Charity shopping

 In true student style I have once again been raiding the charity shops, my thought process goes down the road of 'if it's from a charity shop I'm allowed to buy it no matter how poor I am'- it's for charity after all... Anyway, I honestly think the charity shops around where I live are some of the best, there's always nice clothes and they're so cheap, so it's a win win situation. The other day it was raining on my way home from college so I thought I would have a look in the shops while I waited for a lift home and ended up buying a beautiful new 'Dickies' check shirt, it's really thick and warm and just generally nice. I wore it out the other day when one of my friends had a Christmas meal for everyone (which was amazing by the way!) I wanted to dress nice, but obviously it was just a chilled thing so I wore a fitted black skirt and top tucked in and then threw my shirt over the top. It was really comfortable, I think this might be one of my favourite charity shop finds so far. Hope everyone is enjoying the festive season, Merry Christmas guys! Love and stuff x

Growing out and growing in take 2

So, not all that long ago I posted about 'dip-dye' which at the time was only just showing its self on the fashion scene. And now around half a year later it's everywhere, It's no longer a trend that's such high fashion seeing it anywhere other than the catwalk is unusual. Personally I like the trend, I think some people pull it off better than others and I think certain colours can work really well. Anyway, in the exact same way as in my last post about this I've found myself in the same position. Unintentionally, very on trend. I've died my hair so many times the last dye I used didn't react well to going over the bleach and the chlorine from swimming has made the bleach blonder. So here I have it. Dip-dye. Love and stuff x

Wishful thinking DIY style

 At some point in the summer I was given an old pair of jeans from a friend which I intended to turn into some seriously cool shorts; however, here we are well and truly in winter and they are still not finished. I've taken to wearing them half finished though, they looked sad just handing on my wall for months on end so down they came. I'm still hoping to finish them when I've brought more supplies, probably next summer when it's more appropriate weather for bare legs. So, here's what happened to create these bad boys: I cut the initial jeans into shorts (Seemed like the obvious first step...) then scrunched them into a ball tied together with elastic bands and dyed them with pink dye, I then frayed the bottoms and turned them up before starting the part which is still in the process of happening, I un-stitched part of the back pocket and started filling it with studs. It was going well, until I ran out of studs. But here they are anyway, still in the process of becoming the 'seriously cool shorts' I hoped for. Obviously, as anybody from England could probably guess I have not been wearing them out without tights, but for the sake of the pictures my house is definitely warm enough to brave the bare legs. Love and stuff x

Playing dress up

I rarely get the chance to dress up, but with a lot of my friends turning 18 this year it seems to becoming a more regular thing which I absolutely love! So a few of my friends had a joint 18th a few weekends back, everyone was dressed up and looked extremely beautiful and I took the chance to show off my new 'body' (is that what they're called, it sounds weird?! Think leotard and you're there...). It's extremely revealing but I think when paired with the right outfit it can look nice, without showing too much skin. Body-con skirt couldn't have worked, so I paired it with a pleated skirt, I felt slightly childish at first, I haven't worn pleats since primary school, but when put into perspective the mainly see through top definitely aged the outfit slightly. In an attempt to look slightly more sophisticated I parted my hair in the middle, hiding my undercut, but I'm not 100% about it still, I think I'm a side parting girl through and through. So here goes, I'm leaving you with a picture of me and best friend Flora (completely outshone by her beauty and stupidly long, skinny legs), I know it's not the best outfit picture but I'm sure you get the general idea. Love and Stuff x 

Rocking a band tee

If we're talking tees, chances are we're talking wolf, as they're one of my favourite things. But nope, today, we're talking band tees. They're always good for casual, paired with jeans, skirts, shorts, shirts over the top, anything goes. The only rule, in my opinion, is that you've actually heard of the band, liking them would be a bonus. Am I being a 'music snob' by thinking wearing a band top when you've never actually heard of the band is just pretentious, opinions please?! But anyway, I currently have a Hendrix one which I cut the sleeves off and a Ramones one courtesy of my brother's wardrobe clear out because who doesn't love hand me downs, and let's face it, they look better on me! My wardrobes also spilling out a couple of Beatles tops, the yellow submarine crop top from H&M a few seasons back is always a winner. All my band tees seem to be pretty old school, but I'm a sucker for old music. I have my eye on an amazing Bowie vest though and I cannot wait to sport my main mans face on my top! I'm gunna have to keep it short because I'm in desperate need of revising for my theory test tomorrow, wish me luck. So, band tees, supporting your favourite band or just a sucker for a fashion statement? Love and stuff x

Cutting edge

As most of you can probably tell I change my hair alot, it's been almost every colour imaginable, we're talking, red, purple, orange, blond, brown... Ok, so not every colour but a fair few, it's been long and short and now it's settled in as mid-length just below my shoulders. I've been putting off dying it again because I don't want it to be in bad condition again, so I became ridiculously bored with my average looking hair, hence my new arrival, the undercut. I would like to say it was a spurr of the moment, 'what's the worst that could happen' type of decision, but it's something I've been contemplating for a seriously long time. I was too worried about what was going to happen when I decided I wanted to grow it out, I'm still not sure, but I guess that's something I will worry about when I get bored of it (knowing me not too far in the future). But anyway, I'm so glad I finally plucked up the courage to have it cut, I love it. I can hide it if I want to which is always good and when I part my hair in the middle you can't even tell it's there. And it's really, really fun to stroke when it's short. A lot of people hate it but what do you guys think? Love and stuff x

By Becki Harvey- http://www.flickr.com/photos/beckiharvey/

Sucker for a sleeveless shirt

I am an absolute sucker for a shirt, any kind of shirt, there's just something about them, you can wear them with almost anything and there are so many different types. This summers main trend and quite possibly one of my favourite for a while, the sleeveless shirt. I have a burgundy one from topshop which I love and a check crop one which was a favourite find from ebay, but of course I'm always on the look out for new ones to add to my collection, so when I saw this man's shirt in a charity shop, I knew it was meant to be! It took a hell of a lot of sewing (I'm yet to learn the art of machining so it was all done by hand) but it was totally worth it. The shirt I brought was far too wide for me so I cut the sides and re-hemmed them, which made it more fitted and then, of course, I took the sleeves off! I love it, it has a really nice old fashioned collar on it which works so well with the buttoned up look. I wore it out the other night with high wasted shorts, I tied it so it was cropped even though I was going camping, but it was worth the cold. Apologies about the pictures, there from my webcam rather than camera. Love and stuff x

New season, new hat

 In the winter I blogged about my various woolly hats and beanies so it seems reasonable that I dedicate a post to my summer hat. So here it is. It's beautiful, maybe less practical than my winter collection as there isn't much sun for it to protect me from and I spend a large percentage of my time when i wear it chasing it around in the wind, but it's pretty so I can live with it. I had been searching everywhere for one since last summer, after my mumma had been pestering me to wear a hat in the sun and a baseball cap just wasn't cutting it anymore! But eventually I found this cute little one on the ASOS site, I've been trying to stop spending so much money shopping but, well, it's a necessity isn't it?! I've just got back from an amazing weekend down in Newquay at boardmasters festival and am eagerly awaiting packing off to onelove festival this weekend, I'm a barefoot festival girl at heart. I'm not sure if I can risk bringing my hat with me though, not sure i could live with myself if i lost it, I'm thinking just shorts, picture tops and bandannas. Oh, and I almost forgot, every girls summer essential, I have a braid! My friend does them, i had one last summer as well, I love the bright colours, and mine has a little heart bead at the bottom. I could ramble about my love for my braid forever so I'll just leave you with pictures, my hat paired with my button up dress also from ASOS (I felt like I should be in the film Madeline walking around yesterday) and of course, a picture of my braid. Love and stuff x

Dressing to the max(i)

 It's a cliche post title I know, but I couldn't help myself. I walked into my kitchen today and my mum looked at me and asked what I was wearing in a kind of quizzical yet disapproving way, I'm used to this kind of thing but this time I was slightly confused; normally it's because my skirts are too short but today I'm wearing a floor length skirt. Granted it may be that the skirt I'm wearing is one I borrowed from my nan for a play when I was in year six, but it's summer and maxi is on trend right now! I've been contemplating buying a maxi dress all year now but when I tried one on last summer I was told they were for older people and I couldn't pull one off. This may be the case, but I think a maxi skirt dressed in the right way can look just as good as anything shorter. I figured by pairing it with my cut up i love new york tee, it would look edgy and not too grown up. How are we feeling about floor length then, should we save it for the 'grown ups' or should we all save a place for one in our wardrobes? Love and stuff x

Summer's bright

So in my last post I mentioned all the neon jewellery that's filling the shops and fuelling my need for summer (anybody else from England will feel my pain) but it's not just the jewellery that's sporting florescent brights this season, designers seem to have gone all out, we're talking tie dye, coloured trousers, cardigans and dresses. It's pretty standard procedure and not exactly surprising that out comes the sun closely followed by the summer brights, cheering up your wardrobe with the empty promise of warmth (I'm sounding angry, but I just really need some sun!) But I do have to say, coloured trousers are a definite must have; whether we are talking the bright red or blue chinos as seen in Topshop or coloured jeans, there is just something edgy and fun about them. They're easy to wear and manage to somehow bridge the gap between casual and smart. Who knew?! Personally I can't pull of the chino look, I wish I could but it just doesn't work for me so I'm playing it safe with some coloured jeans. My favourite pair are topshop's 'pink' jeans, even though they're more burgundy than pink they're so simple and you can dress them up or down. They're great for when I'm in a rush and just want to shove on jeans and a top before running out the door but they also go amazingly with heels if I'm going out but I'm not in the mood for a dress. As much as I want to carry on writing I have a new camera so I'm off to play, but I've been busy with some fashion 'DIY' so i'll be posting it soon! Love and stuff x

Summers back and so am I

 Exams are over for me and summer is practically here, well it's here in that the florals and neon brights are all over the shops even if the weather is still miserable. So, I have brought out the summer dress, even if I am still having to wear it with tights, maybe it will coax the sun out from where ever it is hiding, it is June after all! I was out shopping yesterday and the highstreet is full of small, festival style jewellery, it's all so cute, which is perhaps why my mantra for summer bright bracelets is 'how many can you fit on your wrists before it becomes problematic.' The answer is a lot in case you were wondering. I'm just checking in today, hoping that somebody out there is still reading, but I will be posting more often, so look out for my updates on my favourite summer trends; I'm thinking vans with ruffle socks, shorts with aztec print zests and festival style jewellery. Love and stuff x 

Exam time

I don't have much time to post at the moment, i've been so busy with school work and the amazing weather! I promise I will get back to posting to you guys soon, maybe after my exams. Don't miss me too much. Love and stuff x

Rings, rings & rings

It's been such a long time since I've posted, but I'm swamped beyond belief with exams coming up. In the time since I last posted I have discovered a new love for rings and have already started quite an impressive selection. Recently topshop have had some really nice ones, except their websites a bit unpredictable in that they remove a lot of there things quite quickly, meaning some of the really nice ones I just don't get a chance to buy, which sucks. I really like the black cross rings which spread across two fingers, they make such a statement and I will definitely be buying one in the near future; although I'm not sure how practical they would be, mainly as they stick two of your fingers together...Any ideas on that, do they get in the way a lot? At the moment I'm wearing three rings, which are the three I wear everyday a skull on my right middle finger with a twisted arrow on my index finger and a claw with a ball on my left middle finger (Sounds weird, it's hard to describe, but it's nice, honest!)

Since this picture has been taken my ring with birds across has broken, but I replaced with with a different one, the one that i've already struggled to describe, the one with the claw! I've also found my white tiger ring, which I brought from Matalan a few years ago, which has two tiger heads meeting in the middle. 
I have my easter ball on Thursday and then I break up from college on Friday, so I will post more during the holiday, i'll even show you what I wear on Thursday. Love and stuff x
(skull & bird ring- Topshop, arrow ring- accessorise, horse- gift)

Time for a change.

 I finally did it. After months of contemplating whether or not I should dye my hair and what colour I should go I finally made a decision.Purple! The colouring hasn't gone patchy at all which I was worried about because of the bleach and fingers crossed it doesn't run out too much. The colour I used was 'Mystic plum' by schwarzopf colour live XXL and I really like it. The colour looks quite different from the one on the box, but that might be because it is meant for dark hair and I put it on top of blond, but it shines pink under light which I love!Now I just have to wait in hope that it doesn't fade to grey after a few washes which is what happened last time I dyed my hair purple. Purple's quite a popular colour at the moment, all though it's nowhere near as popular as red, but I have a feeling it will come more into fashion as people want to stand out with bright hair but as so many people have red hair at the moment it's hardly a statement. In a way I don't want it to come in though because although I'm not trying to 'make a statement' by what I wear or how I dye my hair I quite like standing out from everyone a little bit. I have a feeling I will miss my blond hair after a while, it's my trusty safe colour, but for now I'm loving my purple hair. It was my Birthday yesterday so now i'm off to eat carrot cake. Love and stuff x

Growing out and growing in.

Ashlee Simpson

So my hair dye is growing out, but it appears it's also growing in-to fashion?! 'Dip dye' has been slowly creeping into style, with people like Drew Barrymore letting there roots grow out, but now it's becoming more drastic, with the colours completely contrasting. I really like the look, especially with bright colours, but I'm slightly shocked that it's such high fashion! Essentially, you're going into a hair salon and asking them to give you roots, things people spend so much time trying to avoid! If my hair was long enough I would definitely 'dip dye' a fun colour, I've seen it done with turquoise on white blond and it is amazing! But for now I will just stick with my short hair, roots and all. Sorry for the bad quality of my own picture, it was taken on my computer. Love and stuff x

Studs...

It's been a while again, but I have something so show you! I'm getting really into studs at the moment, and customising my clothes. Usually I stop with cutting the neck or sleeves of a t-shirt or the bottom off a skirt but I decided to experiment with it a bit more recently and I pierced studs around the coller of my shirt. I used a shirt I 'borrowed' of my dad a while back (hope you don't mind!) and took the studs of an old studded belt; It was much easier than I thought it was going to be as the studs pierced the fabric so easily, the only trouble I had was making sure they were all straight, but I thought it was successful, it makes a simple shirt look so much more interesting, but it's just as easy to wear. What do you guys think? Also, I think the shirt was from Tesco if anybody was wondering.Love and stuff x 

Let's talk piercings...

I'm just in one of those moods today, one of those amazing moods where I'm happy for no reason at all, maybe it's the new dragon top I'm sporting or the fact that my college day started at half past 12, who really knows. Anyway, here's the deal, I love piercings. I only have 6 at the moment, my first and second in my ears, top cartilage, tragus and nose, but I want more. At the moment I really want my septum pierced (the part in your nose) I really like it, but I think I'm too scared to ever get it done, apparently it's seriously painful... I also love bars across the back of your neck, they are so cool, and you can hide them when your hair is down or show them off when your hair is up. But I couldn't ever have one because I've heard sometimes implants surface and come up through your skin, which is kinda, erm, gross...And also because I have a problem with my spine it probably wouldn't be a good idea. I would consider having my lip pierced though, I really like them, but I think a lip and nose ring would be a bit too much... Perhaps I will jut stick with my six for now. I know piercings are sometimes controversial, especially facial piercings, what do you guys think of them? Love and stuff x

Unimpressive editing out of the nose ring

Fashion, an art form that you wear.

Ok, so I'm officially rubbish at posting and I'm sorry. I've left it ages since I posted last. I've written numerous posts here before deleting them at the risk of sounding pretentious. They were all about not being sure about 'individualism' trending or ultimately disliking the dictation that fashion has on our lives. I think it all sparks from wanting to be seen as an individual, my own person, but really it doesn't come down to what we wear does it? You can't hide behind your clothes (in a metaphorical sense obviously as physically this is exactly what we are doing, which for most of us is a very good thing...) Ultimately clothes don't matter, it's the person you are that's going to get you where you want in life, but even as I know this clothes are still so important to me, they reflect your personality and mood, it's just difficult to understand why. Fashion is just art that you wear, and so much in life is based around art so I'm not sure why I'm finding it so difficult to grasp the concept of fashion, perhaps I'm just naive in thinking everybody is there own person. I've confused myself with all of this. Just tell me, what does fashion mean to you? Love and stuff x

Proof that I occasionally do some work...

I realised I always say in my posts how drowned I am in work, so I thought maybe I would show you some of what i have been working on recently (Although only from my photography, as I'm not sure how interested you guys would be in an analysis of techniques used in Hamlet or French verbs). So here are some pictures from my portfolio this year.

Landscapes [Hayle beach]

Sky [Hayle beach]

Water

Portraits

Landscapes

 All images copy right to Abigail Moss-Coomes. Please don't use my pictures. All my pictures are taken using a nikon D40 and standard nikon 18-55mm lens; which is scratched; that is what the curved mark in the top landscape images is.  Love and stuff x

And so the shoe addiction continues...

I don't like going this long between my blogs, especially when such lovely people have been taking the time to read and comment on my posts. But I'm seriously swamped in school work (which I say all the time!) Even though my school work tends to include setting it all up around me and then getting sidetracked by watching TV online or blogging...But I'm definitely trying to keep on top of it all since the start of the new term. 
So i have to admit, it happened again, i brought new shoes, I know i should stop, it's getting ridiculous, but i figured they were too beautiful to miss out on! My respectable excuse was the zip on the back of my old heels keeps coming undone when i walk, meaning i twist my ankles, but then i realised, who needs an excuse to go shoe shopping?! They are wedges, which means they are amazingly comfortable and just generally beautiful. Although i haven't had a chance to wear them out yet because of the miserable weather and suede and rain definitely do not blend well.

The mess I call my life...

They might be my new favourite pair...

This is also the new shirt I brought in a lovely charity shop near my college the other day, it's on of the really thick warm ones i have always wanted. Love and stuff x    

If we're chasing perfection what are we really chasing?

A while ago I changed my blog name from 'stupid has stories' to 'chasing perfection...' I just didn't think my first name really suited my blog which was mainly about clothes. But honestly, I'm not chasing 'perfection'  because who is to judge what is perfect? When i was younger people always used to say 'practice makes perfect', but it didn't it just made you better. You can be prefect in one persons eyes, or lots of people's eyes, but there is nothing to say that everybody is going to think that it is perfect. So if we are chasing perfection what are we really chasing? Except self doubt, as we are always in search for something better. So, perhaps we are all perfect, just in our own way? 
I've always said I wanted to care less, about everything, but maybe I took it slightly too far when after a night in with some friends I decided shaving one eyebrow off would be a good idea I'm not joking, unfortunately i now how to live with one eyebrow until the other one grows back! (Maybe i just contradicted my own point about everybody being perfect in their own way...) love and stuff x

Hello 2011

Goodbye 2010, you have been beautiful, one of the best so far. I can't believe it's over already! It seems to have passed so quickly. But it has truly been amazing. Finishing school, the long hot summer, festivals, parties, new college, qualifying as a lifeguard, It's all such good memories. But i do really think that this year is going to be a good one, more festivals, new friends, finally getting over being ill after months, everything. I'm not, however, making a new years resolution, personally i struggle to see the point as i truly believe if you want something you should do it, there is no point in waiting for it. There are things i want to make sure i do this year, like make sure i work harder at college, but i don't see them as resolutions as i would be doing it even if it wasn't the new year...Speaking of working harder this History test tomorrow would be a good place to start so i will leave you with some pictures from 2010, happy reminiscing :) What about everyone else though, do you have any new years resolutions? Love and stuff x

Hopfarm festival

Redfest festival

Me at hopfarm festival