If you are not a bargain loving thrifter, get to be! What is not to love about charity shop shopping?!
Charity shops are filled with one-off items and lots of original vintage clothing. These days it is so easy to look the same as everyone else; when a new style becomes popular all other companies jump on the bandwagon and soon everyone is walking round looking like clones of each other. Don’t get me wrong, I love some of the styles that have been popular lately, especially animal print, because who doesn’t love embracing their inner Scary Spice, right? But there is nothing better than originality and wearing clothing that you can guarantee you are not going to see at least 20 other people wearing whilst walking around the city.
“becoming a savvy shopper is friendly on your student funds”
Becoming a savvy shopper is friendly on your student funds, leaving you with more money to spend in Pepper Rocks! Some charity shops can be over priced and that is defeating one of the main reasons as to why people love to buy from them so much. So, for me I love to find the shops with the best bargains; Barnardo’s on Angel Row is one of my favourites and if you have a good rummage you can always find some cheap 90’s retro beauties.
If you live on Sutton Bonington campus (like I used to), you soon realise that there is not much to do around the area, so to make my own fun I would frequently drive in to Loughborough and have a charity shop crawl of my own (like a bar crawl but it involves clothes so it is better). Loughborough is a lovely little town about a 10-minute drive from SB and has AMAZING charity shops; LOROS always has beautiful stock, including many vintage items and there is also a Sue Ryder a few doors down from LOROS which sometimes has much of its stock marked down for £1!
“If you can combine your love of clothes whilst helping raise money for charity, what’s not to love?!”
Another reason to become a thrifter is to prevent clothing wastage. Re-homing pre-loved items reduces the demand of fast fashion; fast fashion occurs when clothing is produced cheaply and rapidly by mass market retailers to try to keep up with the forever changing trends. Due to the rapid production of these clothes, they are known to be of inadequate quality.
Also, due to the short-lives trends they are not likely to be worn for very long, which subsequently adds to the likelihood that these clothes will end up in landfill, which we definitely do not want. Obviously, one of the main reasons to shop at charity shops is to contribute to raising money for charities. If you can combine your love of clothes whilst helping raise money for charity, what’s not to love?!
I know charity shops can be overwhelming due to the high volume of clothes to sieve through, so here’s some tips to make shopping easier:
- If you love vintage clothing, a lot of charity shops now have their own vintage section, which is guaranteed to have some beauties waiting for you on the rails. Some of the charity shops along Lace Market have some fabulous vintage clothing, which is definitely worth a visit
- If you find yourself feeling daunted by the mass of clothes, my trick is to look for funky patterns, these clothes always turn out to be the most gorgeous, quirky shirts, dresses etc.
- Some charity shops categorise their clothing into colours, so if you have a favourite colour you love to wear or know what you are looking for, that might be a good place to start
- If you are female, don’t be shy to look in the male section of the shop. I have bought countless oversized jumpers from the men’s section over the years and they always seem to be the comfiest jumpers too!
- Look for the charity shops that actually provide charity shop prices; as I said, some charity shops have £1 item rails and over the years I have got some gems from these rails
- Look for statement pieces that will complete any outfit, such as a funky patterned/colourful scarf, a 90’s Phoebe Buffay oversized hat, a bucket hat, a Baker Boy cap or even an oversized coat.
Rosie Jasper
Featured image courtesy of allispossible.org.uk via Flickr. License found here.
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