Charity Shopping - bargains galore for 2021!

Pollycat

Miró said:

My new mantra of quality not quantity seems to be holding up for now!  Early in the week I saw a Seasalt pure linen short sleeved midi shirt dress in my local Mind shop in a dark teal shade.  It was priced at £15.25  which I thought was a bit much so I left it.  Couple of days later I passed a Seasalt shop so had a squiz inside and was shocked to find similar dresses sell for just shy of £100.  Called into the Mind shop on my way home and the dress was still there so I bought it, (gulp).  Had my first post-Covid trip to Otley yesterday which did not go very well.  Was browsing in the Cancer Research shop when two women came in, one carrying a small bottle of Coca Cola which she promptly dropped.  Said bottle exploded and myself and another woman were drenched in sticky brown stuff from head to foot.  (I was wearing a white top and stone coloured skirt, (of course!!!)  The staff were very good and tried to help the two of us clean up but it was impossible, (Gawd knows what they put in Coca Cola).  Anyhoo, in the end the manager asked us both to chose an outfit from the shop free of charge just to get home in.  I will give the dress a wash and take it back next time I go, (carefully avoiding anyone carrying carbonated drinks!!!)

Good decision about the Seasalt dress, Miro.

Shockingly thoughtless about the coke woman.
I hope she was suitably embarrassed and apologetic.
I hope your clothes come clean and your shoes aren't ruined.

On a similar theme I dropped a 500gm cartoon of yogurt in Aldi.
It didn't split - it exploded! 
Luckily, it only splattered me and my trolley.

Hope you're feeling better now.

Magpie100

Hope the sea salt dress is some comfort, @miro. Today in London I went to my favourite charity shop near work and found three pairs of BNWT falke socks for a fiver each. I’ve become obsessed with good quality socks… these are so pretty, thin but warm, and make me want it to be autumn! Also pleased that I was 70% secondhand today… shoes, socks, vest, top and jacket… 👌😀

goldfinches

@Miró- how frightful for both of you who were splattered and the poor soul who had the accident.

The day I dropped a four pint bottle of milk in the M*rks till queue still haunts me necessitating a two handed grip on milk containers at all times. The subsequent explosion and long suffering clean up remains rather a sore spot.

As to coke I've always been rather suspicious of it since seeing it dissolve a baby tooth in a school biology practical which has since been reinforced by its much vaunted loo cleaning ability. I'm sure drinking it can't be good for your insides.

Anyway, congrats on the Seasalt dress find, any chance of a photo or a link for the rest of us to admire?

I hope your splattered clothes can be rescued and applaud the manager's gift and your plans for returning it. Typical that you weren't wearing something that it wouldn't show on though, isn't that always the way!

Monsternextdoor

Ooh Can I join in ? 

My hubby and myself went for a nose around town today and I picked up a few bits in the charity shops

I got 9 meters of a silver blue grey fringe tassel edging for £6 - priced up similar and it was £42 in the same colour- blue cross, they also had a cuddle of my new puppy as I was browsing Its the perks of letting animals in.

Nipped into a recycled fabric shop and picked up vintage Laura Ashley fabric in blues, silvers and lilac - matched the fringing - Local recycle place for fabric - They also had puppy cuddles

then I went to julias house and bought a ...

New corkcrew set - £3 it was priced at £18 
Pampered chef hand chopper £1 
The most beautiful textured cushion for £3- Hand made not seen anything like it before so I am going to dye it a different color to fit in with my decor.
Jeans BNWT £4 - should be £40.

All in all a successful little haul, I do like looking around the charity shops but seldom get a chance with the kids.

CAFCGirl

Aptly I had been talking to the volunteer in the CS this morning about dropping things in stores, and then came on to read about the Coke explosion!

Mortifying to be the bottle bearer but I'd say even more awful to be the one bearing the fizzy splatter! That's a type of sticky that stays with your soul! Kudos to the manager for getting you both something fresh to wear home, I imagine that quite a few wouldn't and would leave you as 'wasp fodder'.

A fruitful dip in (I wasn't even going to) on the way home from market. One lovely purple honeycomb effect ceramic plant pot (yes my calling in life is to find plant pots for all my houseplants - the plants multiply quicker than the pots do  )
A thick glass terrarium jar/bowl. it has a nice thick rimmed opening to it, so it'll be perfect for growing 'something' in as a display.
Then a brand new in box albeit dusty, matte black ecoffee bamboo reusable cup, but a smaller cup as oppposed to the long and tall ones, and has the additional rubber stopper to seal it when it goes back in my bag post use so no dribbling of the remains. 
£2 for my glass bowl
£1 the purple pot
£1 the bamboo cup.

All washed, disinfected and drying already.

Miró

Thanks everyone for your stories of yogurt/milk etc explosions.... I might see the funny side of it one day!  Managed to get everything clean after much soaking and twice thro the washer.  I imagine the chazza will have had to dump a couple of rails of coats & jackets as they got splattered along with the walls, floor & customers!.

@goldfinches. Here is the Seasalt dress which does not have much hanger appeal.... it just buttons down the front, small side splits at the hem and has pockets, (yay) but with a fancy  tan leather belt, some wooden beads and a jaunty scarf I'm quite pleased with it!

Rosa_Damascena

I spent £355 in a chazzer today but am very pleased with my finds - top notch furniture!

Monsternextdoor

Rosa_Damascena said:

I spent £355 in a chazzer today but am very pleased with my finds - top notch furniture!

what did you find ? 

Brie

Miró said:

Thanks everyone for your stories of yogurt/milk etc explosions

I'll add mine.....I was in a shop and someone had bought a bottle of perrier which was put into one of those very inadequate plastic bags shops used to give out.  The person took 2 steps, the bag split and the bottle hit the floor.  Not sticky but it sent tiny shards of glass flying everywhere.  I had splinters of it in one arm and hand.  It's one of those times I am really thankful I wear glasses as I've heard of others being blinded by such accidents.  And - neither the shopkeeper or the purchaser were the least bit apologetic for the mess and injuries caused.  

Rosa_Damascena

Monsternextdoor said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

I spent £355 in a chazzer today but am very pleased with my finds - top notch furniture!

what did you find ? 

2 slimline 3-seaters and 2 long and sturdy bench seats, barely used ex-hotel furniture and very good quality stuff  - Am guessing the hotel was not Travel Lodge . I'll be using it as a standby until I work out what I want permanently (and am in a position to afford it). I love the shape of the sofas and would actually like to change the fabric and keep it long term if its cost-effective to do so. Plus a large art deco mirror for my new cloakroom, all the drama will be condensed into less than 5sqm of space.

I like the Seasalt dress and have something similar - but I would have struggled to part with £15 for it. I did buy a summer blouse and pair of jeans yesterday - casual outfit for £4 so no complaints.