Shop Charity in '23!

YoungBlueEyes

Cherryfudge said:

YoungBlueEyes said:

I also don't like the 'fast fashion' element at all. A girl I used to work with never used to wash her clothes because it was bad for the environment. so she'd wear something once and then bin it and go to Primark and buy more A quick vox pop showed she was far from alone in that.

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Books! Why didn't I think of books?! I have so many that if the house disappeared, I could build another using books I'm not currently reading just about to start so don't be moving it!

Fixed that for you Jeez I'd have a mansion if I was doing it in books  

I'm not an online shopper, I like holding things and checking armpits and seams and trying stuff on. But anticipation is half the journey, or whatever that saying is. You never know when you walk in a shop if this is gonna be the day, and I like that  

Floss

Thinking back, I've worn secondhand for 6 out of the last 7 weddings I went to: a floaty dress back in 2004; the dress & hat I wore to my BFs wedding in 2009, my own wedding dress in 2010; the dress & jacket for a St Giles Cathedral wedding in 2015; and the LK Bennett coat for Chris & Meg's in 2016. And the dress for the other wedding had been worn before!

I think it's the value for money and individual look that captures me - I rarely buy brand-new due to my low disposable income, but often pick up BNWT items in chazzers or on Ebay or Vinted for a fraction of the price.

Cherryfudge

Ha ha thanks, @YoungBlueEyes! I will buy a tent and carry on reading...

@Floss I bought new for close family weddings but I'm now too big for one of those and decided I didn't like the other when I saw the photos. For a different wedding this summer I bought second hand and it's definitely one I'd wear again, thus saving money in the future too.

Today I'm wearing jeans and jumper both from charity shops, and slippers from a car boot sale. Everything else was bought new though I've had the tee shirt a while so the 'new' aspect is long gone. I still have too much stuff so I'm challenging myself to donate five items by this afternoon. Keep me accountable!

Coxy11

I definitely relate to the fast fashion/waste point of view for using charity shops. On Saturday I wore a dress, denim jacket, trainers and a handbag all from CSs. The only thing I wouldn’t buy would be underwear!! I too love the thrill of what I might find. I also, as you know, try to get some bits to sell on for my charity fundraising. Most shops are now pricing me out sadly, but to be expected I guess.

I never buy new books now either. It’s either the CS or library.

My Mum recently gave me a load of alcohol as she’s decluttering. There was a bottle of Monterez from the 1980’s, part drunk. DH gave it a go – he drinks anything and even he said it was gross. Would look great in those glasses @Miró

IF ONLY IT WAS FULL UP

Cherryfudge

I reached my target! 1 dress, 2 summer tops, 2 winter tops, 2 pairs summer trousers, 1 pair summer jeans, 1 cropped cardigan,  one pair baby leggings (found in the loft!), five of DH's scarves that he didn't wear and was happy to let go, one book. 

Frith

Gloves from Bewdley charity shop. £4.00.

Then went into Cleobury and found a suit jacket and waistcoat for a few pounds. Then found the original labels were still on. Greenwoods at a total of £140!!

Brie

Cherryfudge said:

Have I missed any good reasons for buying? Or reasons for not buying!

The thrill of the chase, surprise at things people think are worth buying in the first place let alone donating for resale, the relatively low prices - particularly of lovely silk scarves!!!  Books that you didn't know you needed because they've been out of print for 20 years and never been read by whomever last owned them.  

Big ick to knickers, bras, socks, shoes.  (Vintage lingerie is a bit different but I've yet to see anything I could fit over my forearm let alone actually wear as intended as it's all size zero.)  Silly prices occasionally - some shops seem to miss the market completely thinking someone will pay 90% of the new prices for things that are well past their best before date.  The old cologne smell of some things.  

flamingo747

For me it's mostly that I'm poor lol. But I like the environmental aspect, and when I'm buying for fun I'd rather not buy new. My mum and I go together as an outing, which she used to do with my Gran when I was a child. It's nice to keep that alive. We love the amazing and hideous things you find in chazzas

Miró

Cherryfudge said:

Miró said:

How about a couple of extra strong mints marinated in vodka and poured from a vintage hip flask whilst traversing the North Yorks Moors in search of the Northern Lights? 🍸

Oooh, did you get to see them? I tried to check the app but for some reason it crashed. Seeing the Northern Lights is a dream of mine.

I've just come across this article about second hand September, and it's got me wondering about why people choose charity chops. For lots of us here I suspect it's the thrill of the chase and the fact you literally find things in charity shops that you'll never see elsewhere (1980s Denby or Uranium glass for instance). For me - emergency holiday wardrobe! I also love clothes but don't want to add to the environmental problems they cause, and obviously I save money and support charities by buying second hand. And then there's the entertainment value of shopping and having something 'new'. I think all those apply to me.

On the flip side, I now have too much stuff and find it hard to choose what to re-donate. I've also found some clothes persist in smelling of someone ese's washing powder, which is intrusive, and a lot of charity shop stuff doesn't appeal, either because it's bobbly or because, well, who would wear some of the horrible designs you come across?

Have I missed any good reasons for buying? Or reasons for not buying!

I try to go for what I feel is 'quality' these days and I have a list of brands that I like and that I know fit me well....Reiss, Hobbs, Jaegar, LK Bennett, Coast, Max Mara and so on.  Likewise there are brands that I would not ever buy for ethical reasons, new, or chazza, whatever the price, Primark, Nasty Gal,  Shein, the new incarnation of Karen Millen, Boo Hoo, Temu.  I love the' intermittent reinforcement' of chazza shopping, you never know when or what you are going to find.  I've often done the rounds of all the chazza shops in one area and found nothing and then in the very last one and sometimes on the very last shelf or rail have found something stunning!

@Cherryfudge  Yes I have seen the Northern Lights several times, once on The NY Moors and several times in Tromso, (really magical experience).  That blimmin Joanna Lumley has a lot to answer for with her travel progs....she made me go to Norway to see the lights and she sent me to Japan too!!!!

Cherryfudge

Brie said:

 Books that you didn't know you needed because they've been out of print for 20 years and never been read by whomever last owned them.  

Oh, I love out of print books! Especially cookery ones which have been annotated by someone of my Grandma's generation. The bookseller by the bridge at Melrose (that's nearly a book title) delighted in showing me cookery books that are ninety or a hundred years old, complete with photos of cookers from those days, because I explained I have a 'Radiation' Cookery book with a photo, dating from the days when not only did no one think twice about calling a recipe book 'Radiation', but neither did they dream of calling it a 'cook book'.

One of my great finds was someone's wartime scrapbook of knitting patterns (Sally Army, Thirsk, I think).

flamingo747 said:

For me it's mostly that I'm poor lol. But I like the environmental aspect, and when I'm buying for fun I'd rather not buy new. My mum and I go together as an outing, which she used to do with my Gran when I was a child. It's nice to keep that alive. We love the amazing and hideous things you find in chazzas

How lovely to keep the tradition alive! And I know what you mean about the 'amazing and hideous' things.  

@Miró, I suspect you have a good eye - I rarely see top brands! 

Seeing the Northern Lights - wow! I understand they are easier to see through a camera, but I've never managed it at all. I did love seeing the Milky Way over our back garden back in the day, but there's too much background light now. 

I don't think you really regret Japan and Norway, somehow.