Fashion Diary - 30th December

Over the Christmas period I've been lucky enough to find these gems which have already become staples in my winter wardrobe.

This wool jumper was only £4.00 from Geraniums for the Blind Charity Shop in Marylebone
(it's very 'log cabin in Colorado' don't you think!)

My new weekend bag was a measly £3.00 from the Isabel Hospice Charity Shop in Cuffley.
(I'm not sure where my friend's scarf has come from but it's definitely from a charity shop, i can promise you that!)

Sales? Who needs them?

This might sound obvious to some but there are certain times of year when the quality of stuff found on charity shop floors is, well, a lot better than others!!

The first is the change of season

Most charity shops have a storage system in which over the summer months they store all the winter donations ready to be put out on the shop floor as soon as the weather starts getting chilly.  The same happens during winter. Hence the reason why you rarely see a summer dress during December.  Now, if you manage to get to the shops just when they are changing over, you're sure to get the creme de la creme of the stock stored up as they are bound to roll the good stuff out first!

This was back in September - Look at all these fur coats ready to hit the shop floor!

The second is pretty obvious really.. it's after Christmas of course!!

It's incredible the amount of unwanted Christmas presents that gets hauled straight to the nearest charity shop after the festive period.  Normally as quickly as Boxing Day bags of goods start flooding in and the great thing is that most items donated are brand new!! My advice over the next few days is, stay well clear of those High Street sales and get yourself down to the nearest charity shop as you'll probably find something pretty similar for half the price and without the headache!

Fashion Diary - 20th December

With a £20 purse already on my christmas list to my parents, I am especially pleased to find this never been used leather purse from Geranium Shop for the Blind for only £3!!!!  I dont know who is happier about the saving, me or my mum!

Do The Green Thing

So following my very exciting appearance on Do the Green Thing's website this week (click here if you missed it!) I thought I would redirect all you charity shop lovers to their insight into the weird and wonderful world of the gigantic Oxfam warehouse in Milton Keynes..

If you think charity shops just run on local donations.. you're in for a real shock. Honestly IT'S ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING!! Click here to reveal all!

Just to get you in the mood here's a few stats showing just what goes on behind closed doors

• 3 skips a week are filled with paper to be recycled

• 35 bales of clothes get sent to become car seat stuffing each week

On average, every single day:

• 5,800 books arrive at the warehouse

• 400 bags of clothes containing 1000's of items arrive

• 200 books are sold

 

3 Days, 3 Outfits

In order to get into the festive spirit, over the next few days I will be sharing with you my top three charity shop outfits for all those Christmassy occasions.

Here is

Outfit Three - The Christmas Day

I always like to judge a Christmas Day outfit on how well you can do a number of  'forced family fun' activities.  These include bending over a board game (lose the low cut top),  lunging in preparation for scoring a strike in Wii Bowling (lose the too tight skirt) and generally having the mobility of a three year old as you are roped into chasing them around the room playing with their new toy tractor.  I personally think this vintage Jaeger skirt from Peace Hospice in Chorleywood for an incredible £8.00 covers just about all of that don't you?

3 Days, 3 Outfits

In order to get into the festive spirit, over the next few days I will be sharing with you my top three charity shop outfits for all those Christmassy occasions.

Here is

Outfit Two - The Christmas Eve

What makes a perfect Christmas Eve dress is something that is cute, colourful, and most importantly classy (after all you are going to have to look your grandparents in the eye the next morning over Christmas breakfast).  Luckily I found all those things in a Topshop dress in Isabel Hopsice's Cuffley charity shop for only £7.00.  By steering well clear of the crazy streets of Oxford Street I've managed to avoid sorting through the hoards of studs, sequins and miscellaneous sharp objects that seem to be making their mark this year and I've got some money left over to spend on buying some drinks whilst I'm out! Why would you shop anywhere else?

Isabel Hospice Cuffley Shop - £7.00

Isabel Hospice Cuffley Shop - £7.00

Isabel Hospice Cuffley Shop - £7.00

  

Isabel Hospice Cuffley Shop - £7.00

3 Days, 3 Outfits

In order to get into the festive spirit, over the next few days I will be sharing with you my top three charity shop outfits for all those Christmassy occasions.

Here is

Outfit One - The Christmas Party

Now to some (well my parents mainly) this is a slightly impractical buy.  Asked where I was ever going to wear it, the only occasion I could come up with was on the red carpet.  However this may well be due to to the fact I have never quite managed an invite to an office Christmas party.  Now this probably wouldn't do for one of those stuffy in-office dos or a team trip to Nandos but there are some companies out there (few and far between as that may be) that like to do things the proper way. The chances of me attending one these lavish Christmas balls for the high achievers is pretty slim but for a measly £8.00 from YMCA we're allowed to set our standards high aren't we?!

YMCA Welwyn - £8.00

YMCA Welwyn - £8.00

YMCA Welwyn - £8.00

Once again, I would just thank to thank the wonderful Hannah Lodge for her amazing photography skills.  To find out more about what she does best please visit her blog at hannahgracelodge.wordpress.com

Plan for perfection

Have you recently craved a good old charity shop raid but have been left scratching your head with no idea where to begin?  

Well even style icons are sometimes left a little confused so here's a quick tip for you!

I'd like to introduce you to the shop finder on the Charity Retail Association's website.  It's as basic as it sounds, all you have to do is type in your town or postcode and it comes up with a list of names and addresses of charity shops near you.  Then just click 'view on google maps' and it plots them all out for you so you can plan your route! And you can even go one step further and select a specialist shop category such as 'Music', 'Furniture' or my favourite 'Vintage and Retro'.

There's nothing else left to say really. The simple ideas are always the best aren't they!

If you want to get the most of charity retail, then just click here and get planning your route!