More Charity Shop Bargains for 2018 & beyond!

Pollycat

GreyQueen wrote: »

I'm defiantely a fabric feeler

I love that term. :T
I'm going to use it next time I'm out shopping with my friend - she's a dressmaker too.

Laredouter wrote: »

Mir! and Pollycat- when I was in Peru we were warned not to buy any alpaca goods from the markets because they were all cheap Chinese knockoffs made for tourists. It was quite sad actually.

Do you think they do refunds?
Only joking - 100% cashmere or not, I really like it.
And it's keeping my frozen sausages warm. :rotfl:

Having been to India, China & Thailand I was aware of fakes but hadn't considered Nepal (or Peru).

janb5

What a lovely Mummy you are Funnyfreckle. I am sure your daughter is absolutely thrilled with her dress.

wondercollie

Hermia wrote: »

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.

Prom outfits are a huge expense here.

Every city has a group that collects gently used dress, shoes, shawl/wraps and pretty evening bags. Then sets up in a shop like setting and invites girls put forward by teachers to come in and shop for an outfit. That way nobody is left out. I've known of girls who haven't gone to Grad because their family couldn't afford the dress.

Now they are adding suits and ties for the young men. Same idea, referred by the school and hopefully something comes up.

My youngest son donated his first suit to them.

GreyQueen

The crazy thing is that prom and all it's trimmings has only been a custom in the UK for a very few years, a total American import. Some schools have even got to the point of banning it because it has become so overblown and ridiculous.

My cousin's girl (now early twenties) went to prom with her best male pal as she didn't have a boyf just then and he lacked a girlfriend at the time. I saw the pix and they both looked super.

tessie_bear

proms :eek: think we got off lightly having a son but still got a suit seems girls get very pricey I do see outfits in the charity shops very suitable lovely in fact so that's helpful

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Laredouter wrote: »

Out Vile Jelly- I love your username by the way. I'm assuming it's a King Lear reference.

Yes, well spotted. I consider myself very lucky to have seen Ian McKellan's Lear some years ago.

Miró

GreyQueen wrote: »

The crazy thing is that prom and all it's trimmings has only been a custom in the UK for a very few years, a total American import. Some schools have even got to the point of banning it because it has become so overblown and ridiculous.

It was bad enough when I was at school attending the school Christmas Party. At least then it only required a 'Sunday best' outfit and a walk to school not a gown worthy of a Karkrashian and a stretch limo....not to mention hair/nails/make-up/spray tan! :mad:

Treasurequeen

in my local salvation army shop I got a suede gilet for £5.00. its a longline one and its so warm. also got a per una burnt orange jumper for 99p brand new in the same shop.

Laredouter

Out Vile Jelly- goodness, I am so jealous. I have seen clips of Ian McKellan's performance and he epitomises the role in my opinion.

foxyloxy11

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

Really pleased to hear this, it made my day let's hope she is able to make it even if it is for the beginning.