Charity shop/vintage Yippee and Excitement thread

[Fimblehobbs]

I like lurking on style and beauty but can't believe the prices of some things. I tend to nip into charity shops when I have a spare few minutes and thats where most of my clothes come from.

Anyway I thought I would start a thread for anyone else like me who wants to show off share news about what they've found lately. Or recommend good places for charity shops etc (I went to harrogate once and they are fab there coz its posh innit)

Today I got a black leather buckley handbag for £3.50, just what I've been needing so am very chuffed

I bought a lovely Orla Kiely skirt in an Oxfam that borders a reasonably posh area of SE London a few years back. RRP about £200, I paid £6.50!

Mind you it's too small ... one day though

Today I bought a black Hobbs longsleeve t-shirt and a brown A-line knee length jumbo cord timberland skirt, £3 and £3.75 respectively, both in excellent condition and supporting our local hospice. Very pleased because I couldn't have afforded them new so thank you to the generous person who donated them. X

Morningside in Edinburgh has great charity shops and a Waitrose the only one in Scotland great day out for me

oooh, tell me more about the best charity shops in morningside please

well... the Cancer research one is a lovely shop everything is on wooden hangers and beautifully displayed you feel you are in a posh boutique or something .Oxfam has loads of nice things and there are Marie CuRIE. Shelter up the street a bit, St Columbus , Kidney foundation. and many more also lovely "normal" clothes shops called er,, i cant remember somewomans name loves clothes there is also a posh second hand shop selling designerclothes hats etc that is nice but quite intimidating i think

Nothing good ever comes in the charity shops in my area . I visit frequently to buy books for dd, but have never ever seen anything even remotely designer. Marks and Sparks is the poshest that it gets

I have a secret addiction to Traid - I've got so many gorgoeus things there!

thank you only joined. i will note for future reference

love the idea of snooty edinburgh charity shop assistants . i am particularly impressed by sales staff who look you up and down and decide whether you are well enough dressed for them to consider serving you LOL

There's not many decent finds in the charity shops here in South Bedfordshire, but if you visit on a regular basis, you can find the odd gem.

My latest gem was a beautiful, like-new Zara Trench coat on Thursday. I spied it, left it and then went back into town an hour later to get it. For the bargain price of £9.99.

I am on the hunt for a nice bag, so may have to take a trip to St, Albans as have found a good few items there.

A tommy hilfiger skirt. Even i know who that is! For £6 smackers. It's really nice. I never found that kind of bargain before. You know, like the jammy beggers who find designer bags and all. But, i did that day.

moonmother - both Harpenden and Hitchin very good for charity shops if you are in S Beds.

There's a street in Victoria with about five charity shops all in close succession. One of them is Fara which seems to only sell children's stuff, but is really worth a look for toys/clothes - there's one in Clapham too (Northcote Road). In fact at that shop I once was given a net-a-porter bag with which to cart home my second hand toys . I have never really had a chance to nosy round the other shops in Victoria as always have ds in tow, but when I was last there I spied a swishy looking couple dropping off two vast yellow selfridges bags of stuff.

From a quick google, I think the road is called Ebury street

Im a charity shop junkie and get loads of stuff froim there so Ill update you frequently on my bargains.......today I got a short flared denim skirt from TU @ sainsburys for ........£1!!!

I know tu isnt designer but I got an orla bag too last week that was £2 ....do our exciting bargains have to be designer??

I meant proximity not succession didn't I

Hi there, I have been reading this thread on your bargains, and was wondering whether any of you would mind commenting on some questions I have. I am currently doing my dissertation and looking into the charity sector, and what with the efforts from Jane Shepherdson and Mary Portas charity shops are becoming more like high street stores but boutique style.
-What are your thoughts on this?
-Do you think all charity shops need to modernise in order to encourage more people to shop here?
Or is this betraying the character of the charity shop? Do we need to replace the lovely old volunteers with younger ones? Would a more inviting shop encourage you to use charity shops?

Also they now compete with the likes of Primark price wise, would you rather buy an item from Primark or one for the same price in a charity shop?

Designer finds in charity shops seem to exite a lot of people, if charity shops were to sell designer brands 'seconds' for cheaper would this interest you all?

If any of you have any comments, or have visited the Oxfam boutiques or Mary Portas' Living and Giving Store in Edinburgh I would love to hear your thoughts!
Thanks!!

I love charity shops. Last week I got a gorgeous Jaegar jumper/top in beigey/gold, a Reiss skirt, a Reiss top and a French Connection skirt.

A couple of months ago I found some gorgeous pictures for dd's bedroom that I saw a very stylish lady get out of he Range Rover and bring in- I literally ran and as she dropped them asked if I could buy them. Shameless!

My best ever charity shop purchse was a Dior dress and jacket from very posh village in Hampshire.

The trick is to pop in often. I have had all my best finds while I have been on maternity leave- cash poor, time rich!

amy, the one thing that would put me off a charity shop is if they are smelly - and a lot are because of the old clothes.

A new one has opened near me which is large, bright & clean and seems to be doing very well. The obviously have someone who is good at doing window displays which entices people in, there is plenty of room to move around and it doesn't smell! (maybe it will eventually as they get more donations in!)

my sister volunteers in a help the aged charity shop, whihc considering its in quite a well off area has surprisngly poor standar of donations, the vast majority is primark, asda and other supermarket brans. She has however got me the odd bargain for the dc. a pair of YSL jeans for mr 12 yr old ds, a few boden things for dd1 and some cute toby tiger all in ones for dd2.
i keep saying i am going to pop over to Henley to look in thier charity shops but i just donlt get the time.

amyR1 - to answer your questions, I think a balance needs to be struck. What I mean by that is that I think it's good for charity shops to make their shops look clean, organised, etc. But the fact is that they sell second hand clothes, and the people who shop there do so because they want a bargain or because they simply can't afford high prices.
I think in some cases charity shops are being a bit unrealistic, particularly in some parts of London, and putting crazy prices on very old and tired looking clothes simply because they have a "designer label".

I have a local charity shop (in London) where I buy lots of things - they have a very good range but are not at all like a "boutique". Fair prices. I went to one recently in Notting Hill where the prices were crazy - e.g. £40 for old looking jeans - you can buy new ones for that much from places like the Outnet.

Actually I have found it to be the other way around - I went into one off the Kings Rd a while back and thought the prices were quite fair (though not bargains) for what was mostly designer stuff (say similar to what you might pay on ebay) Whereas in charity shops where I live it is quite expensive for as you say, quite tired looking items, just from High Street shops just seemingly because it is a fairly affluent area.

Best charity shops in Edinburgh imo are the Shelter ones, there's one in Morningside, Stockbridge, Forrest Road and a new one opposite the Cameo in Tollcross.

All my best finds have been from Shelter shops.

A Viv Westwood Anglomania dress in Clarkston oxfam for £50.... love love love!

I love the RSPCA shop in Nailsworth (Gloucestershire) full of lovely things and a ver higgledy piggledy informal lay out that really makes you feel you are getting a bargain (which you are)

I am a charity shop addict these days, used to live in an area which just seemed to have Primark/supermarket stuff, usually for not much cheaper than new- not great quality either. Now, however, I am in charity shop heaven and have picked up loads of Jaeger stuff- belts, skirt, there was a lovely jumper I couldn't afford, grr... Boden, Ralph Lauren baby...

And the Red Cross one has a fabulous linen stock- you know, hand embroidered and crocheted/laced napkins, tea tray cloths, doillies, stuff like that. all perfect and so beautiful. There is also a charity furniture shop that has some real bargains- big stretches of carpet, new... a rocking chair for £6, Victorian cabinet for £15, great big coach pram for £10. We were short of cutlery at xmas and got a whole load of bone handled knives and some silver bits and pieces for £2.10.

Love, love love...