More Charity Shop Bargains for 2018 & beyond!

Hermia

funnyfreckle wrote: »

I'm addicted to charity shops and this thread! I need to share today's excitement with someone and none of my friends get the charity shop thing! So, I'm afraid I have a bit of a long story to share ...

My daughter has been really poorly with ME for 15 months. She should be doing GCSEs this summer and since the New Year all the girls in her year have been posting photos of their (very expensive) prom dresses on What's App. It seems to be all they talk about but as she can't walk for more than a minute going to the prom is definitely not a possibility for her. However, I have a little hope that she might be able to go for half an hour at the beginning to have photos with her friends and have the excitement of seeing everyone arrive in their finery.

Sorry ...I told you this would be long! Just by chance, a couple of days ago, I stumbled across a Facebook post saying that a local charity shop had brand new prom dresses for sale for £9.99. You can park outside so I took my daughter today and I found 3 dresses in her size that I thought she might like. I was able to carry them to the car so she could see them and bought two for her to try on at home. She only tried one on as she fell in love with it straight away and it fits like a dream. She looks gorgeous (if I may say so!). So she can hang the dress in the wardrobe knowing that Cinders can go to the ball for a little while if she is able and if not she won't feel guilty for having an expensive dress she can't use. Although by rights she does have an expensive dress as I looked it up online and found the exact same dress for sale for over £200!!
:j:j:j:j:j:j

Great buy. I have seen some nice prom dresses in charity shops. I guess people don't know what to do with them once they have worn them. Maybe after the prom she could sell it on ebay and get herself some money to buy something nice.

Pollycat

Wizzbang wrote: »

I look for Laura Ashley, Cath Kidston, Seasalt, Land's End and Phase Eight. Used to look for White Stuff but it's not sought after any more and the quality is not there. Boden I see a lot of, but it's not my style.

Who says that White Stuff 'isn't sought after anymore'?
Charity shopping isn't exactly London Fashion Week. :rotfl:

I don't know about their current quality as I don't buy (and never have bought) new but the quality of the White Stuff items I've picked up in charity shops has always been good.

Wizzbang wrote: »

You have to be careful with a lot of brands now because people don't know how to wash jersey fabric properly and so it ends up all bobbled and stretched because they put it in a normal 40 degree wash (hence why it's in the chazzer). See a lot of Phase Eight that's been treated badly and they still ask £15 + for it!). Or, I see formerly stunning, high end velvet or crushed velvet pieces that have had the iron put on them or got stained. (Again, the chaser's ask ridiculous amounts for them just because of the label. Though I've haggled over staining before on high end brands).

FTR, I tend to class 'jersey' as the (usually) 95% viscose and 5% elastene that Per Una, Monsoon, White Stuff dresses are made from.
I'm not sure if I've seen anything that says it's 'jersey'.

Personally, I think bobbling is less down to poor washing and more down to actual wear.
On the dresses I mention above, bobbling tends to occur around the bust area and on the shoulders and the opposite side-back where cross-body bags can rub and bobble.

Hermia wrote: »

I have never seen Boden in a chazzer. Lucky you! I go for the same brands as a lot of you. I don't go for supermarket brands unless they are 50p. I can't bring myself to pay £4 for something that was £10 new. I also look out for petite ranges as they are soooo expensive to buy usually. I need petite suits for work and they are often around the £100-200 mark new.

I always examine clothes carefully. I always look at the washing label as washing labels always seem to fade and get limp with washing. If the text is still bright and the label is not floppy it often means the item was barely worn.

I see quite a bit of Boden round here.
I agree, the care label is a great indicator of how often the item has been washed. And the quality control small round paper sticker (which disappears when first washed) usually means it's not been washed or at least only once.

silvasava

Funny freckle - great find and I'm sure it's given your DD a huge boost - I'm sure she's beautiful with or without the dress!

Regarding labels - I'm more of a fabric feeler' - don't care who made it as long as it's nice quality fabric, well made and finished, my style and colour, fits, not dry clean and right price! TBH I've had some lovely things from Asda, Sainsbury's and FF that would give CC, East and Monsoon et al a run for their money.

VfM4meplse

funnyfreckle, what a lovely mum you are. I hope DD comes out of this well eventually, it must be heartbreaking seeing her so debilitated.

I tend not to look for labels, I'm more drawn to the intrinsic quality of the product. If I then discover a Per Una / Autograph / Wallis / Principles label it is a bonus. I've never quite "got" Boden, most of their stuff I find to be poor quality, shapeless and worn away.

ETA: agreed, Tu, F&F and George labels are always good quality and hard wearing.

dolly84

funnyfreckle - what a lovely story. I do hope your daughter gets better soon, ME is such a horrible thing to have.

VfM4meplse

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I passed a chazzer today selling everything for £1 or less. My new Per Una jacket, knitted casual jacket, linen fully lined summer dress and 5 hardbacks cost me £4

Are no longer mine. Mum tried them on last night and they look better on her, so they belong to her now

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I can't actually remember what the fifth was

It is this:

Pollycat

Be still my beating heart. :heartpuls

Just back from my route march around the village shops.

In the Hospice shop, they had a big basket of scarves and hats for £1.00.

Never one to miss out on a good rummage, I had a good routle round and came up with a long-ish scarf in shades of grey herringbone-ish pattern.

So soft.
Could it really be ca.....?:eek:
Surely not - for £1.00.

Found a label.
It is. :j
It's 100% cashmere, made in Nepal.
It does say 'dry clean' but we ignore that, don't we, ladies.

For those of you who 'know' me from this thread - yes, it's in the freezer. :rotfl:

silvasava wrote: »

Regarding labels - I'm more of a fabric feeler' - don't care who made it as long as it's nice quality fabric, well made and finished, my style and colour, fits, not dry clean and right price! TBH I've had some lovely things from Asda, Sainsbury's and FF that would give CC, East and Monsoon et al a run for their money.

Are you/were you a dressmaker?

That's what I do too.
And I agree about the supermarket fabrics too.

funnyfreckle

Thank you for all your lovely comments and good wishes. You've been lovely. It was so good to be able to share my bargain !!!55357;!!!56842; x

tessie_bear

ff just read the words bargain so looked back for your other post sorry to hear about your dd but what a heart warming thing to happen...hope your dd manages to go along

liking the sound of cashmere for a quid I too like a good rummage normally through the 3 for a quid bits but the scarf/hat box has been fun this winter

not had a chance to get anything myself so please keep the bargains flowing on here its cheering me up xxx

Laredouter

I bet she looks really lovely, Funny Freckle. I hope she has a nice time!