Hand-me-downs - for adults?

Footpather

Thank goodness I am now feeling normal after reading all your posts. Several people I work with think I am a bit odd as I buy from charity shops and car boots. I have two pairs of Per Una jeans that I love and paid £3 per pair for in Oxfam. Firstly, you are getting a lot for a little, secondly you are contributing to charity and thirdly it's recycling at it's best. No-one loses.

I look at it this way, if you pay £3 for something and it doesn't look right, you have contributed £3 to charity and it is going back into the cycle to raise some more money. If you pay £30 for something and it doesn't look right. that hurts!

My 13 year old daughter has always had clothes passed on from my friend's daughter who is a couple of years older than her. Sometimes I have had to put them away for a while until she grows in to them. A friend at work who is 50 but ultra trendy recently had a clear out and loads of stuff are now being worn by my daughter. Also her 22 year old daughter is a shopaholic and when she had a clearout my daughter got some fantastic designer stuff.

I wish I knew someone my size who could pass stuff on to me!

rchj4

Just to mention shoes ! I'm in the 'senior category ' age wise. For the past several years I have got nearly all my best , favourite and most comfortable shoes from car boot sales or charity shops. I nearly always go for quality and a well known make . I regularly find shoes that look as if they have been worn only once or twice ( somebody else's mistake !) I usually pay less than £5 instead of the £35 - £45+ that they cost originally.
I have bought attractive shoes on Ebay but the fit hasn't always been right . I find for me it's better to try them on first. It's a really good feeling to know that I am 'recycling' and if I need a 'shoe fix' it won't break the bank !

nodwah

Anything decent I have got is from friends or my mum. - Mum is a very well dressed 80 year old and she passes stuff on to 40-something me! I only buy my clothes in Asda or Tesco or charity shops and mum is shocked by my cheapskate ways, so from her I get M&S and Next or Boden which is all pretty posh for me.
I recently got a bag of clothes from a friend, which her sister had given her, she'd taken what she wanted, passed it on to me, took what I wanted and then passed the rest to a work friend!
Maternity clothes did the rounds at work, there was a nice blouse and skirt combo that I bought and it then did about 5 other pregnancies!
And finally, at the mother and baby group I used to go to we had a table of clothes once a month or something for kids clothes and for mums!

beemuzed

Well, I think it's great that everyone on this thread is in favour! Shows we do take our OS principles seriously! Sadly, no-one in our family has clothes that would fit me but the charity shops do! I've often found things there that have become real favourites. Best ever was in Oz a couple of years ago when I picked up a fabulous hand-painted long floaty dress for less than £2 which has seen me through a couple of weddings recently - and won several compliments. I dread to think what it would have cost new!

igaveupnowimback

Hi,
This thread brought back memories of when my mother worked as a household help for a millionaire. The grown daughters were always discarding designer clothes and were happy to let my mother have any she thought would find a new home rather than go into the garbage.

I'm not into labels etc, but I have never been so well dressed in my life!!

I was at college and guy in class was teasing me about my 'fake' Lacoste sweaters and Katharine Hammett trousers - and I was too embarrassed to tell him they were REAL!!!!!!

How's that for reverse psychology ?? LOL :rotfl:

Wish she was still in that job !!!!

GraciesGran

With the exception of underwear all my clothes come from charity shops. When I get bored with my clothes I swop them with friends, or make them into something for the grandchildren or patchwork quilts. Party clothes and 'special occassion outfits' get passed from hand to hand. I do one 4hour shift a week at the local sports centre and that seems to provide all my shower gel/shampoo needs, I've also got a couple of t-shitrts formthe lost property.