Charity shop find

[Littlehomebird]

I needed a new winter coat but thought I'd leave it til the post Christmas sales to grab a bargain with my Xmas £ & vouchers. I got a nice yumi coat from debenhams which I am pleased with. Yesterday I was out walking with dh & I spotted a lovely wool pea coat in a charity shop window , I commented it was nice but the snob in me prevented me going in & I'd got my new coat anyway. On the wAy home we passed it again & dh suddenly went in & bought it for me! It's not just snobbery put me off 2nd hand clothing- I have a sort of phobia re illness & death & always imagined grieving families emptying wardrobes to take to charity shops. (Bit bonkers I know). However I have to say I love this coat, it's a known label from debenhams, looks brand new & he got it fro £9 (and a small donation). It's taught me a lesson not to be a snob & I don't have to have everything brand new. Has anyone else had a lucky find?

I love charity shops. I've got no scruples about previously worn things - it's only other human beings and practically anything can be washed/drycleaned/sanitised. It raises money for a charity, gets you a bargain, keeps stuff being recycled, there's nothing not to like. The vast majority of things come from people like us clearing our wardrobes.

My best find was a Missoni silk blouse but it didn't fit me and I ebayed it for about £35 and bought some different things. I've had countless work blouses/skirts/trousers over the years.

It depends which ones you go. I live in a poor borough of London so the charity stores reflect that but there is a area near me which has really good charity stores. I got my son a bag of thomas the tank engine trains for £2:50!

I'd love to know where all these shops are that are full of amazing designer bargains! There must be five or six chazzer shops in my (small, rural) town, and they're full
Of what can only be described as tat! An utterly depressing waste of time.

I once bought a Levi denim jacket that looked brand new for £10 and a kipling bag still with labels attatched for £5.
Some decent donations come from fat people rather then dead people.
I have two bag of clothes that are hardly worn (some totally unworn), all from joules, seasalt, Boden house of Fraser etc ready for the next charity collection so hopefully they will make someone happy. I have finally decided to have a clear out after fooling myself for a while that I'm ever going to fit into them again.

I think it really depends where you live. I bought a pair of fabulous unworn boots this week for 28 quid. I found the same boots new on a US site for 398 dollars.

John Lewis magenta duffle coat for dd1 for 9 quid. She has asked for v similar boden duffle coat for 60 odd Andi said no because last years coat fits fine. She wears the duffle yo school she's looks gorgeous so smart

Unworn then current season Burberry Prorsum full length tweed winter coat in Marie Curie Shop in Belsize Park a few years ago. £25, new price over £1k. I was skint at the time (had just paid for DM's funeral) and needed a new winter coat. They actually had two (I think some stylist or model or similar had been given them and didn't want them). I bought one and made an additional donation of what I could afford at the time. Crossed my mind to buy both and sell the other one on ebay, but I thought that would be greedy to take both.

Had some spectacular finds in that shop whilst renting a bedsit round the corner. Valentino Red animal print maxi dress for a tenner, Pucci halterneck dress for £20. That place really was goldmine, especially on Monday/Tuesday after people from Primrose Hill/Hampstead dropped off their cast off at the weekend and the staff had time to put them out.

In Edinburgh, I lived really close to the Stockbridge charity shops. Lots of cashmere, Jigsaw, Brora, French Connection, LK Bennett, Mulberry, Monsoon, Boden, Jones, Hobbs, Burberry, Prada, beautiful wool jackets/coats. Over the years, from other cities I have also acquired furniture, crockery, jewellery, paintings. I also volunteered at what was then known as the Manchester Spastic Society - loads of great vintage stuff. And I can guarantee that items from charity shops are the ones that attract the most comments and compliments.

I love a charity shop mooch!

This week alone I have bought Dumbo on DVD for £1.00. A Diary of a Wimpy Kid book for 25p. A zip up hoody for £5.00. A brooch for a friend for £4.99 (Did tell her it was from the RSPCA shop so I didn't mind if she didn't want it as it could be redonated but she liked it). A Tom Gates book for £1.00 and a pristine Surfanic coat for DS3 for £9.99 (New price £70.00).

I can see that the quality will vary depending on the location. We only have one charity shop which has clothes in our small town. The likelihood of me going in and finding designer labels is less so than if I lived in a big city -because we have to travel so far to those types of shops. However next time I'm in a city I will make a point of looking out for charity shops.