PASTEL COLOURS TREND 2026/PALE AQUA

 Hello my dear readers, hope you are well

This is the last post in the trilogy of pastel colours trend.  If you are just joining us and missed two previous posts on the subject:  one was about the Millennial pint that you can read here and the other was about butter yellow that you can read here.

Last week we drove to one of many bays that hug the Sydney coastline, this one is called Rushcutters Bay to have a walk that followed its horse shoe shape.  Today I am wearing an INCU shirt which colour is described as Pale Aqua, seems an appropriate colour choice considering where we are.  

According to Pantone Colour Finder, Pale Aqua is a light soft blend of blue and green.  It reminds me of a lighter version of Tiffany Blue.

The shirt is a square shape and could be worn all tucked in, or not, or in my case, I just tucked in its front into my ecru coloured wide-legged uncuffed slacks leaving the back hanging out.  These slacks are quite old, I have modelled them previously paired, believe it or not, with the bright orange top seen here.

If you regularly follow my blog, you might have noticed that I wear scarves a lot, even in summer.  I love them for good reasons, they create a certain je ne sais quoi about your outfit, inject colour and texture and will keep your neck protected from the elements of weather or blasts of cold air coming from an air-con.  The one that I chose for this outfit is a skinny silk number that I bought many years ago from a closing-down boutique sale and its geometric print shows pink, blue and yellow, all three colours whuch are the subject of my last three posts.  Go figure😊.

It was a nice warm day with a light breeze bringing in a fresh smell of the ocean.  We had a lovely walk, then ended our outing  by stopping at  Rushcutters Bay Marina cafe for coffee and treats.

What do you think of Pale Aqua colour?  Would you wear it and with what?  Pleas share your thoughts in the comment section below 😊.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

PASTEL COLOURS TREND 2026/BUTTER YELLOW

 G'day my dear friends and readers,  hope you are all well.

Previously on the blog:  Pastel Colours Trend 2026/Millennial Pink.  Continuing the topic, today I would like to share with you another of my favourite pastel colours - butter yellow.  Butter yellow is a softer, more adaptable diluted version of yellow that offers a perfect balance between brightness and warmth.

When I was much younger, I used to love bright colours and saturated yellow was one of them but lately I've noticed that this colour doesn't look as good on me as before.  I thing it is because in my youth having a tanned body and face was the thing and wearing yellow colour clothes worked very well with the light brown tone of my skin.  Now knowing how dangerous the Australian sun is, I would not leave the house without applying 50+ sunblock on my face so it doesn't get tanned and thus the yellow colour looks rather harsh on me.

This outfit, as many others is a mix of old and new.  Starting with the new, my new wide leg silk pants from a very popular Australian fashion house SIR (an acronym for Separates, Intimates and Ready-to-wear) and sometimes called SIR The Label that gained an international cult following for their "Eternal Summer" aesthetics.  The pants are constructed from pure silk and their relaxed cut feels very comfortable.

When I bought these pants, I wasn't very sure what to wear with it.  I've checked my closet but came up with nothing until I walked into Uniqlo and saw this butter yellow polo top.  I really love this brand, it's a perfect destination if you are looking for a casual clothes such as a t-shirt, puffy jacket or windbreaker.  

As I said at the beginning of this story, this outfit is composed from the new and old pieces.  Well, you've seen my new purchases so let me tell you about the others.

My shoes are classic TOD'S loafers purchases so many years ago that I can't even bother to remember.  Once again, the longevity of a good pair of shoes or a handbag is a testament to their quality and craftsmanship and although you pay top bucks for them, they are truly a good investment and a justified expense.  We all know that the good shoes and a handbag can make or break an outfit.

Ditto for my old BVLGARI handbag.  What I like about it that it always looks appropriate whether I take it during the day for day-to-day activities or in the evening when we are going out.

As in a previous post, I was trying to match the colours in my outfit to the surroundings and I thinkg this Gothic style structure fits the brief.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

PASTEL COLOURS AND JAZZ SHOES TRENDS FOR 2026/MILLENNIAL PINK

G'day my dear friends and readers, hope you are all well.

The Antipodean spring is taking its time to arrive in full force so we still need jumpers, jackets and scarves.  

Speaking of jumpers, I can't tell you how happy I am to know that pastel colours are surging back as the major trend this season and not just in the world of fashion but in home decor and interiors with soft blue, battery yellow, millennial pink (I had to search this one up) and minty green taking centre stage.  Turns out, that millennial pink is a muted dusty shade of pink - sitting somewhere between blush, beige, apricot and muted salmon, basically the exact opposite of a bright hue of Barbie pink.

It has been years in the making, I can't even remember when was the last time I walked into the department store and spotted any clothes, apart of intimate apparel, in the pastel spectrum.   Now that the tables are finally turned, I can happily store my greyscale clothes to the back of my wardrobe and jump on the pastel wagon starting with this millennial pink 😂 jumper which I bought from Nuew Denim brand well before I even read the announcement of this trend.  I just wanted to wear some different to white, black or grey.  

Today I am wearing it over my white Levi's denims.  The pants have a classic straight cut that goes well with whatever you feel like wearing with them.

As for my shoes, my husband bought them for me as a gift about ten years ago after seeing me trying them on in the Repetto shop when we were in Paris.  He wanted to surprise me and found them on-line from their website.  Truth be told, I wasn't very much into them, they look a lot like the shoes I used to wear when I went to ballet school when I was young and that was probably the reason that I didn't buy them in the first place.  But I didn't want to upset my husband so I thanked him, wore the shoes once or twice and then boxed them and tucked them to the back of my closet.

Fast forward to 2026 and now called "Jazz Shoes",  they are emerging as a major footwear trend for 2026.  I normally don't jump on the trend wagon knowing that it can soon fade away but since I have the shoes, I couldn't possibly see the reason why shouldn't I wear them after all.

If you have been following my blog, you might notice that I love wearing scarves and have quite a few of them.  Some of them were from my late mother-in-law, the others were gifted to me by my husband for various occasions, just like this LV one that he bought for me for my 65th birthday.  Traditionally I wear it wrapped around my neck but lately I like to wear it tied around my hips but that is for another post.

Do you like wearing pastel colours? And if yes, what is your favourite?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

OUTFIT DETAILS:

Jumper - New Denim

Jeans  - Levi's

Jacket - Levi's (Old)

Shoes - Repetto (Old)

Handbag - Furla (Old)

Scarf - LV From the Cloud Square 90

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

WHAT I WORE LAST WEEKEND/BOHO VIBE

 G'day my dear readers, hope you are well

It was a lovely Sunday morning and we had another nice outing planned but as we reached the door, all of a sudden the weather changed and it started to rain heavily.  That was rather annoying because I was hoping to have a photo shoot en plein air but since I was wearing my planned outfit anyway, I decided not to waste the opportunity and instead had the photos taken indoors.

I was going for a boho vibe and for that I chose to wear my "gypsy skirt", a maxi voluptuous skirt made out of crinkled light Indian cotton that I bought last year at the Avoca Markets, a monthly market run at Avoca Beach in a very pretty coastal town about 1.5 hours drive from where we live in Sydney.  The skirt is very light and breezy and does not need to be ironed.  The lady who sold it to me showed me how to keep its shape and folds.  All I need to do when I take it off is to fold it lengthways and while holding it at the top with one hand, start twisting it until it looks like a very thick curled rope that you can fold and put away which makes it perfect for travelling.

To continue with my boho vibe, I am wearing a cotton loose fit V-neck jumper with a plain white t-shirt underneath and my white Converse shoes.

Some of you might be wondering about the painting of a huge upright standing cat behind me.  This painting was our gift to ourselves to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.  The enormous demonic cat in the painting is called Behemoth, it serves as a member of Satan's retinue in Michail Bulgakov's (Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright) classic novel Master and Margarita.  It was published posthumously and has been called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century. 

The reason that we bought it was a homage to my Russian roots and my love of his book.  Once we brought it home, my South African English speaking husband found the book on line in English, read it and loved it too.  

On this happy note, bye for now 😄

Anna

xoxoxo

This outfit was feature on Style-Splash 

WHAT I WORE LAST WEEKEND

G'day my dear readers.

Now the tables have turned and once again, spring has come to us and with it an opportunity to wear lighter and brighter clothes.  If you read my previous post, you would notice that my working wardrobe is mostly in a grey scale, that's why comes the weekend, you would find me wearing something colourful yet stylish and comfortable.

Case in point, this outfit.  It was a lovely sunny day of an early spring day when the sun feels nice and warm on your skin without doing any damage.  However, I still apply SPF 50+ to my face as I had quite a few cancer scares in the last few years.

For the outing, I chose to wear my wide-leg red denim pants, black thick sole sneakers and a black denim jacket.  Nice and casual.  I woild never leave a house without a handbag, no matter the occasion, and my old red LV handbag seemed to fit the colour sceme so I grabbed it.

It was a perfect day for being outdoors and we decided to make a trip to one of the historical places called Strickland Estate, a 19th century heritage-listed treasure that boasts one of the best picnic spots with a harbour view anywhere in Sydney.

Truth be told, I have been living in this part of Sydney for the last 30 years, yet this was my first visit.  The moment we stepped through the gates, we were taken by the beauty of the grounds, the greenery of manicured lawns and the serenity of the gardens.  But the main attraction for me was the view.

We spent a couple of blissful hours surrounded by nature and beauty and returned home rested and relaxed.

Hope your weekend was as blissful as ours.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

PS  This outifit was featured on I do declaire blog and Style-Splash

THREE KEY PIECES YOU SHOULD HAVE IN YOUR OFFICE WARDROBE

G'day my dear readers, hope you are all well.

I am slowly working my way back to blog regularly.  I have been out of it for almost a year, for no reason whatsoever, just wasn't feeling like it.

The reason I return to blogging was our recent trip to London followed by a tour of Scandinavia.  I just felt that I wanted to share this beautiful part of the world with those who haven't seen it.  The other reason being that my memory is not that sharp anymore and I wanted to document this trip for posterity.  I have to admit that it was the first time in my life that I used Google Lens as I couldn't recall the names and places we've been and seen.  I find this tool very helpful and 99% accurate.  It took me quite some time from start to finish but I was really enjoying the process, it brought back lovely memories and experiences and made me happy.  Hope that by following my story about our Scandinavian adventure, would inspire you to do the same.  

Now it is time to talk about clothes.  About 2 years ago I lost a job for which I worked for ten years.  I only worked for two days in an accounting department, spending the other 3 helping my daughter with her two kids and going to the gym.  It was a perfect life/work balance. It was a construction company situated in the industrial area where nobody cares about fashion.  I drove there and back, saw nobody and no one saw me.  That suited me fine and I hardly bought anything new while working there, which saved me a lot of money😊.

But then the boss retired and sold the business to a younger guy who within a year ran it down to the ground and we all, including him, lost our jobs.  I was over sixty then which means that I became virtually unemployable unless I agreed to stock the shelves in the supermarket.  

It was challenging and stressful as I expected and I was just about to give up, when out of the blue came a phone call from my employment agent who apparently found me a job.  Two days a week in an accounts department in a hair and beauty retail/wholesale shop - everything I was looking for but then came the icing on the cake,  the shop was within 400 meters of where I live and I walk past it almost every day on my way to the gym.

As I mentioned earlier, in my previous job nobody gave two straws to care about who wore what and frankly, I saved quite a bit of money on not buying new clothes.  However, this new job got me thinking.  Let me explain.

My husband and I live in a lovely part in Sydney that is geographically known as Sydney's Eastern Suburbs that as the name suggests, consists of up to 40 suburbs.  It is a home to many mansiond with manicured lawns, olympic size pools and stunning views over the Harbour Bridge and iconic beaches.  The suburb where we live is one of the few major commercial and transport hubs in the Eastern Suburbs called Bondi Junction which blends high-density urban living and premier retail shopping mainly congregated in 2 Westfield buildings sitting across the road from each other and which we can see from our apartment.   

The Eastern Suburbs are demographically diverse and although over 50% of the population are born in Australia, there is a big diaspora of the jews from Hungary that settled here after they escaped the Nazis and the horrors of WWII and later were joined by Jews from the former USSR and other countries from the Eastern Block running from pogroms and antisemitism.  There is also a significant presence of South Africans jews who where looking for a safe place to live.

As it happens everywhere in the world, each ethnic group are very close withing their own communities, they had known each other way before they came to live in Australia, they share the same traditions, food, culture and through marriages and other relations.   

As it happens, the majority of Russian jews, present company included, came from the city of Odessa, a beautiful town on Black Sea.   So if you are going shopping in Westfield Bondi Junction or seeing your dentist or going to the gym, chances are you bump into someone you know.  And since I re-married a South African jew, my chances of bumping into someone I know have doubled up.

The reason I am telling you all this is that although Australians tend to dress very casually and love to wear shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops all year around, the Europeans and South Africans approached their outfits with great care and style and I do the same.  You would never see me wearing leisurewear on the streets no matter how comfortable it might feel.

After I accepted my new job, it dawned on me that since I will be walking to and from my new office passing smartly dressed men and women on the way to their jobs, I probably should update my wardrobe.  I wasn't going to buy business suits or high heel pumps, just a few key pieces that I could mix and match with my existing outfits that make me look smart with ease.

The key item #1 on my list was to buy a smart blazer.  I didn't want it to be conservative and forego the classic black colour for light grey double-breasted wool blazer that I found at Reiss, one of my favorite brands.  It was sold as a part of the suit but could also be purchased as a single item which I preferred.

Despite its classic cut, it looks great with jeans or in this case with my dark grey patterned flared pants from Zara just for fun.  In warmer months I would wear a nice white t-shirt underneath but in a cooler month it's a white crisp shirt that I pair it with.

This white oversized shirt from Cos is my key piece #2.  You must have at least one dress shirt in pure white colour in your wardrobe.  there is something magical about this colour that would update and refresh your outfit in a flash.  It could be fitted or loose, tucked away or worn over the pants, of soft or stiff fabric - the choice is totally yours.  It also depends whether shirt in question is for casual or dress up wear.

I already have a white linen shirt in my wardrobe that goes well with causal slacks or jeans but since I wanted a shirt suit for the office, I chose a crisp white fabric.

And the last but not least the key piece #3 is a pair of good shoes.  I stopped wearing heals a long time ago and was on a hunt for a pair of comfortable yet a statement pair of shoes and settled for black loafers.  This shoe style has been on my fashion radar for years thanks to a pair of iconic casual loafers from Tod's.  These days every fashion house has its own modern representation.  

While the suede loafers are a perfect accessory for casual attire, a black shiny leather shoes with the solid leather sole gives your outfit a polish look.  I chose mine from Maje and have become my "go to" shoes for many occasions.

I love wearing a scarf with my outfits.  One - they add a touch of sophistication and a point of interest, two - they cover wrinkles on my neck 😊.  The other accessory that I added to my otherwise monochromatic outfit is a brooch from the label called Parisian Cool that I discovered on the net.

I like to wear multiple rings on one hand but never more then three.  The ones I am wearing now have been bought over the years from Tiffany &Co by my husband (his favourite gift shop)😃 to signify various occasions (my birthday, our wedding anniversary etc).   The band and the Bone Ring are by Elsa Peretti for Tiffany  as are my oversized High Tide earrings.  The Loving Heart ring in the middle finger was designed by Paloma Picasso for Tiffany.  

The black Armani bag was purchased in Venice on our honeymoon back in 2007 but it still looks great, a testimony to a true craftsmanship.

And that is all for now.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo