Top Tips For Charity Shopping...

By Lucy Harbron - 20:45

Anyone that knows me knows that I love charity shopping! There's something about it that I find both exciting and therapeutic at the same time as you never know what treasures you'll find. Slowly my wardrobe is becoming a collection of gems I've found on my various charity shop rummages, so I want to share my expertise with you all as I think often people can find charity shopping a bit overwhelming and I personally think my charity shopping game is very high *flicks hair*

So here are my top tips for (hopefully) successful charity shopping!

Size doesn't matter

When charity shopping I think you can pretty much discard sizing (obviously not with certain things like dresses/trousers). But often pieces like shirts and coats look good several sizes above your norm. Several of the coats I've found in charity shops are sizes 14/16 but still look cute and are extra cosy as oversized= a nice little coat cocoon. So if you like something, try it on! No matter what size.

Be patient

Charity shops are always jammed full of clothes so its super easy to miss something and that something might be perfect. So (if you have time of course) go slowly and work your way through each rail at a time. If you take your time you're less likely to miss a hidden treasure.

Shop crawl

In an average town there's likely to be at least 2/3 charity shops. I'm lucky to live in an area where there are loooaaaaaddddss. (If you live locally- Darlington, Middlesbrough and Yarm all have several really good ones!) When I go charity shopping I'll go to all of them in a town as if you're looking for something in particular another shop may have it, but also the stock in each shop is so different you never know what you'll find in the next one. So if you can try and hit a couple shops in one run.

Still consider price

Although on a whole charity shops are cheap, its still good to consider value for money. For example if a floaty white top is £7 in a charity shop, you may as well get a new one from H&M for the same (ish) price. Watch out in Oxfam as often oxfam shops are "oxfam boutiques" so prices aren't as massively cheap and (as a former oxfam employee) i know that things can be massively overpriced. Although charity shops are always for a great cause, you still want to ensure you will wear the clothes, so sometimes it could be worth paying a tiny bit extra to get a new one.

Ignore brands

I think we can all be quite biased when it comes to brands, moving more towards Topshop and something unmarked. But its important to totally rid yourself of this while charity shopping as wonders can come from anywhere! So many of my best finds are unmarked or from somewhere totally unexpected like Tesco or vintage Marks & Spencers or the hard rock cafe in Florida! When push comes to shove, brands really don't matter, it's all about how the clothes look and if you love them.


Also it's important to remember to give back! One man's trash is another man's treasure, so donate your old and unloved clothes for someone else to find!

I'm thinking of starting a charity shop series with outfits I've put together with my charity shop finds? Would you like to see that?


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2 comments

  1. Yesss I love these tips! Definitely agree on the size thing, I have pieces from size 6-18 in my wardrobe from charity shops! & I'm pretty lucky in that I have a fair few charity shops where I go so I love crawling hehe :)
    Maeve // Thrift O'Clock

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  2. Hey!! There's not many charity shops where I live unfortunately but whenever I do stumble upon one I get so excited, you really don't know what you'll find and I think there's something so amazing about that. Would love to see a charity shop series by the way! Great post!!

    -Nabeela :)
    http://nabsticle.blogspot.co.uk/

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