I know when you say charity shop, most people think of musty old clothes that someone probably died in, and I used to think the same thing. However one day when I was flipping through my ELLE magazine I noticed that so many people in the street style section had really, really good clothes, and what was weirder was that they were all supposedly from charity or thrift shops.
It started to become almost the “in” thing to be doing with the trendy crowds at fashion week i.e. Alexa Chung, Lili Sumner and stars like Lorde. It got me thinking about the things people would potentially cast off to a charity shop, if models could find amazing vintage fashion then there was no reason the rest of us couldn’t either.
There was a few times in the past where I had looked on occasions in the past and I’d never found anything worthwhile, just a lot of t shirts and old shoes. As it turns out I was looking in totally the wrong locations, and I was definitely going in closed minded.
I started reading a book by Gisele Scanlon called “The Goddess guide”, it talks about the best charity shops in London, Paris etc and talks about the power of location. Although I’ve never looked I imagine any shops around Knightsbridge are gold mines! Once I had started looking in the right place I was surprised with what I was finding.
The other thing to keep in mind is that most things do have potential. If you have the skills why not alter something to a more updated design? Or just think if you’re someone with a lot of accessories you can update an old blouse really well. It’s also how you wear something that makes the difference to the way it looks on.
Some of the best things I’ve collected is a coat from Zara, A blouse from M&S and a real Moschino bag from the last season. It’s actually rare for me now to walk into a charity shop and not find anything. Brighton has become a favourite spot for me and charity shopping, but I’ve still yet to decide which ones are the best.
