Charity Shops A Force For Good

 

Caroline Jones

When this lovely lady lost her Mum to breast cancer back in 2014 she decided it would be a fitting tribute to only buy and wear charity shop clothes for a year, and simultaneously raise funds for Cancer Research UK, through 'Just Giving'. Her plan was to raise £1000, but news of her campaign grew and eventually she raised £68,000. Isn't that amazing and doesn't she look fab?

I love buying pre owned clothes and items, I've done it all my adult life, and the best bit is not knowing what you might stumble on. Of course it also means you can sell things on yourself  too when you want to ring the changes. I'm not a massive consumer but I do try and only buy things that I think I will use for years or things that I feel I might be able to sell on later and get my money back, or perhaps even make a small profit. At the moment I'm compiling a list of items I have loved but now longer have such an interest in. I'm also eyeing up an 18th century carved softwood Angel that is being auctioned tomorrow. Wish me luck with that. The difficulty with auctions is setting your upper limit and not going beyond that. I tend to set an upper amount in my mind, then maybe go one bid above that. I'll let you know how I get on.

One of the fantastic bloggers I follow, Ann also known as The Polyester Princess has turned the search for pre loved clothing and accessories into an art form, click here to visit her colourful blog, and see just how good you can look in second hand clothing. She is a total inspiration.

Currently there are more than 10,000 charity shops in the UK, raising more than £363 million for good causes. Customers come from all walks of life and naturally are looking for different things. Some folk are on a tight budget, some are looking for quirky or one off items, some are looking for craft materials and the latest incarnation is the sustainability shopper. This is all fantastic news for us all and most importantly for the planet.

Items that don't sell are passed on to a network of recyclers and partner organisations who turn CDs into plastic pellets, unwanted fabric into mattress filling, books into cardboard sheeting etc. Even unwanted bric a brac is shipped abroad.

Vintage clothing takes on a different connotation but can still be purchased at a reasonable price, and truthfully are really inter-changeable. Back in the day when I was a student I would often go to Portobello Market and Camden Lock to buy unusual vintage eye catching outfits, yes, I've always been a show off. I remember being inspired by Annie Hall.

I had a Kangol chocolate brown beret instead of the black hat.

Lots of A listers also wear Vintage now for their  red carpet walk. This pleases me greatly because it means that the younger generation will get on board with this no waste, pre-loved clothing ethos.

Rhinna wearing a dress by John Galliano for Dior's 2002 collection

The idea of a no waste world makes my heart sing.