THE SHACKLES ARE OFF OR HOW I STYLED BLUE, BLACK AND RED STRIPE SKIRT

Hello dear friends,  hope you are all well.

I have a bundle of good news to share with you: first - our three month lockdown is officially over and we can do anything we want, almost.  We can go and visit other people at their homes and have them over at ours, restaurants, bars, shops, hair salons etc will be open, though with some restrictions.  

We can travel beyond the five kilometer limit and have other freedoms that we used to take for granted.  There is however, one catch - you have to be double-vaxxed.  I am not going to enter into any discussion about the pros and cons of vaccination but if you an anti-vexxer, you would not be allowed inside a movie house, a restaurant or bar, hair salon, gym etc until the first December.  Oh well, as they say "each to their own".

I can't wait to get a proper hair colour and a cut as for the last three months it was DYI jobs for both of us.  It was easy to cut my husband's hair but when it came to mine, I had to fiddle with the mirrors in our bathroom to find the right angle where I can see what I was actually cutting at the back of my head.  Honestly, judging by my photos, it looks liked did a pretty good job 👍👍👍 😁.  

Also, my birthday is coming up in the last week of October and we can go out and have a proper dinner at a nice restaurant.   I am so looking forward to wearing fancy clothes and shoes again, putting make up on and enjoying dinner that was neither cooked by me nor delivered by Uber Eats in a cardboard box😉.

We have made few plans to travel further afield but I don't want to go into the details prematurely, in case they will go awry (one of many Russian superstitions that I follow to my husband's annoyance) 😏.

All this good news has obviously made an impact on my mood and my choice of clothing.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you might notice that the main representation of colours in my outfits in a last couple of posts were mainly black and grey (here & here).  

Now I feel that an injection of bright hues little is in order, hence this multi-colored skirt and a scarf with the addition of extra dark and light blue in the shape of my Salvatore Ferragamo shoes.

As for the top, it is quite old but I love it for it has a boat shape neck which is my favourite.    

On this high note, have a great week ahead, dear friends.

Until then,

Anna

xoxox

WHAT I WORE LAST SUNDAY

Hello dear friends, how are you all?

Last Sunday my husband and I decided to take a walk around CBD (Central Business District), the historical and main commercial centre of Sydney.  From Monday to Fridays it is usually full of bustling activity but quiets down over weekends but now with all the major shopping centres and luxury boutiques being shut down and majority of businesses are not working from home,  it is become absolutely deserted and looks rather sad and lost.

On the bright side, this situation has presented a perfect opportunity for those who is keen to take a closer look around this area, explore the laneways, admire the architecture and discover interesting details of the city you live in but never had a chance to do without being bumped into by someone in a hurry.  Hence, here we are.

 

The outfit I am wearing today is what I quite often wear to the office during the winter months but it could easily go the other way and become a casual go to look.

I have worn every element of it previously but funny enough, never in the same outfit until today.  I guess, when you are in lockdown and the only way to shop is on the net, one starts digging into the closet trying to re-invent looks and come up with something different 👍.

These wide-leg trousers are from Massimo Dutti, bought a few years ago during our last holidays in 2019 in Georgia (a former republic of the USSR, now an independent country).  It was our last one before the global pandemic ground everything to a halt.

The jumper is from Cos, it is made of pure cashmere, very soft and comfortable and its slouchy style is very adaptable.  I liked that fact that it is slightly cropped so when I put it on, my body shape is clearly defined unlike oversized tops where you can hardly see anything.  I used to wear it with a maxi knit skirt but quite like the way it looks over these wide-legged pants 👍.

My coat is from Cos too, a hand-me down from my oldest daughter and the stripy scarf was borrowed from my husband 😊.  I thought that its grey, black and white pattern would perfectly reflect the colours of my outfit.  

Have a great week ahead

Anna

xoxo

BLACK KNITTED DRESS

This post was ready to go live couple of weeks ago but then something more urgent and quite stressful came up and the blog became a second priority.  Here is why.  A few years ago I noticed a small bubble had suddenly appeared right in the inner corner of my left eye.  It didn’t bother me in the slightest and I attributed its arrival to the signs of ageing.  At some point I checked it with my GP but he seemed no to be too worried about it and I let it be.

Then about two months ago my husband had to go to the skin cancer clinic to have couple of cancerous spots on his face removed and since I have never ever had a skin check before, I decided to have it done.  Guess what? The doctor found one pimple on my back that he identified as cancerous and should be removed immediately,  which he did.  When I pointed to him this little bubble in my eye, he honestly said that he doesn’t know what that is but he didn’t like it and took a biopsy.  A week later a verdict was in – cancer, remove immediately 🤯.

Because it was so close to the eye, the skin doctor couldn’t do it but referred me to a plastic surgeon.  After a telehealth consultation (because of COVID he didn’t want me to come to his office) during which he explained that once he removed all the damaged tissues, he then would have to do some grafting, which means taking skin from somewhere on my body and graft it over the wound.  In  my case, the skin came from behind my left ear.

The surgery was not too long and once I recovered from the anesthesia my husband took me home.  When I saw myself in the mirror, the sight was not a good one.  Apart from the bandage near my eye, I had another one behind my ear where they took the graft from and I looked like Vincent van Gogh after his attempt to cut off his ear.  The pain was manageable but when I wanted to read and put on my 👓 reading glasses, it became a bit tricky as I couldn't fit them properly behind my ears and on the bridge of my nose .  But my biggest issue was the pathology result which will tell us whether all the bad stuff was removed and if not, what the next steps have to be.

You can only imagine my relief when 7 days later I had an appointment with my surgeon to remove the bandages, I was told that everything that shouldn't be there was removed 🙋and all I need to do know is to take good care of my grafted skin which would take up to two months for it to blend in but it doesn’t bother me much since we are in a lockdown and can’t go anywhere anyway, except for food shopping and walking.   My driver's licence was is up for renewal but I managed to have my photos taken in advance so no need to worry about that.  And as for my blog, I have a few pairs of sunglasses that I will wear in rotation😎😎😎.

But enough of that.  Back to the outfit.  In my previous post I talked about knit dresses having their moment on the fashion scene.  Because there is not much tailoring involved, technically there should be no problems in finding a knit dress that would suit anyone’s taste, shape and budget.  You can have them short or long, slick and streamlined in black classic hue or multi coloured with a full skirt, wide  sleeves and a daring neckline.  It’s truly whatever tickles your fancy.

I, for example, was tickled by this little black number from Cos.  It looks simple but on a closer look has its own interesting details that makes it stands out amongst others LBD:  simple scoop neck cut and tight fit top with a full knee-length skirt with asymmetric hem not to mention it's warm fabric made of 100% wool and that feels so soft on your skin.

As with most monochromatic outfits, the accessories is the key.  Since it was a casual walk around Art Gallery of NSW (it's closed due to COVID😞), I settled for a simple black/gold choker (a hand-me down from my daughter) and a matching gold brooch (one of my late mother-in-law's favourites) and a pair of comfortable black boots.

  

As it was pleasantly warm winter day in Sydney, I wore my light zebra print coat and a black & white polka dot scarf just to add extra dimension.

If, for example, I would choose to wear this dress for dinner, I would accessorise it with a string of pearls or big statement earrings and more elegant footwear 👠

And this is it,  Stay safe and keep smiling 😊😊😊

Until then

Anna

 

WHAT WOULD I WEAR FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY DINNER

Hello dear friends, how are you all?

It has been a while since I posted anything on my blog.  It seems that this latest lockdown punched the air out of me and left me feeling deflated and bored.  Last year the company I work for was not affected by the lockdown and we continued to work from our office.   This year, however, we were not so lucky.  In order to bring the case numbers down, more severe restrictions were imposed which led to a complete closing down of the construction industry and as a result our company was left without any work and all of us were stood down.  Originally it was for two weeks only but now it's extended to a further four!!!  😢😢😢

My gym, which has been my refuge for many years is closed too, as everything else except essential services.  At least we are still allowed to go outside but just to get some take-aways, do the grocery shopping, walking or exercising.  I have already cut my hair twice 💇but it will need a professional colour treatment pretty soon and if the lockdown continues, it's going to be a problem.  I am sure, this scenario is very familiar to all of you, so enough said.  

My husband and I are trying to stay fit and keep a positive attitude as much as possible😊.  We do a lot of walking, reading and TV watching.  We really enjoyed watching Atlantic Crossing.  Based on historical facts, it is a story about the romance that blossomed between FDR and the Royal Princess of Norway during WWII.

The other one of our favourites was a lovely Italian drama series Made in Italy about the birth of Italian fashion industry set in 70's Milan in the offices of a fashion magazine called Appeal.  Rumour has it that the show is based on the life of late famed Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Italia,  FrancaSozzani.  I couldn't take my eyes off the miniskirts, high boots, big sunglasses, head scarves that were so expertly curated to reflect that era.  And speaking of fashion, I would like to tell you about the dress I am wearing.

It is yet another dress from Reiss.  I love this label but only dare to buy their clothes when they go on sale, which offers quite a generous discount.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you might remember me modelling a few Reiss items I acquired in a similar manner, otherwise I find that their price tags are rather high.  I was looking for a dress to wear to dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary and since it is in the middle of the Australian winter, I thought this knit dress would be perfect.  

The knitted dress is a big trend this winter season and there are so many options to suit everyone's taste, shape and budget.  From hugging rib dresses to luxurious cashmere turtlenecks, the knitted dress offers daylong comfort without compromising on style.

As on previous occasions, I found this dress on-line .  Its newly discounted price tag caught my initial attention.  I immediately liked its chic berry hue that reminds me of the colour of ripe figs.  The shape of the neck with a flattering off-the shoulder feature with a zip running along one shoulder, the draped silhouette and with yet another decorative zip running off-centre of the skirt - these appealing features confirmed my decision to buy it.

I was imagining wearing it to our anniversary dinner at one of our local faves called Brown Sugar with my LV classic black patent pumps and an oversized necklace which I bought in Sorrento a couple of years ago and only wear on special occasions, but it was not meant to be.  COVID has struck again and most of our state went into lockdown.  Nevertheless, we decided that since we can't go out, we will celebrate it at home and asked the restaurant to cook our celebratory dinner.

I covered our dining table with a linen tablecloth and used our finest glassware and crockery to make it look special.  When the food arrived, I lit up a candle, my husband poured our favourite wine, we made a toast and proceed to eat dinner.  My husband ordered their signature fish pie with leek and truffle oil with Paris mash while I enjoyed their squid ink pasta with spanner crab followed by a fruit crumble with vanilla ice cream which we shared.  The food was cooked to perfection, the dishes packed in special containers and were still hot when we unpacked them.  And the instruction on how to cook and assemble the crumble was dead simple.  It was not exactly how we planned it, but we made an effort to make this evening special and that is what counts.

How do you celebrate an occasion while on lockdown?  Please share your ideas in the comment section below.  I really appreciate your intake.

 Until then

Anna,

xoxo

This post was featured on Links à la Mode fashion roundup by Independent Fashion Bloggers.

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• Gossip Girl - Dressing like Audrey Hope by For Urban Women
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• 5 Chic Fashion Items to Elevate Any Basic Outfit by The Wardrobe Stylist
• What would I wear for our anniversary dinner by Looking Fabulous @ Fifty
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CARGO PANTS AND BOHO BLOUSE

Hello dear friends, how are you all?

It has been quite a while since I touched my blog.  As you may or may not know we are now in a lockdown which originally started as a two weeks affair and now it has been extended by another two and it's not clear what might happen next 😟😟😟.

On top of if, the weather is so bad, it's cold and raining all the time, so even though we are allowed to go outside to exercise or have a walk, it's not very pleasant to walk in the rain with a strong wind blowing into your face.

Anyhow, it occurred to me that rather then dwelling on the negatives, I should try and find some positive aspects of the current situation.  And here is one example of how I did it.

I figured that now is the time to do the things that you were meant to do a long time ago but have been delaying doing them for a lot of good reasons 😉.  One of those things that long has been on my agenda was cleaning up my closet, giving away the clothes that don't fit me anymore, mending lost buttons and torn hems, re-discovering some pieces that I forgot I bought and feel happy about it. 

Case in point, today's outfit.   I was going through the shelf where I store all my jeans, slacks and other pants that don't need to be hanged and came across these cargo pants.  If my memory serves me right, I bought these pants in 2019 and wore them for the last time about 5 years ago.  When I got them out, I wasn't even sure that they would still fit but surprise, surprise they did.  That alone put a great smile on my face 😂.

I then checked out all my tops trying to figure out what can I wear with it that I haven't worn before and came across this white boho style top with tassels and intricate embroidery running along the deep V-cut of the blouse and along the slits of the sleeves.  It was a hand me down from my older daughter, she bought for herself while holidays in Brazil but grew tired of it very quickly.  I used to wear it with a white denim pencil skirt but since the skirt became too tight and went to the clothing bin, I was struggling to find a perfect fit for it.

I decided to put the two together and actually liked the result.  The khaki, which belongs to the Green colour family, works well with the red elements of the blouse (Christmas decorations are the best example of this classic combo) and the loose fit of it goes well with the tight fitted cargos.

I do apologise about the quality of the images, my husband is still learning how to use his phone when taking photos indoors 😏.

So all I need now is for spring to arrive and COVID to go so that I can wear my newly re-born outfit.

And that is all for now, do please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Until then,

Anna

xoxo

IT IS TIME TO BRING BACK A LITTLE GLAMOUR

Hello dear friends, hope you are doing well.

Now that the COVID restrictions in Australia have been eased dramatically, our lives are almost back to BC (before COVID), alas overseas travel is still wishful thinking 😞, it’s time to bring back a little glamour.  

Speaking of which, have you by any chance happened to watch Halston miniseries on Netflix?  I am totally fascinated by his vision, the beauty of his creations, his enormous talent and driving ambition that helped him to rise to international fame during the 70's.  Pity about cocaine though, that initially was the starting point of his downfall😢.

I learned a few quite interesting aspects about Halston's life including the fact that his muse, Elsa Peretti, became a great jewellery designer for Tiffany's and when I looked her up on Google, it made me realise that a couple of pieces of jewellery that my husband has bought for me from the House of Tiffany were designed by her.  

Going back to today's outfit, it’s a funny fact, but it is only in recent years that I developed a taste for sparkles and other shiny fabrics (just check out the dress I wore for my last birthday party here) so it was no brainer that when I spotted this little black number twinkling under the bright spotlights of an H&M store, I grabbed it off the rack and went straight to the counter to pay for it. I was taken slightly by surprise that my husband liked it too so it became a keeper 👍.  

Apart from the presence of sparkles all over this jacket, its cropped silhouette adds an urban edge to it and would look great paired with white or black jeans and a t-shirt and could be worn during the day as well.  The reason these photos are taken indoors is that the weather outside is not photo-shoot friendly and I really wanted to share this post with you hence you get a glimpse of my home.

The silk red pants that I am wearing are quite old, I was quite pleased if not somewhat surprised to see that they still fit.  I was expecting the worst. They are from Equipment, I love their colour and cut, unfortunately, they crease quite a lot but it comes with the territory, I guess.  Ditto my old Christian Louboutin open toe shoes that you have seen me wearing quite often in the past.  I think the last time it was in 2019.  

My handbag is a belated gift from my niece, it’s from Tory Burch and is more a wallet on a chain since it does not fit anything thicker than credit cards or a driver’s licence.

And that is it for today’s post.

Would you like wearing shiny sparkling clothes? Please do share your thoughts in the comments below.

 

Until then

Anna

I am pleased to announce that this post was featured on Links à la Mode fashion roundup by Independent Fashion Bloggers.

More fashion articles:

• Who Put the Fruits onto the Garments? by High Latitude Style
• It's time to bring back some glamour by Looking Fabulous at Fifty