Old Style Book - Clothing Tips Needed

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Charity Shops: Go to the ones in the poshest part of town - a charity shop in St Johns Wood,London had some amazing stuff. They're also always a good source for M&S whose clothes tend to be made better from better fabric so the pre-loved ones are usually in better condition than ex Primark.
If you're doing some decorating buy charity shops cheapest comfiest trousers and tee shirts, cos it doesn't matter if you don't look as glam as Lawrence LB, and throw them away when you've finished.
Customising Clothes: cut off jeans below the zip at the hip and sew on either gathered or flared fabric to make a skirt - could be this summer's hot look.
Clothes Swapping: We have an M&S ladies nightshirt in the family which was bought in 1970 or 71 by my girlfriends sister who then passed it on to my girlfriend, then I got it, then my sister in law got it and now my niece has inherited it - it won't wear out!
Wedding Dresses: no comment !

catznine

I used to work in a charity shop and have kitted my family out over the years with some great bargains. My best advice is to take a notebook with all the family members measurements, needs (for now and in the future) and a tape measure with you when you charity shop. Don't be afraid to ask if you don't have a tape measure as the ladies behind the counter will have one. Also (not clothing I know) measure your windows as you will find great bargains on curtains if someone has just changed their colour scheme.

If you choose classic styles that are in good condition they won't date. Un-mse people tend to get rid of their perfectly good clothes very quickly with very little wear and for reasons I can't begin to understand! so it's a great opportunity to make some great savings while helping out some charities.

If you do home sewing check out the buttons, fabric etc., as buying a few items in the charity shop may work out cheaper than picking them up from craft shops.

nabowla

If you have a piece of clothing that's only fit for turning into a floorcloth, cut off the buttons and keep in a tin to re-use on something else at a later date. I've bought brand-name clothes at v. cheap prices in sales and charity shops even though I hated the buttons because I knew that I could replace the buttons with something much nicer at no extra cost.

Go through your wardrobe and work out what you really, really need. Make a list and keep it in your handbag/wallet at all times so that you can remember what to hunt for when the sales are on. Don't buy anything unless it's on the list!

Find a really good, old-fashioned cobbler. This might sound a bit extravagant but a good cobbler can rescue and restore even the most badly-treated shoes for much less than it would cost to buy a new pair of shoes.

Wait for a rainy Sunday afternoon and spend a bit of time sorting your clothes out into colour groups (e.g. all the white stuff in one pile, all the red stuff in another pile). Look carefully to see which colours match/complement each other and then see what you've got in each pile that you could wear with something from a matching/complementary colour pile. This really opens up your eyes to new combinations of stuff that you'd never thought about wearing together before. You should end up with a whole set of 'new' outfits without spending a penny. The last time I did this exercise I ended up with four 'new' outfits for work and three 'new' outfits for the weekend.

Evening wear (ballgowns, cocktail dresses) is best bought in January. The shops always over-stock evening wear before Christmas and no-one wants to buy evening wear in the January sales. Also, some of the dresses on sale would make lovely outfits for bridesmaids, even though they're not labelled as 'bridesmaid dresses' (and of course they're cheaper than going to a posh wedding shop!).

inkie

I never ceased to be amazed at Jumble Sales - have picked up Ralph Lauren shirts for 10p for DH, and my best buy was a designer fitted jacket for 10p too - never underestimate the power of the Jumblie!!

arkonite_babe

Have a budget and stick to it, even if you are only going charity shopping!
Get used to different label names, some catalogue stores have their own label, so if you know the name you will have an idea of how good the quality is. I recently bought a pair of Karen Millen jeans for £1.50, they were virtually new and the lady in the charity shop hadn't a clue they were designer! I didn't tell her until I'd paid for them, she said if she'd know they were designer, she'd have priced them a lot more expensively
Set aside plenty of time for shopping for clothes, never ever ever do it in a rush, that's when you end up impulse buying or buying something horrendous!

Katgoddess

Have a savings account esp for the clothing sales, so you can splash out in the January/Summer sales on your essentials.

Go with a list of what you need. Try everything on when you get home to make sure it fits properly and goes with stuff in your wardrobe. If it doesn't then take it back asap before you forget about it.

Plan your wardrobe in advanced so if you know you have a wedding/special occasion coming up you have plenty of time to look around for bargains and which co ordinate with stuff already in your wardrobe.

Work out how often you will wear something. £60 on a pair of boots isn't too much if you are going to wear them every day for the next 5 years.

squeaky

Just in case it falls off the front page before you get back Sue, an old thread:-


Clothes Old Style

Bargain_Rzl

I echo what others have said about charity shops in posh areas, HOWEVER to get a posh area's BEST charity shop bargains it generally helps to go to the small independent shops, because the larger charity shop chains, especially Oxfam, know exactly what the designer labels are and will charge more! The
shops which support local charities tend to be far less clued up so the savings can be even bigger.

Also re: reuse of wedding dresses. A former flatmate of mine got married in a family heirloom of sorts - her dress had been taken apart and remade for three generations of women in her family. She couldn't have worn the dress the way it had been for her mum, as they were completely different shapes! Friend is now expecting baby no.2, so if it's a girl perhaps the dress will be remade yet again one day...

moggins

I've converted a pair of DH's old jeans into draught excluders just by cutting off the legs, stuffing them and stitching up the ends.

I rarely by any of my clothes brand new but do pop into Primark every now and again as if they have a glut of items they often sell them off at stupid prices. I bought 5 brand new fleeces in Lilac and deep pink for one pound each, which worked out cheaper than a charity shop buy and they have washed and worn really well.

SueRob_2

Most of my clothes are second hand, twice a year, at the beginning of summer & winter, I check my wardrobe & make a list of everything I need, I keep it in my handbag & when I do my rounds of the charity shops it means I don't duplicate items.
I had to build a work wardrobe from scratch after my divorce & so far have accumulated 1 navy skirt with 2 jackets & 1 black skirt with 2 jackets 1 pr brown trousers with 2 jackets, 8 assoeted white/cream tops.