second hand clothes advice please - charity shops etc

[MegReally]

I was talking to a friend last night who always looks fantastic and I realised she buys all her stuff in charity shops. I would look like a granny. Are there tips? Do you have to go every day? Do you have to be able to sew? I would love to do this

Helps if you can sew and although you don't have to go every day, to get the best out of charity shops, you have to go regularly. The staff in one of our local ones, save clothes for me if they think I'll like them, so good relations with the staff is also a bonus.

You have to get into the mindset of going into them without expecting to come out with anything, so that you're not just buying crap because you think you should.

If you can't sew, find someone, relative or friend who can and then they can alter things for you.

Oh and travel to the charity shops of a prosperous area, I go to a town a couple of miles away sometimes and you get some really good quality stuff in some of them.

I found much better bargains in charity shops when I was on maternity leave.
The trick is to go in as often as you can, and not on a Saturday afternoon. Anything decent gets snapped up quickly. Most times you will com out with nothing, but its worth popping in when you can for the times you do find something.
It does help if you can sew a button on or shorten something but I think most charity shops just send stuff with buttons missing or split seams to the recycling place for rags.
Ranting - I am sure the BHF shop near me ships things into our area from posh places!!

That's interesting F, I go to a BHF in a town a few miles from here and they do have some good stuff, my best finds have been in Scope, there's one a few miles away that specialises in womens clothes and it is a virtual goldmine. I found a betty jackson dress in there for peanuts and it wasn't a diffusion line one either.

Charity shops fab, and also added bonus of the money going to charidee, obviously.
But speaking as a seasoned bargain hunter e-bay is often cheaper.

BHF do seem to have a lot of 'new' stuff or exceptionally good condition stuff but still at 2nd hand prices. I wonder if they have some deals with wholesalers for left over stock or summat?
I got a set of 5 large hard back books by the people who wrote the Gruffalo (inc the Gruffalo) I swear they had never been opened. £1 each!
I definitely think that the national charities distribute stuff around their shops rather than just selling it in the shop its taken into.
There is a charity shop in Horwich that takes all the 'posh outfits' from their other branches, and all my mums friends go there for mother-of-the-bride type outfits! My cousin is over from California later this month top of her to do list is a return trip to that shop! Its where she got her outfit for her sons graduation last time (scrooginess is in our family genes I think).

Yes, I did read somewhere that a lot of leftover stock from shops does go to charity shops. Our local Age Concern seems to have quite a lot of new stuff.

I like the smaller independant charity shops, you know the ones that put out absolutely everything including the stuff you know an old lady has died in.

That's the stuff I buy, fashionista that I am.

I'd be nekkid without charity shops.

You have to go to the swankiest neighbourhood you can get to. The sort of neighbourhood where women really do buy new wardrobes of clothes every year.

well I am back just to update with a sad sad tale. I went into town - quite a nice town, no other towns nearby (semi rural), and everything was from River Island, Etam or George at Asda. Now saying that I'd never buy anything from those shops anyway... not a good first try

See, they are shipping it to my area!!
But, its your first trip. The shops don't particuarly stock certain brands, they just have in what people have brought. Last week they might have had something nice. But you have to go in all the time to check.
Also, the best at our BHF shop I would say is Wallis, Next etc. But if it means I can get a pair of 'can't tell they've been worn' wallis trousers for a fiver instead of £45 then I will carry on rummaging in the charity shops.
in fact 2 pairs of wallis trousers from charity shops are my main work trousers.
Did you go in expecting it to be full of boden and designer labels? I hear they sort through and put the best of the best on ebay. Don't look at the labels, look for clothes that will suit and flatter you - thats the trick to looking fab, not being a label addict.

no I wasn't expecting designer... not at all! I figured people would ebay those. But so much George! and all the black trousers were those nasty polyester ones.

I would be very happy with Wallis. Or Next. I am not snobby at all. It's just that a George top can easily cost a fiver anyway, so a second hand one for £4 isn't that great a saving.

Yes I know! I never buy george stuff on ebay either as I can go and get new by the time I've paid postage etc.
I have had a couple of george things from the charity shop, its just that they were nice things, and I hadn't seen them in Asda!
Just been in BHF shop today and nothing at all, my work hours are very erratic but if I have a spare min on a wed to pop in I find thats the best day for finding stuff - I think by then they've restocked after the weekend!
I make a point of popping in to the charity shops whenever I'm passing. Most times I find nothing but its worth the effort for when I do spot something.

As AS said, have a nosey through the smaller independent ones too, you can find a lot of stuff that dressmakers have made for themselves in them (well you can in our local RATS one) and they are far better constructed than NEXT clothes and a sewing machine comes in handy for stuff that's too big and you want to take it in.

I should add I have a particular loathing for NEXT clothes since their hems always fall down on the second wearing.