Friday 26 February 2016

STARS FOR THE DAY



Photographer:Patrick Boyd 
Taken at  The Little Tea House, Ilkley. 

What an exciting day! We have been approached by a national magazine to talk about our blog, and they sent along a journalist to interview us about our style, our lives and our travels.  Then the photographer took pictures of us in a lovely little tea shop in Ilkley which we visit sometimes. However, we were at pains to point out that we are not generally "ladies who lunch", though we do meet up very occasionally for a bite to eat.
We also went to one of Anne H's favourite shops, Covet, and while we carefully avoided buying anything this time, the photographer and journalist were very taken with their merchandise!

On the left Anne H wears blouse from Whistles, bangle from The White Company, jeans from M.i.h.
And on the right Anne C wears jade green tunic top and black stretch jeans from Marks & Spencer with scarf from Deichmann. The watch is from Swarovski (one of her fave shops) and the ring also has Swarovski crystals but was a present which was bought in Italy.

Anne H wears jumper and necklace from Covet, Mih jeans again, shoes from Dune, while the bangle was a vintage find.



Anne C is wearing tangerine long sweater with autumn shades scarf, both from H&M, black jeans from Marks & Spencer again, and suede studded ankle boots from Primark.

We're not allowed to mention which magazine it is, but we will let you see the article when it's published, so watch this space!
SHARE:

Friday 19 February 2016

THE WAY WE WERE....

Having been friends since our twenties, we thought you would like to see how we looked back in the day!  And please be shocked to see some colour from Anne H, not to mention the very dodgy spectacles. I think Deirdre Barlow may have been the inspiration. 


Hair styles and colour have varied somewhat during the years, and a few other things besides, but the firm friendship has never changed. 




And back to current day and trends.  Anne C is wearing a maroon coat with faux fur collar teamed with black jeans - both from Asda of all places (current stock) - with maroon leather gloves from Tesco (don't you just love supermarket brands?) while Anne H has on a knitted jacket from The White Company with some MaxMara Weekend trousers that have been in her wardrobe for years.  The scarf is from Anthropologie.  http://www.anthropologie.com  A great place for accessories, clothing and homewares.  



Hunting down old photos was fun and of course we were distracted and took a few too many trips down memory lane.  Anne C wears a red linen coat dress from Masai in Fenwicks, with necklace which she bought in France an age ago (ruby and diamond ring and earrings courtesy of Mr C for their ruby wedding anniversary), and Anne H the same grey cardigan jacket teamed with black polo from M&Co and a COS necklace. Her spectacles are from Versace and much more understated than the styles of old.
SHARE:

Friday 12 February 2016

COLOUR CO-ORDINATING

Anne C here.  I love to co-ordinate outfits with bright and colourful accessories, and the best thing is they're relatively cheap so it doesn't cost so much to turn a simple or plain outfit into something a little more special.
Of course I do have accessories in just about every colour and shade of the rainbow, but today I have just pulled together a few items in my favourite palettes to illustrate how I would add splashes of colour to lift plain dark colours.

The purple accessories would probably be worn with a black evening dress - I do have a purple cocktail dress but you would be surprised how many shades of purple there are, and having too many matchy-matchy items just wouldn't work!  I have been collecting scarves, jewellery and handbags for years and have hundreds of items, but unfortunately most are no longer in the shops.

I also like quite a bit of bling - especially for evenings - and they can certainly lift a plain black evening dress.






I also love bright green, so am wearing this with black skinny jeans and my trusty Max Mara wool coat.  I picked up the green necklace during a visit to Australia (I sound well travelled don't I??) while the cardigan and scarf are from M&S.  I love the green gloves which are an unusual colour and which I don't think I have ever seen anything similar since.


The pink items (my favourite colour) are more for daytime.  The bag I bought in France some years ago and the earrings came from Vietnam - I love to shop wherever I go and nearly always buy jewellery.  Actually the pink pearls are a recent purchase from my friend Liz at Simply Devine in Tadcaster - as are the gorgeous soft purple leather gloves in the purple accessories picture.
SHARE:

Friday 5 February 2016

FABULOUS AMSTERDAM



I have just got back from a break in Amsterdam - a Christmas present from my daughter Lizzy (shotfromthestreet.com) and what a wonderful present it was too!  Amsterdam is such a pretty city, great for walking around and so so friendly and relaxed.  We stayed in a lovely boutique hotel - Hotel V - hotelvnesplein.nl right in the heart of the city, near Dam Square. I was pleased to find that it was informal and friendly and not the usual 'Boutique' experience where you feel you should have stepped out of the pages of Vogue and be at least 20 years younger!  The staff were lovely and the rooms were to die for - discrete furnishings with some great ideas to take home. I loved this mirror in particular.   





The hotel restaurant - the Lobby Restaurant and Bar - was so good we enjoyed two of our three evening meals there.  



Amsterdam is a great city for shopping with lots to offer including the usual high street stores that we are all familiar with, but what was so refreshing was to find so many individual shops that had an eclectic mix of clothes and homewares.  A couple of my favourites are here and I splashed out on some clothing in both.  The first one is Mevrouw Bouwers on Stadhouderskade  http://www.mevrouwbouwers.nl where I bought a lovely lightweight coat in the sale by Carin Wester.  Bouwers bill themselves as an 'experience store' and stock clothes, handbags, food, shoes, accessories ..... the list goes on and on.  But what I really loved was the minimal vibe and classic cuts of the clothing.  


My second shopping find was Hutspot http://www.hutspotamsterdam.com where I purchased some black skinnies by Won Hundred.  It is so nice to find new brands and this is very much Hutspot's ethos - to showcase new and interesting brands, designers and artists within their retail environment.   Hutspot is more than just a clothing store as they incorporate a barbers and a rather lovely cafe. Definitely worth a visit. 



After a heavy morning shopping we took time out for lunch at a great burger restaurant, Geftlit, over the road from Hutspot on Van Woustraat.  



We spent a lot of time exploring, including a visit to the film museum Eye, taking the free ferry from Central Station, and to Anne Franks house.  But just wandering the streets and canal sides was the best part .  It took us a while to get our bearings, but once we had figured out which way up for the map we had it nailed and made the most of the dry weather to see as much as possible.  Amsterdam is a perfect destination for a short break and somewhere I will definitely be visiting again.  
 
SHARE:
© Sensational Baby Boomers

This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services - Click here for information.

Blogger Template Created by pipdig