So effing true

Cold Hands and Bruce Springsteen

Carrying on from yesterdays post, I decided to GoogleMaps my local charity shops and see if I could find some that remain undiscovered by fashion-thirsty students, and I did! A quaint Barnados (which, I realised, is a word that I cannot say right, slightly embarrassing) I planned a route for exploration and after my seminar I was away! Down a closed road (oh the power), across some lights that were actually red (go cyclists!) and then up a huge hill (all momentum lost and I got off and walked).

Then across a lovely bridge which stretched over a vast river containing many old, sinking canal boats; here is a picture of it in summer. It was pretty rainy when I was there, but I could imagine the sun’s warm rays and a sky that wasn’t grey with clouds.

The charity shop was tiny and surrounded by other interesting, old buildings. It was a real village, with a bakery, butchers, laundry, Italian restaurant (promising pasta dishes for £3.80, a trip back is definitely required) and all your pizza/kebab/Chinese/Indian take-aways you could ask for. Oh yes, and a Co-Op Funeral Service. Love that local touch. It then dawned on me that while this place had probably seen better days, there were a lot of people behind the scenes working to keep it going. I wished I was the secret millionaire.

But on into Barnados, where I found some delightful gems. Unfortunately, such places don’t take plastic (gawd knows how much I could spend if they did) so I scraped together the odd £2.80 I had and bought a Bruce Springsteen vinyl for £1.50 to keep the boyf happy, and a blue and white stripey rug for £1.30 to keep me happy. It is pretty much exactly the same as this (I think I just fell for everything this ScandiLiving shop sells!).

I’ll end for now with this rather tasty image.

Lately I’ve been rather obsessed with eBay and charity shops. It’s no secret that I have always liked these two resources for cheap and unusual clothes, but recently it has been taken to a new level.

Charity Shoppin’ is Hip Hoppin’

These are my favourite places to spend a boring, cold afternoon. On the street where I live, there are 6! I have spent many a happy hour (ok, hours) charity shop crawling,trying to find something that would be priced £36 in Topshop, and it is surprising just how often I succeed. It also encourages you to be a bit different from the crowd, as everything is a one-off in the shops. This sounds like an obvious point to make, but it’s true! If you find a bargain in a charity shop, it is most likely to be a bit too big or too small, or the wrong colour or neck line which in turn, encourages me to modify it and allowing my creativity to flow!

Probably my favourite thing is that the shop isn’t filled with the same clothes in different sizes. I always get depressed when I go shopping in town because it is dictated by sizes and numbers. Trying on a size 10 skirt and realising that it is too small is a depressing notion, especially when there is some stick thin girl in the next cubical parading round in a size 6. Eugh! Or even the opposite; you find the perfect the dress but they have ran out of your size! But perhaps the worst of all, the thing most ladies fear most- shopping in the high streets leaves you open to your friend or colleague wearing the same clothing item. *Shudder*. It doesn’t bear thinking about! We have all been there, and we know it is something that can just ruin your whole week.

Now, I try not to get wrapped up too much into fashion and Size Zero, and shopping in charity shops helps this. When I go there, my shopping companions are little old ladies, who pose no threat in the “oh my god, she is so pretty why can’t I be her” jealousy department. And on top of all these positivties, the money is going to an absoloute aces cause- charity. It makes me want to smile with joy everytime I think about how much money I must have given to charity while also getting clothes I love. Ahhh, love that yummy sunshine warmth :)

(I want to create some sort of process where I upload photos of things I’ve bought from charity shops but I don’t have a digital camera at the mo, so I will get on that shizzle, when I have my loan :D Instead, here is a picture of me (on the right) and my Bezzie Shireen on a walk in Norfolk, I’m pretty sure everything I’m wearing is thrifted, Shireen’s is probably all Haute Couture, as she loves that stuff so much she got those words tattooed on her feet [for reals for reals!])

What I’m watching this week 2/2/11

I thought this would be an interesting idea to do as a blog. Seeing as I love trawling through endless lots on eBay, and can’t afford 1/5 of all the items I would like to that I watch, why not share the best ones?

So here’s what I’m watching this week:

1. a delicious tie-dye maxi skirt that I can see myself wearing now all the way into Summer
2. I really want a type writer for my journals and things, it’s currently between this one or this one
3. I could not tell you how many lace crop tops I have looked at on eBay, all for them to go way over a tenner. Here is one that looks low and luscious
4. Two days ago, these USA shorts from Topshop were £4, now they’re £31. They sold out in the shop too and have become gold dust. Bid at your own peril…
5. And lastly, being back at uni and already spending my loan on take-away coffess (working at Pret A Manger has made me an addict, I swear), I figure a sensible purchase would be a nice flask.

and the one that got away….