Craving Crochet is this month's SNA challenge

Hello and welcome once again to our monthly Style Not Age challenge where Jacqui has chosen Craving Crochet as the theme. This proved to be very simple for me as I only have one crochet item in my whole wardrobe. This Karen Millen cardigan is a pre-loved item, found in a charity shop and chosen because of the autumn colours which I love, plus the fact that it was only £8!  

So, here's Jacqui looking totally fabulous in this Boohoo crochet maxi dress. High heels and tote bag complete this monochrome look. See more on Mummabstylish blog.

Emma's cute crochet vest bring's a 70's vibe to her deliciously bright ensemble. Catch up with the catwalk chick on her blog The Style Splash here. 

Another retro look comes from Gail in this adorable shift dress with crochet overlay - an impressive charity shop find for only a fiver! Check out her back story on Is This Mutton blog. 

Hilda's back story for her outfit is quite dramatic as her red gloves are in fact bandages from a recent fall, resulting in splints to hold together a broken finger and knuckle. Her planned crochet top wouldn't fit over her bandages, but a friend came to the rescue with a tank top and bag instead. Do pop across to her blog to hear her account on Over The Hilda.

I've shopped my closet for my whole outfit this month which makes me feel good after what seems to be a bit of a heavy retail summer. 

The satin kitten heels must be vintage by now as they were from Dorothy Perkins well over 20 years ago. I decided to ramp things up to create an evening out look and these shoes pretty much nailed it. Satin and pearls say evening glamour to me, don't you agree?

The satin trousers are very old and I think may have come from my daughter at some stage. The vest top is old too and the leather belt was a charity shop find a few years ago.

All my accessories are old. The chunky pearl necklace was from Debenhams many moons ago and yet is still a firm favourite of mine, and maybe yours too? My large cocktail ring is  from TK Maxx and the flower one was a gift from a girlfriend some years ago.

This wasn't my finest hour, photography-wise. I battled to find a quiet corner as the evening sun was dropping in the sky, resorting to my old faithful haunt of the slipway in front of the gallery. I'd mooched along to stand on the quay in the golden evening light, but there was a rush of small dinghies appeared alongside bringing the yachties in to New Grimsby quay in search of somewhere to have supper. I had great intentions to do a re-shoot, but life seems to have been busy as ever. Next week I'll feature myself and the girls from work as promised when we went out for our end of season meal together. The flower strewn vintage frock was much admired... 

Wishing you a lovely week!

Anna x

Citrus colours for summer

Hi there! Here's my favourite work outfit from this week. The dress you'll have seen before, a yellow linen number (with pockets) that I found in TK Maxx, perhaps last year? I've worn this several times on the blog I'm sure, but that doesn't detract from how sunny and bright it is and such a joyful piece to wear.

I've pepped up the outfit with these fab orange sandals, new from ASOS this summer. They're ridiculously high and I'm only able to wear them for half a day at a time as I've not broken them in quite yet. But heck, aren't they totally wonderful? 

 

The orange elasticated belt is also new, this from Amazon only last week. You may recognise the other accessories here as I wore them with my orange dungarees recently (see here), but they're so perfect for this outfit too. 

I couldn't resist including this photo as I seem to have one like this every time I take my blog photos. I wonder if subconsciously I'm trying to audition for a shampoo advert? Hilarious, eh?

My thanks go to Mel, my seasonal assistant for taking these photos. I hope to feature her and my admin assistant Emily soon as we've got a staff meal coming up next weekend and will endeavour to get a shot of us all together. 

I'll leave you with this beautiful beach shot from glorious Tresco.

I hope you're enjoying this lovely weather!

Anna x

Oh! Orange overalls.

Hi there! How are you? This is another new outfit from Number 36 boutique on Causeway Head in Penzance. The linen overalls called out to me when I was in there during the summer; as you may know, orange is one of my favourite colours. I love the oversized style which is a great contrast to some of my more fitted outfits. I've worn these both to work and at weekends for a more relaxed look, but which says I've still made an effort.

I dodged about in the early morning sunshine trying to showcase the outfit without it being drained in the bright light. My garden wasn't too bad.

This is my go-to jewellery for orange outfits - the perspex necklace is very old, from another Penzance boutique, but which no longer exists, the gold edged bangle was again from a charity shop as were both rings. Sunglasses are from Radley London.

The white tee shirt was also a charity shop find. The classic white tee can always be found in my favourite thrift stores and I do tend to pick up a good quality one when I see them.

My Lazy Dogz sandals complete this easy to wear ensemble. 

A dear friend of mine recently turned 50, so I decided to make this FAB 50 tee shirt for her. I had this pristine white tee from M&S in my cupboard and then cut out the letters and numbers from some leftover fabric. I had planned to hand embroider the edges with some pink stitches but the needle was too big for the fine cotton lawn and broke it apart. Plan B then, or rather Plan C. B was to do a zig zag machine stitch, but for some reason my zig zag didn't work out so I did a simple stitch, twice to reinforce it.

Even though life is hectic as ever, I still have this creative niggle to sew. Another little project I've just managed to fit in was to add some silk flowers to a lovely vintage dress of mine. We plan to have a staff meal this month so I'll probably wear it then. I must say, I'm particularly pleased with the end result and can't wait to waft about in this maxi dress!

Thank you for dropping by again this week. As you'll notice I seem to have no particular posting day now due the busyness of work and life in general, but I do love to hear from you and to read your comments.

Have a great weekend!

Anna x

Kimono My House, our SNA challenge for July

Hello and welcome once again to our Monthly Style Challenge where my friends and I all take turns at choosing a theme. Gail has opted for Kimonos this time, resulting in a lovely variety of styles and colours. Mine is more of an overshirt, but that's mainly because kimonos are few and far between in my wardrobe. Let's see how the four fabulous fashionistas fared, shall we?

Summer is here, according to Jacqui! While the rest of the country is besieged with showers, Jacqui is ready to hit the beach in this beautiful all-white outfit complete with lace kimono. See her backstory on her blog Mummabstylish.

Hilda is showing the local shoppers how to do it in style in her fabulous paisley patterned kimono over her white trousers and mules. Catch up with her news on Over The Hilda blog.

Canary yellow trousers and blue patterned kimono make for a colourful offering from Emma this month. Her eclectic mix comes from the high street, eBay and charity shops to maximum effect. Read more from Emma on the Style Splash blog.

Gail's palette in more understated in soft turquoise, lilac and white. This elegant look comes from the high street aka John Lewis, M&S and ASOS to create a soft summery feel. Find out more on Is This Mutton.

My outfit comes from Number 36 in Penzance, a small boutique that I frequent when I'm on the mainland. The shop is small and beautifully curated to offer unique pieces in fine fabrics, usually holding only one of each style and colour to ensure clients find something special. The prices are good too, given that you end up with an individual garment or outfit that you know won't be seen elsewhere. My white linen trousers have a Made in Italy label as does the cotton kimono/overshirt. 

I'm wearing a white vest top and stretch belt to finish the look off, along with a pair of silver and white sandals. White sunglasses are obvious touch for this summer inspired outfit, although summer is playing hide and seek currently.

My silver and glass bauble necklace as well as both my rings are pre-loved from charity shops over the years, and the stretch belt is ancient, from good old Dorothy Perkins.

Apologies for my absence last week. 5am starts and bouts of insomnia are both taking their toll on me at this time of year, resulting in a mini-burnout situation. I'm trying to take things easy on the home front as that's the only area I can step back from currently, which means minimal amounts of after work chores, including admin. Thank you once again for being there, for coming back to read the blog and for your lovely comments which mean so much to me. I'll finish off with a shot of my back garden and the glorious agapanthus that are in bloom. 

Have a great week!

Anna x