shades of green as well as white sands to provide the perfect backdrop. I'd been lurking about, waiting for everyone to go home at the end of the day and finally had the beach to myself. How spoilt we are to expect such luxury even at this time of year! 

I'd had a couple of compliments on this outfit which is good as I wasn't sure if this was very me. A few years ago I might have been happy to wear it without the sheer overshirt, but now I'm in my mid sixties, well my arms resemble anemic dimpled blancmange. Maybe a bit harsh, but depressingly true. I'm working on them though with a touch of fake tan supplemented by lifting weights to try to stop the decline.

Moving swiftly on, the daisy bejewelled sandals were from Amazon last year. They're super comfy as well as being very pretty. They have an elastic strap at the back making them easy to wear all day without any discomfort. Pardon me if my age is showing so much in today's post!

It took me almost an hour to find my perfect spot, but it was worth it, with photos taken and time to sit and chill, enjoying the view and looking forward to having a couple of days off. Thank you for joining me and hope to see you again soon!

                                                                                       Anna x

Another linen dress and petticoat

Hello and welcome to a sunny evening on Appletree Bay, the perfect backdrop for my newly finished linen dress and petticoat. I've been labouring over this version for some time now and at last it's finished. One of my followers and fellow sewers, Pat, said a very wise thing to me when she was on Tresco recently, "It'll be beautiful when it's finished, and if it's not beautiful then it's not finished." Many tiny adjustments and tweaks later and I'm happy to say that it is indeed beautiful.

So, this is me on the way to the beach, the dress having its very first outing. I wanted to show you this before the rest, as after doing lots of sitting down and moving around on the beach the petticoat ended up hanging down much lower, but the fit ideally looks like this.

There's no point in have a frou-frou petticoat if you don't show it off, is there!

And this is the finished petticoat. I want to make one more version of this in orange to wear under a green dress that I've had for ages. Every time I make this I learn a little bit more, so hopefully the orange one will be equally successful.

Someone had made this big shell shape, a fish maybe, on the beach which was perfect for my photo shoot. I took my little tripod and used my timer to capture these shots. Appletree Bay is great for evening shots as it faces the setting sun.

This is my beach of choice for swimming at the moment. We have a predominantly east wind blowing meaning that Appletree is tucked in out of the wind. I swim the length of the bay and back most days. Sometimes I have the beach to myself (early mornings) and other times I have to weave around the small boats and dinghys that are anchored up along the shoreline.

 

When I bought this aqua linen fabric I imagined this setting for wearing a summer dress - the shade is exactly the colour of the sea when you swim across this bay on a sunny day.

I opted for neutral shades and various tones of turquoise to complement today's outfit. The stretch woven belt was from Primark last summer, sunglasses are by Radley London, rings are both old and preloved, the short cowrie necklace and long dancing girl pendant were both bought from Gallery Tresco. Natural coloured suede platform sandals were from TK Maxx many moons ago.

Reluctantly, it was time to go home. I'm so aware of how lucky I am to be able to wander off to the beach after work; a ten minute stroll and I'm on a golden stretch of sand, a haven all to myself to relax and unwind. Summer is here and life is good. See more about my beautiful island home of Tresco here.

                                                                                         Anna x

Frilled To Bits our SNA challenge for May

Hello there! How are you this fine Bank Holiday Monday? So, here's our Style Not Age challenge for May, as chosen by yours truly. Frills are all the rage with me currently, so why not share this penchant with my style sisters?

Gail from Is This Mutton is sporting her blend of citrus brights - the frilled blouse is from eBay, crops are from Roman and sandals are from ASOS. It's a fab summery look, isn't it!

Jacqui's frilled wrap dress is from Izabel Clothing and fits the bill perfectly. Sage green and paisley print are a winning combination! Catch up with Jacqui's backstory on her blog Mummabstylish. 

I love the pink frilled and pearly top of Emma's! This was a happy purchase when she was in Funchal recently. See more from her on Style Splash blog.

Hilda's frilled dress is from Whistles, a fab thank you for contributing to a recent fashion feature in Good Housekeeping. Catch up with her story on Over the Hilda blog. Hilda's perched on the balcony of her daughter's house during her child-minding stay - what a view!

If you're a regular to the blog, you'll recognise the frilled petticoat as one of my recent sewing successes. I've just altered the length, shortened it, so that it sits better under my orange dress. (See the whole outfit here in case you missed that one.) Today's offering is more vintage than new - the frilled blouse was bought in a vintage shop in Exeter many years ago and the skirt must be at least 20 years old, from good old Dorothy Perkins. 

The boots are new, bought especially to wear while I'm in my pink and orange phase. I found them on ASOS, see here. They're available in three colourways but this one is perfect for my summer trend.

Nothing new today with my accessories. Sunglasses are from Radley, belt is old as are my rings. 

My friend Fiona volunteered to take the photos when I told her about my fab new cowboy boots. We had fun as we always do during these sessions, with me doing lots of bossing about while she heckled from the sidelines. The evening sun was soft and flattering to the skin and the new walkway to the bird hide made a great catwalk. The view from the hide was glittering in the evening light.

Hope you're basking in the early summer sunshine too. Looking forward to seeing you again soon. Please leave me a comment if you've enjoyed today's post.

Have a super week!

Anna x