Buying goodwill

I love clothes, as you’ve no doubt gathered. What I love most is the discovery of clothes. Different fabrics, colours and styles. The choice that you can be a different person with the clothes that you wear and the colours you choose. Clothes are sadly very expensive and as I have a very short attention span i am constantly looking for new things, more so than my bank balance can afford. The obvious answer literally stares you in the face when you go shopping locally. Why on earth aren’t I looking more in charity shops?

The other day I popped into a few and I was blown away by the range of clothes available. There are some seriously good quality clothes available in these shops. It’s certainly far from the old image of dusty, smelly stores that you wouldn’t really venture into. I bought several tops for about £3 each, one of them being a Celia Birtwell diffusion range and also a lovely white linen skirt for a mere £4. Not a mark on any of them and to be honest they didn’t look as if they had even been worn.

I’m not precious about where I buy my clothes from, apart of course from lines that are clearly ethically unsuitable. If I like the style and the quality is good then I’m interested. Plus there is the obvious fact that you are donating money to charity whilst getting yourself a new item. Yes you do have to have a good look as a lot of the clothes aren’t great, but when you get a bargain there, it is a great feeling. Sustainability plays a big part in this and also not contributing to the endless pile of fast fashion that is out there.

I have a good friend who is a charity shop queen. The things she finds are unbelievable and she always looks so good. She sticks to certain price points and will not spend more. The one thing that i will say too is that I feel we are getting better at being honest about where we get our clothes from. It’s no longer a kind of secret that we buy from charity shops. I will openly admit where ‘i get my bargains from. If other people want to judge then that’s up to them. 

So yes I am a convert! I’ll continue to scour the charity shops and feel really chuffed when I find a good bargain. Hope you feel the same!