I'm not really one of these people that stays "on trend", even though I wish I could. I might buy one or two key pieces each season (my budget only ever stretching to Topshop, Zara or Asos) but primarily I stick with simple pieces that I know work for me, and charity shops!!
Some of my most important wardrobe staples have been purchased from a charity shop and rarely cost me more than £10. Take, for example, my Joop! handbag. It's a circular box shape which is why it caught my eye- really different from anything I'd seen on the high street, with 2 gold clasps and long shoulder straps. And it cost me £5! Granted, the clasps come undone rather a lot and I have to clip them back in, but it's a small price to pay to have such a unique, beautiful and cheap (yes! I said it!) bag.
The other thing I love about charity shops is the sporadity of them. Sometimes you can come away with whole new outfits, and other times nothing at all. I also find this nice in the sense that if something doesn't fit, it doesn't fit- there's no carrying on with sizes and fretting that in the last 15 minutes, you've suddenly grown 2 dress sizes since the last shop you tried on a pair on jeans in, resulting in you sobbing in a heap in the changing room floor of Topshop with a pair of size 8's around your ankles. I've got a weird body shape anyway (broad shoulders, small boobs, teeny waist, big hips, long legs) so often find myself of an evening sat with my mums sewing box making alterations.... And if it goes wrong, who cares?! I only spent £3!
So I'm hoping that even though my outfit choices aren't necessarily what you will find in the shops, that they will inspire you to try new combinations, dig through your wardrobe to reinvent long forgotten pieces, and look upon the weird granny shirt in your local charity shop with a new set of eyes. Enjoy!
This is the outfit I wore yesterday- I finished off my Christmas shopping in my local town, sat and had a coffee and begun reading David Mitchell's "Back Story", and then went to the pub for dinner and bingo with my girls Amy and Emily (I won a fiver!)
For all I've just been harping on about charity shops, it has just occurred to me that this isn't actually the best outfit to reflect that!! However, it was still put together on a shoestring budget, and I had a really good charity shop haul yesterday so I will soon make another outfit post about the items I purchased.
The skirt I am wearing I actually got from Topshop in the January sales at the beginning of the year. It only cost me £10 and I was so lucky, there was only 1 left and it was a size 10! The weird fluoro-mustard colour got a bit of getting used to at first, but it teams so well with neutrals, and the lace panel detail is so lovely and really makes it stand out.
I couldn't wear this with anything too busy so I popped into my brothers wardrobe and "borrowed" his denim shirt, which tucks in nicely to prove that I do actually have a waist, whilst also being satisfactorily oversized and androgynous at the same time. So with that in mind- and inspired by my recent Kiss Like Daisy post- I dug out a very old bow from my mums sewing kit and attached it to the collar, and for the sheer cheek of contrast teamed it with my beautiful DKNY watch that I got for my 21st birthday, and my battered old Dr Martens that I bought for £7 on eBay when I was 16. Done!
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