Nostalgic Quality

[Twilight]

You hear of people finding designer stuff cheap in charity shops but never known it in reality.
Didn’t know that about hotels, haven’t stayed in one for years & years as we holiday in the motorhomes we’ve owned so we can take the dogs.
I only ever needed smart workwear when I first started work as ever since I’ve had my own animal/ horticultural business so always casual stuff, usually involving wellies up here

I do have a Jean Muir coat that I bought from the Cats Protection shop, it was £15 & worth far more so I gave them a donation at the same time.

 

[boffy]

I remember my love of beautiful clothes forced me to learn how to sew. I would buy fabric cheap in the local markets and buy the very best "Designer Vogue" patterns. I looked quite odd going to discos is Calvin Klien and Dior outfits. But I never stopped. When I could afford it years later I had local ladies to sew them for me.

 

[boffy]

I do have a Jean Muir coat that I bought from the Cats Protection shop, it was £15 & worth far more so I gave them a donation at the same time.

Ahh Jean Muir. I have a very few items all Black Jersey still many moons later

 

[Lemonpop]

There is a lot of talk about cheap clothing and how it just ends up in land fill. People go to Primark wear for a very short period then throw out and buy more. Let's be honest the charity shops are never overflowing with clothes. A friend used to volunteer at Oxfam, and they sorted the clothes before putting out in the shop. Staff took the best stuff for themselves did decide how much the pieces were worth. But quite a lot of it was just thrown out as unsaleable.

I used to work for a Mail Order company and it was the same in the staff shop. Loads of stuff never got onto the shop floor.

 

[Twilight]

Ahh Jean Muir. I have a very few items all Black Jersey still many moons later

This coat is black crepe, long, floaty totally impractical & utterly gorgeous.

 

[Craftalot]

Girls I worked with would go to Primark once a week pick up loads of things,bags,clothes ,shoes and cheap rubbish jewellery. They would wear them over the weekend to throw them away and start again the following week.

I can't abide this 'disposable fashion' idea. When we've got girls like that buying mountains of clothes, wearing them once and throwing them away because they're not even worth laundering, what hope have we got to save the planet and deal with climate change? That mindset of complete wastefulness is completely beyond me. Even when an item of clothing is really beyond repair/darning, I still tend to cut it down to be used for rags in the house or whatnot, rather than throw it out. Mr CAL has quite a collection of 'oily rags' in the garage which were once part of a skirt or blouse or something!

 

[Deleted member 21102]

My friend has a policy of one in, two out - if she buys one thing, two have to go. It does make you think about buying anything.

As for charity shops - a particularly covetous neighbour worked in one of our local ones and I took great delight one day in watching her beady eye scan a bag of stuff I'd brought in while at the same time being very grateful for my donation. I knew the clothes weren't her style, but even the books weren't what she would have been interested in, either. I know volunteers are not supposed to grab stuff for themselves, but it does happen and she (and probably others) was obviously on the lookout.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

A lady (who lunches) that I knew was very good at doing charity events. Once she did a fashion show just using charity shop items and it was amazing just how good it stuff looked when styled with a professional touch. However that was a few years ago when better quality things were donated.

Nowadays why would you buy second hand Primark quality when you can buy it so cheaply directly from Primark.

 

[maymorganlondon]

Even with the cheapo stuff I buy, and have bought down the years, I have never treated it as short-term. I don't iron, but I dry clothes carefully, hang them on decent hangers or fold them properly. You can get years out of even lower quality items.

 

[boffy]

The only issue I have with buying beautiful vintage clothes is sizing. I am 5'8 and a size 8 in shoes was this build in the early 70's it was literally impossible to get beautiful stuff as I was huge compared to the older generation. But I could sew so I did my best to get quality clothes that way. I still have a few bits that dont fit but keep them

 

[Twilight]

The only issue I have with buying beautiful vintage clothes is sizing. I am 5'8 and a size 8 in shoes was this build in the early 70's it was literally impossible to get beautiful stuff as I was huge compared to the older generation. But I could sew so I did my best to get quality clothes that way. I still have a few bits that dont fit but keep them

I agree & wrote much the same comment #20.

 

[Clothescloth]

My friend has a policy of one in, two out - if she buys one thing, two have to go. It does make you think about buying anything.

As for charity shops - a particularly covetous neighbour worked in one of our local ones and I took great delight one day in watching her beady eye scan a bag of stuff I'd brought in while at the same time being very grateful for my donation. I knew the clothes weren't her style, but even the books weren't what she would have been interested in, either. I know volunteers are not supposed to grab stuff for themselves, but it does happen and she (and probably others) was obviously on the lookout.

A friend of mine is the manager of a charity shop in a very up market small town. She has some beautiful clothes and jewellery, all bought for a couple of pounds. I think she gets about 50% discount on purchases. Anything they fancy, they calculate a low price, then add the discount. Someone donated an expensive, nearly new coffee machine. It was an impressive thing and made beautiful coffee. I think she paid about a tenner for it!

 

[merryone]

I've still got the first item of clothing I ever bought from QVC. It's a Modern Soul brand black v necked dress with a tie belt. It's got a cream geometric pattern and spot design and looks very "Art Deco" sleeves are three quarter length with little notches, it's just below knee length and hangs beautifully. It's 100% polyester, but looks more like a crepe material. It wouldn't have cost very much as I bought it over 20 years ago and I only had a little part time job back then which didn't pay very well. I know I usually hate hearing this said - but it does actually look expensive! Q's exclusive brands nowadays are all overpriced, and the quality's pretty questionable.

I agree about charity shops in affluent areas. I've got a lovely Boden breton stripe summer dress I bought in Arundel (posh place in West Sussex). It looked brand new and I paid the princely sum of £6 for it, when I go to my festival in Henley on thames, the charity shops there are full of posh cast offs, so I usually fill my boots when I'm there!

 

[Deleted member 21102]

Someone I know dresses in Jaeger, Boden etc and if she's going downmarket, M&S - all bought from charity shops for a few pounds and she always looks a million dollars. I never see stuff like that when I shop there.

 

[Brissles]

I'd hate to think who wore and donated the stuff in my charity shop , I'm sure rubber gloves are worn when they sort it out.

 

[Millie's Mum]

My friend has a policy of one in, two out - if she buys one thing, two have to go. It does make you think about buying anything.

As for charity shops - a particularly covetous neighbour worked in one of our local ones and I took great delight one day in watching her beady eye scan a bag of stuff I'd brought in while at the same time being very grateful for my donation. I knew the clothes weren't her style, but even the books weren't what she would have been interested in, either. I know volunteers are not supposed to grab stuff for themselves, but it does happen and she (and probably others) was obviously on the lookout.

I do this, one in one out, definitely saves me money as if I can't part with anything, I can't buy new. I sell some clothing, which is in really good condition, on Ebay, that I know will sell well, ie. Radley bags, White Stuff/Seasalt/Joules clothing, but the run of the mill M&S, etc stuff goes in the charity bag, always in fab condition, anything with stains/damage goes in the rag collection bins.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

What was the monstrosity Abi was wearing on today’s Dyson show - if you see it in a charity show run a mile.

 

[Silver Fox]

I take all the clothes etc. I no longer wear to charity shops and they are ‘as new’.I would like to think they get a decent price for them but am not so sure.I recently received a letter to say how much the sale of my donations had made and that confirmed my suspicions.I would rather they are given free to someone in need who cannot afford to buy and would appreciate them rather than bargain hunters with money.

 

[boffy]

I would rather sell them on eBay. not just because of the small return but someone is actually wearing them because they bought them.

 

[Vienna]

Sometimes charity doesn`t begin at home. When I worked at a hostel for homeless men they often arrived with just the clothes they stood up in or with very little other clothing which was frequently only fit for the bin. We couldn`t house every man who arrived at the door especially if they had a dog which so many of them did.
We`d feed them, offer them a shower or a bath but we regularly couldn`t supply them with suitable fresh clothing. People used to bring us great Uncle Bert`s ancient suit or their Grandad`s shoes etc but what we really needed were warm coats, trainers, jeans, hoodies, track suit pants, and so on because most of the guys were in their late teens, 20`s or 30`s plus we needed clothes which could be layered in cold weather.
One particularly cold day a guy arrived with his Staffie terrier. He knew we couldn`t house him with the dog but was happy to have a hot meal. His hands were blue, he had a thin tracksuit jacket, trainers with the soles hanging off and a backpack containing his sleeping bag and little else. We`d nothing in our stores suitable for him so I rang a local charity shop and explained I had a guy who badly needed some warm clothing but who had no money so would they provide him with suitable items for free ? The answer was a firm resounding NO even though those items would have been donated for free.
I tried a couple of other charity shops and the answer was the same, they either wouldn`t give the guy clothing or they couldn`t because they didn`t want word to spread and other homeless arriving demanding free clothes or shoes. This was the case on several occasions during my time there and if anybody lives near a homeless hostel then I`m sure they`d be grateful for practical clothing to hand out. No used wedding dresses, funeral suits, brogue shoes, shirts and ties or panama hats etc but warm sweatshirts, jeans, tracksuit tops and bottoms, warm coats, gloves, scarves, knitted hats, blankets, sleeping bags, rucksacks, and so on, suitable for both men or women.