This is my New Years eve outfit (that’s if I was social enough to go out ha!) It’s a beautiful vintage dress I purchased yesterday for the amazing price of £3, it was one of three items I picked up from my local Cancer research store. You see its been a long time since I posted an outfit photo on here, I no longer buy from the hight street, and as someone who was once a fashion blogger, being sent throw away fashion to encourage others to purchase it, it didn’t seem like I would fit in with my posts now, but then I thought why not? If I can encourage people to purchase clothing from brands, why can I not do a compete reversal and encourage people to buy pre loved?
I’ve always been a fan of vintage stores, car boots and charity shops, but apart from the odd vintage piece of clothing from a vintage store (because thats cool right?) I’d never really considered buying my clothing preloved. At the start of 2019 I visited a charity shop with my Mum, she had been raving about all the clothes she’d got from a couple of charity shops, I went in and I stood there thinking “there’s going to be NOTHING in my style” I couldn’t even be bothered to look though the rails. This particular charity shop was sparkling clean, everything smelt so fresh, everything was on the same type of hanger and all the clothes were organised by colour- not size. But still I stood there, not interested, then out the corner of my eye I saw a vintage style red cardigan, the wooden buttons had cute cherries on them, and the pockets had two tiny knitted flowers and cherries dangling on them, it was love, but then I looked again and saw it was a size 12, “ugh not my size, I’m a size 8, it’ll never fit”, my Mum told me to try it on as you never know, and so I did – it was a perfect fit. This was my first charity shop clothing buy and it was the bargain price of £3.
At this point I was still buying clothing from the high street, popping into Primark and spending £90 on a mountain of clothes, “it’s only £15 I’d say”. I joined my Mum on a few more charity shopping trips and picked up a flowing H&M dress covered in delicate flowers and a dress from NEXT that was perfect for my holiday, both costing no more than £3. I was chuffed to bits with my finds (I’m from Yorkshire, can you tell?) and I had suddenly caught the bug of preloved clothing. I started going into stores and I would find my self thinking, “but I could get a dress for a few pounds instead of this” I started looking on eBay and Facebook market place for Cath Kidston dresses and skirts, and was able to purchase brand new skirts and dresses for a fraction of the price! Me and my Mum started visiting the charity stores weekly and my wardrobe started expanding with all these new brands I wouldn’t normally buy from, as I couldn’t ever bring myself to spend £120 on a dress, and before I knew it, my wardrobe was full and I was hooked on the thrill of getting a bargain! I also started to take bags and bags of old clothing (a lot unworn) to the charity shops, and it felt good! I didn’t have the guilt I’d had in the past of donating unworn clothes, and thinking “oh god all that money I wasted” because now I was replacing it with preloved (better quality) clothing at amazing prices, and helping such good causes.
It’s been 9 months since I bought any new clothing from the high street, I’ve had faux fur coats, brand new boots, designer shirts, vintage dresses, outdoor coats, brand new coats, heels, so many pieces of clothing still with their tags on including PJ’s. I’ve completely converted my boyfriend who is obsessed with hunting down hollister and jack wills shirts for £3! If its something you have never thought about, it could be something for you to try in the new year, each week we buy 38m items and 11m items go to landfill, so not only does it help the environment but its the perfect time to save money and help a local charity.
Here are my top tips for shopping for preloved clothing in charity stores
-NEVER look at the size tag, I have picked up sizes from a 6 to a 14, when you see something you love just try it on, there’s only going to be that one in the shop, so you’ll be hoping it fits regardless of the size!
-Lots of charities that have several stores in a city will have a distribution centre, this means they pick through everything and send certain items to certain areas, so they are more likely to send the more expensive donations to charity stores that would be more likely to receive those items.
-Make sure to look over items for any holes or marks, some stores are amazing at checking but others not so much!
-Don’t be put off if you go in and there is nothing, its always hit and miss, just remember you’re not the only person who donates your style or even new clothing.
-Some stores have a really quick turn over, my two favourite stores are Dove House Hospice, which is a local hospice that really helped my Gran and a Cancer Research store on a retail park. Their items change constantly as they receive so many donations and they charge low prices £3-£4 meaning it all gets snapped up quick which means the rails are always being filled up! So its worth working out which stores to visit more regularly.
-Not your style, just try it, it’s time to be imaginative, and the best bit is you’re not going to see 7 other people walking around in the same item.
-If you find something, tell your friends and encourage them to go hunting with you next time, it’s always great to have a partner in crime.
-Now that I visit quite often, if I find anything in my wardrobe that I no longer want I put it aside and take it along with me the next time I visit. It’s really helping me keep on top of my wardrobe monster!
Do you shop pre loved? or is it something you have never really got into? If you’re feeling inspired by my thrifty hauls make sure to follow me on twitter and Instagram were I plan on sharing a lot more of my finds!
Much Love
Natasha x
