One of my absolute favourite things to do has always been to have a good old hunt through charity shops. It appeals to my hunter-gatherer instinct, my thriftiness AND my aim to live without buying new products as far as possible. Plus you can't beat the element of surprise and the unexpected. I have mentioned charity shopping and some successful hauls on this blog in the past, like the epic success I had in York and Essex around Christmas last year. But seeing as charity shopping/thrifting forms a big part of how I try to live fairly sustainably, I've decided to catalogue my successes on this blog more often, partly because I love reading about other people's thrifting scores, and partly in the hope that it'll inspire others to have a rummage in The British Heart Foundation shop rather than Primark more often!
Yesterday my parents, Dolores and I spent the day in ancient town of Rye. It's only a small place, with just four charity shops as far as we could tell, but the Gods of Charity Shopping were smiling upon us and we cleaned up:
Leopard print leggings, £1.99
I've been wearing leggings way more often than I'd like to admit these days, but only around the house, promise! The black ones I made myself are soooooper baggy now and I was planning on making some more some day soon, particularly as I'm going to start a course of mindfulness yoga (?! I have no idea what to expect) next month. I try and make as much of my wardrobe as possible, but I don't currently have any suitable knit fabric in my stash. These bad boys look completely unworn and for a measly £2, they seemed the answer to my leggings issue.
Black leather Dolly shoes, £5
OMG! I had some almost EXACTLY like these in the 90's which I absolutely adored. I wore them in a Riot Grrl, kinder whore, Hole/Babes in Toyland kind of way. I have no idea if I succeeded in pulling it off. Anyway, these fit me so well it's bizarre. I know lots of people get freaked out by the thought of wearing someone else's shoes, but I am not one of them. The insides haven't really taken the shape of the former owner's feet, and good clean inside and out will be good enough for me. The heel is the perfect height to make them appropriate for work when I'm teaching sewing classes and they even came with replacement heel tips for when the current ones get worn down.
Clothes puzzle game, £1
I buy all of Dolores's toys and books in charity shops, aside from hand-me-downs and eBay when I'm looking for something specific. I'm not going to start boring you by blogging every single 'That's not my Penguin' book or plastic watering can I buy her, but for obvious reasons I thought you might like to see this one! There are not words to describe how much I love it. I'm going to take it away from her when we she gets big enough to start drawing on things with crayon, it's that good.
So, what thrifting successes have you had recently? Do tell...
13 comments:
Nice finds! I was in lovely Rye at the weekend, did you pop into the beautiful Merchant & Mills too?
I love op shop shopping and I also have no problem with shoes. A few years ago someone mentioned on their blog about being squeamish about wearing other people's shoes (after finding a pair of her dream shoes that she did not buy) and a microbiologist commented on her blog that wouldn't be any issue with bugs or anything if the shoes had been aired so to buy away! That's comforting.
Oh my god, that puzzle is amazing! I'm not really near any charity shops at the moment, but just bought some bob the builder toys off eBay for Evans 2nd birthday (much to my baby friends horror!). He's going to bloody love it though, as it includes a crane and he totally loves cranes.
I love thrift store shopping for the same reasons you mention. Unfortunately, there´s no cool thrift store where I live at the moment and the flea markets are boring, too. Sad. When we travel, I usually look up thrift stores, fabric stores and organic food as our main attractions. This has lead us in many nice neigbourhoods that we would have missed just doing the touristy attractions. Great finds, keep us updated on your scores :-)
I just bought some really lovely pans - white enamel with red, blue and yellow flowers and blue lids. They are amazing! I do love the hit and miss aspect of charity shop shopping but I haven't had a hit for a while, until these pans which has restored my faith a bit! I also got a book about the universe for the Child Who Asks Too Many Questions and a sewing pattern. I'm off to try another town's wares tomorrow!
Great finds! I used to love those wooden jigsaw's when I was wee - I had a Mr Men one, wish I'd kept it! I get all Harris's plastic toys from charity shops but also recently got lovely wooden maracas & wooden rattle which he loves!
Oh! I went charity shopping in Rye in 2011 too! I bought a silver cake server, two gorgeous linen teatowels and probably a couple other things. I also got my tattoo done there. And spent at least 15 minutes staring in the window of one of the charity shops hoping this old windbag would stop talking to Tom Baker across the road so we could go and say hello. But he never did and it got awkward so we bailed. Excellent scores you made there! :)
Great finds. I hadn't been op-shopping for ages when the other day I ducked into one I was passing by chance and found a lovely black satiny belt and gingham scarf.
I must remember to stop in at op-shops the next time I'm in the market for accessories.
I've just returned from a trip to the U.K. to visit my Mum and it is definitely something we do together when I'm over and she has recently moved to a slightly 'posher' area so the pickings are better. My daughter has also discovered charity shops but only since she became a student - before that, when I was buying all her clothes, she wouldn't have been seen dead in one - funny that. I scored a lovely pair of Wallis linen trousers which I plan to deconstruct and make a pattern from as they are such a good style on me.
Aw that puzzle is so cute! I'm a charity shop devotee, too. I've started to view clothes as fabric - I've recently bought a man's large striped polo shirt that I'm going to make into a t-shirt for me. (Navy with white stripes and just one red stripe near the top, I think it would meet with your approval!). Our Red Cross Shop was recently given someone's massive fabric stash too. Dangerous for my bank balance, I may have bought one or two pieces!!
I love thrift shopping too -- I've had some good luck lately with patterns & books -- we are always on the lookout for books around here. It's always fun when you score a great find, like those shoes! Beautiful!
Funnily enough I read your post whilst scanning in pics of some of my charity shop finds on my recent holiday. Went a bit mad on the sewing/knitting patterns this year. I've blogged them at http://hofficoffi.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/my-holiday-part-i-geek-day.html
its amazing
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