Charity Shop Haul: January 2019

While I am trying to be more disciplined about buying new (to me) clothes I just couldn’t resist the ‘Fill your bag for a Tenner’ promotion at Dorothy House charity shop last month.

This is the closest charity shop to where I work and a couple of my colleagues had already sneaked in and bagged some amazing bargains (including a brand new Anthropologie dress!!). So I thought it would be rude not to have a browse on my lunch break….

However I did stick to buying those items that can be worn in the Spring and Summer, rather than just adding to my winter wardrobe.

In the end I bought these goodies for £10 in total:

The jumper is originally from Dickins and Jones. It’s a nice lightweight jumper for the Spring and Summer:

 

The blouse is originally from BonMarche and a size 16 – both of which I wouldn’t normally try. However the beauty of charity shops is that you come across labels you would never normally consider (see my Country Casuals 1950s style dress here from December). And I have learnt over the years to look beyond my normal sizing. Anyway the blouse fits really well as an oversize top perfect for hot summer days (remember them?) and a cover up on the beach.

The dress is from Tesco and, as with the blouse above, will be great for the summer, especially at work.

While I have put most of this haul away for warmer months I couldn’t resist wearing this polka dot blouse now, with a long sleeved top underneath. I really love the pattern and the collar and bow 🙂

Finally, the two red tops have come in very useful as they have extended the colour palette in my wardrobe. The long sleeved top (not shown) is actually a size 20 but works well underneath layers. The red t-shirt and skirt below work very well together. I don’t normally buy skirts as they do not flatter my waist, but I couldn’t resist the pattern. I’m really looking forward to wearing it in the warmer months!

Charity Shop Haul: my Coat Collection

 

 

As I look through my wardrobe I realise that one item of clothing that is completely second-hand is my coat collection.

I didn’t intend to buy all my coats from charity shops. In fact, I think that buying a coat is one of the most expensive and well-thought purchases you can make. In times gone by, I would have saved up for a winter coat (or asked for it as a birthday present) and it would have lasted me a good three-five years.

However, my approach to buying coats changed a few years ago when I found this beauty:

 

This Sainsburys coat still had its price label and was on sale at the Shaw Trust charity shop in Bath. While I hadn’t intended to buy a second-hand coat, the colour and cut was irresistible to me. The fact that it had never been worn was also a bonus. Four years later I am still wearing it and still get lots of comments – and compliments – on the colour!

 

Another charity shop bargain was my SeaSalt coat, bought for just £10 from Oxfam in Totnes. A quick trip to the neighbouring Seasalt shop confirmed my suspicions: a brand new version would cost £100! This coat has served me very well: especially on wet school runs. However, the zip has now broken and, alas, it is now too tight for me 😦

 

I got this red M&S jacket for free from a Clothes Swap party I helped to organise a few years ago. It serves really well as a light summer jacket and I do love the colour!

 

This year I have, already, purchased two new (to me) coats. The black hooded coat is the only second-hand coat I have deliberately hunted for. After a bit of a search in Bath’s charity shops, I found it in Dorothy House for £15. It was warm enough for a cold and rainy weekend in Birmingham and is my new school run/wet weather coat.

 

Finally, I found this lighter Spring coat by accident a couple of weeks ago in another Dorothy House store. This time it was only £8! I love the colour and the cut, and have a feeling it will make me feel as good as the orange coat when I wear it 🙂

 

 

I can’t imagine going back to spending £80-£100 on a new winter coat, now that I have fallen for the charity shop ones …. The low price and originality of each item really appeals to me. And, if I do outgrow an item I can just donate it back.

Do you buy coats from second hand stores? Or do you think it’s worth the investment to buy a brand new one that will last for many years?

Charity Shop Haul: September 2017

Welcome to my new, occasional, series on Charity Shop Hauls. Having teenage – and preteen – daughters I am all too familiar with the Youtube shopping hauls, where vloggers talk about their trips to Primark et al.

Although I don’t intend to vlog my finds I thought an occasional blog post may show that it is possible to make some great second hand purchases too, and we don’t have to rely on Fast Fashion to provide us with low cost outfits.

I decided that I needed a few more outfits for work, especially as the weather has got a lot colder and warmer. Last Friday I headed into Bath with a shopping list:

• Boots/laceups/shoes for work
• Work trousers
• Jeans
• Warm tops/thin jumpers
• White shirt
• Tights (first hand)

It can be tricky sticking to such lists when browsing charity shops. It will depend on what styles, sizes and colours have been donated to the particular stores. When shopping I also have to allow for that ‘WOW!’ moment when something stands out and I just have to buy it (see here for the ‘orange coat moment’ or here for a more recent Henry Holland dress)

So when I came across this Marks and Spencer Collection skirt I had to have it!

I am pretty certain these skirts were on sale in M&S earlier this summer. At the time I was tempted to buy one, although I never normally wear long skirts. However seeing this in the Dorothy House vintage store on sale for just £6.50 I just knew I had to add this to my wardrobe!

In fact Dorothy House came up trumps as I was able to create an entire outfit for just £20!

I picked up this Sainsburys Tu top (which is definitely from this summer’s collection) for £5.

Interestingly, this was a size 18 (I’m normally a size 12) but it’s often worth looking at larger sizes when charity shopping as they can shrink slightly. I also preferred the baggier fit as I plan to put another jumper underneath when it gets colder.

To finish the outfit I made my first ever purchase of second hand shoes. This is something I don’t normally consider but these £8.50 shoes from Next were a perfect colour to match the top and skirt and I just sort of fell for them….

Feeling very pleased with myself, I browsed a few more shops and finally picked up some tops from Oxfam on Argyle Street.

These two jumpers will be perfect for layering this winter. They came to £10.99 in total:

I also bought this gorgeous boatneck top for £6.99. I really like the 1950s style of it.

I’d not come across the Betty Barclay label before but a quick google search shows their tops sell first hand for about £50-£60!

In total I spent £37.98 on four tops, one skirt and one pair of shoes. The majority of the clothes were from good quality labels and I was particularly pleased to pick up two items that were from this year. It did make me wonder, though, why the owners had donated them so quickly. But then one person’s cast off is another woman’s treasure….

What are your thoughts on charity shopping? Do you buy most of your clothes second-hand, or would you never consider wearing charity shop outfits for work? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts, or even persuade you that there is nothing wrong with second hand shopping 🙂

Jumble Sale Haul

I wrote here about the impending school jumble sale which was held a couple of weeks ago. Life has been v busy since but I thought it was about time to reveal what I had picked up for myself at the sale.

While I have decided to take a break from the capsule wardrobe programme, Project 333, I have still tried to be very thoughtful when picking up new (to me) clothing. It’s very easy at Jumble Sales to grab vast handfuls of clothing and take it all home, only for the majority of it to stay at the back of the wardrobe. While I know that this unworn clothing can be donated to charity shops I would prefer not to take it in the first place.

So after much deliberation I came home with just three items of clothing:

 

I did also pick up this scarf. I am rather partial to orange (see here) and I thought it had such a great print on it. I will definitely be wearing it as an accompaniment to my orange coat – or as a contrast with my cobalt blue jeans and jumper.

I also picked up this small collection of books for the family:

My youngest daughter is really into the ‘Naughty Amelia Jane’ books so I was really lucky to pick up this complete set. My husband had already ordered ‘The Buried Giant’ from the local library but for the sake of 20p I bought this edition for him. The next novel we are reading for Book Group is ‘The Rosie Project’ so imagine my delight at getting hold of a good-as-new copy. Finally, I was intrigued by the Pat Barker book. I always associate her with World War One novels and was fascinated to find this Virago paperback, published in 1982 but set in 1973. It is her debut novel and focuses on working class life during a period of industrial unrest and, in particular, the lives of seven women living on the same street.  Having been born at the beginning of the 1970s I find that, as I get older, this decade seems so distant and really of another era. I shall be fascinated to read this novel.

(PS The school Jumble Sale raised £1200 – the best fundraiser of the school year!)

Charity shop haul

Last week I went to Bath, searching for a few summer pieces for my latest attempt at Project 333. Because I’m still trying to stick to the 33 items in my wardrobe I find I have to be more specific when shopping and go with an actual shopping list. However as I buy second-hand this can be frustrating as each charity shop has very different stock.

This season’s list went something like this:

– blue long sleeved t-shirt

– White long sleeved t-shirt (to replace an old one)

– blue pinafore dress

– grey or black t-shirt

the chances of finding all of these in my size and at a good price were pretty slim. Yet the charity shop gods were shining down on me because I managed to buy this lot:

Okay so the khaki shirt wasn’t on the list but it will fit very well with other items in my wardrobe and I’m in need of a lightweight summer shirt (£4.99 from Oxfam).  The other three items were all on my list: blue long sleeved top (£4 from Dorothy House); grey t-shirt (£1.99 from Oxfam) and this absolute gem:

 

This blue linen pinafore originally came from The White Company but I picked it up from Oxfam. It cost £10.99 which is quite pricey for second-hand but, considering a brand new dress would retail for £90 from The White Company, it’s still a bargain. It’s also v comfy, fits well and is very versatile (something I need my clothes to be when restricting myself to 33 items). There was also a matching grey pinafore on sale but I decided I only needed one. It would have been greedy to buy a second one and I wanted someone else to share in the delight of finding a beautiful dress at a bargain price.