CHARITY SHOPPING

There are no rules when it comes to thrifting, but charity shopping can be daunting when you’re just starting out. I’m going to lay down what I think are good guidelines to go by to get the most out of the experience and help you separate the tat from the treasure! 

Firstly, and perhaps obviously, you’re not going to find good stuff in every charity shop you go into. These organisations turnover stock that’s been donated to them by the public and they have no say in what ends up on the rails, the shops don’t have any sort of merchandise buyer and therefore there’s no saying which one is the “best” or “worst”. Therefore, you really do need to shop around!

I had the day off from work yesterday and went into Canterbury and did what I call “the rounds” (basically every charity shop in town!) and bought absolutely nothing at all. It’s so easy to get disheartened and put off but you never know what might be donated the next day! 

Because you have to go “shop-hopping” I always like to make sure I have a good few hours to myself to have a look around, on a day when no one’s waiting for me and I can take my time. I find it really relaxing to go charity shopping on my own, to take my time looking through the over-filled rails, rummaging through boxes and overhearing the general chit chat of the elderly volunteers. One thing I hate to admit, but can be quite heart-breaking is if you go with a friend with the same tastes as yourself, there’s a chance you might be left empty handed while she stumbles across an amazing vintage dress at the other side of the shop. Worst case scenario, and there’s no hope of buying the same one for yourself and planning to wear it on separate occasions, this isn’t Topshop baby. But that’s entirely up to you. You might want someone to come along to knock some sense into you when you’re contemplating buying something hideous.

That being said, you might want to give the hideous things a try. Once on, a mad jumper might look really cool with a pair of jeans and some ankle boots, and a floral grandma sundress might be perfect for a summer’s day in the park. Don’t forget you can always customise certain stuff, especially dresses, to suit you. Shoulder pads are easily unpicked, and if you’ve got a sewing machine, go ahead and hitch up the skirt from unflattering calf length to a mini! If you’re not the sewing type, you probably have a nifty friend who would do it for you, make sure to give him or her some money for it, they might become your secret weapon. 

One thing I must say is don’t kid yourself into thinking you can “take in” something that’s too big for you. Unless it’s 100 percent worth a chance, it’s most probably not going to work. These kind of alterations are harder than just lopping off a bit of the length, I would resign to putting the garment back and leaving it for someone else, karma babes. Same think goes for stuff that’s far too small. Although, if you’re quite petite, it might be a good idea to check out stuff on the children’s rails! Size 14-15 in kids wear is basically a size 8. I bought a lilac fur gilet from the girls’ section once and it’s amazing. Kidswear is usually a lot cheaper too! You might find a denim jacket that fits on the shoulders but the arms are too short, in which case, roughly cut the sleeves off, add a spray of diluted bleach and voila! You have to be open to thinking outside the box.

Be sure not to forget the men’s section as well. If you’re lucky you might come across a cool band t-shirt, like the faded Stone Roses one I bought recently for £2 that nearly brought tears to my eyes with the sheer luck of it. Also naff 90s sportswear is definitely having a fashion moment, and the menswear rails are where it’s at for that. A white FILA t-shirt with at least one piece of fake gold jewellery, some denim shorts and a ponytail is gonna look cool. 

Speaking of jewellery, charity shops are the place to be for sourcing out cheap and cheerful clip on earrings, rings, necklace, brooches... They can really make a difference to an outfit, a chunky gold chain worn under the collar of a polo shirt paired with a flippy skirt and cute flats is gonna take the outfit from overly preppy/pretty to something altogether more interesting. It’s all about the styling! I once had this teddybear brooch that I wore pinned to my beloved orange tartan 60s coat, he was so cute. He’s long lost but for 99p he lived a very fulfilling second life. I must add that brooches might seem hard to wear (“where the hell do I put this?”) but be inventive. A sparkly brooch can be a hair accessory, pinned to a ponytail band or fixed in to an up-do with hair pins, very 1920s movie star.

Look out for other accessories such as bags, belts and shoes too! I generally wouldn’t buy anything overly scuffed or worn in, neither would I buy any fake leather items. A thing I’ve found with vintage shoes, mainly low heeled courts, is that even if they fit perfectly, there’s a good chance they’re going to fall apart. It’s something to do with the ancient dried up glue which sets the suede or whatever to the sole of the shoe, and as what happened to me on two occasions is that your foot starts to slide out of the side where they’ve come apart at the seams. Not the best look... but they were worth it at the time and I got a few wears out of them!

Scarves are the real jackpot, in my opinion, when charity shopping for accessories. They’re unlikely to be more than a couple of quid and can drastically switch up an otherwise bland outfit by adding a pop of colour. When it’s so easy to be confined to darker colours in Winter, my bright pink tartan scarf takes my khaki parka, black jeans and biker boots to another level. Vintage neck scarfs can also be fabulous game changers. A floral scarf can be tied into a bow round your hair or dress up a plain handbag as easily as it can be used to cinch in the waist of a soft baggy tshirt dress for a girly day at the beach. Always look out for silk scarves, they’re much better quality and won’t keep slipping out of place like shiny synthetic ones will. Silk scarves are likely to be designer labels too, I’ve got a pretty Liberty print one and a loud tropical floral Pierre Cardin one, both from charity shops and if I’m not mistaken they were both 50p each. You could also cover a plain notebook in a silk scarf, or do whatever you want with it really for 50p. 

On a last note, city centre charity shops are always going to be more expensive than ones off the beaten track. They’re also more likely to have a “vintage section” which is quite a pet hate of mine as these have really only been introduced in the past five years when shops have cottoned on to the fact that some items are sought after, as a vintage, eclectic look has become a major trend and they “get it”. I wouldn’t have a problem with this if it wasn’t that the prices are majorly bumped up to vintage shop levels. Obviously vintage shops are businesses that rely on profit rather than a charity organisation and well, frankly I just don’t really like it and it kind of cringes me out.

You’re not going to find this happening in outer-city areas and it’s always a fun day out to get the train to a neighbouring town with a couple of friends and go explore the charity shops there! Because of the recession, rising rent prices and reduced business has sadly put a lot of shops out of business on the British high street, and that’s why there are a lot more charity shops which get their rents massively subsidised popping up, especially in lower-income areas. My idea of a perfect day would be a trip to a sleepy seaside town, somewhere like Ramsgate or Margate, taking time to have a look around the shops for cheap as chips loot, before heading to the beach with some actual fish and chips before calling it a day.