My Charity Shop Challenge

Following on from my post the other day about my beautiful boots, I've decided to set myself a little challenge. Hopefully if I succeed then I'll make this a bit of a regular thing!

As anyone who knows me knows: I love magazines.  Having something I wrote appear on a "you the fashion jury" article in Grazia approximately forever ago is still one of the highlights of my life. I'm just that cool.And as such, it's not been unusual for me to see things in magazines, decide I love it forever, and then go out of my way to get said thing... But, these days I'm trying not to buy so much new.  I want to limit the impact I have, but I still have a bit of a magazine addiction.

So, here is my idea: I find a few things in a magazine that I like the look of, and then I see if I can find something in the same theme or trend in charity shops, eBay, Vinted, car boots, clothes swaps, the back of my wardrobe, vintage fairs, or any other avenue that means I'm not buying something entirely new.  Then after a couple of weeks, I'll share with you what I've found, and where I've found it, and how I'm going to wear it.

The aim of this is to prove to myself, and to you, that to have on trend items doesn't mean you have to rush out and buy anything with "new season" on the placard next to it in the shops.

It's pretty straightforward. Hopefully.

Right, let's look at the pictures.  These are the things I liked the look of while perusing the pages of Hello Fashion Monthly (don't judge me on my taste in magazines; I'm like a moth to a glossy celebrity fueled flame):

Look! Look! Look! I absolutely adore art deco, it's divine. And I also quite like shiny things.  My aim is to find some geometric gems, and then pretend I'm an extra in the Great Gatsby (as the saying goes: there ain't no party like a Gatsby party, cuz a Gatsby party don't stop until at least two people are dead and everyone is disillusioned with the jazz age as a whole).

 

Next trend to try and find: slogan clutch bags.  There's something subtly pop-art about these, which appeals to the (GCSE level) art student inside of me, who never quite got over the brilliance Warhol's Brillo boxes, and let's not even talk about Varoom by Lichtenstein (or maybe we should, maybe we should).  

So these are my challenges for the month.  Fingers crossed my first charity shop challenge won't be my last!

A Little Charity Shop Bargain...

I recently popped into my local St Peter's Hospice shop while out with my friend and mum, and wanted to share with you some photos of the things I bought in there!

And by things I bought, I mean these boots:

 I know these might not be to everyone's tastes, but I love these, I love the tan colour, the wooden heel and I especially love the faux shearling on the front.  To me, these boots epitomise autumn. I saw one on the shelf as I was heading towards the till, and I just fell in love... Picked it up, and lo and behold, they're my size (6.5 - not the easiest size to come by), tried on its friend, and decided it was fate.  They were £8.50 which isn't a bad price at all, especially when I looked at the bottom, and inside, and realised they really hadn't been worn at all - perhaps just worn around someone's house, or just for long enough to realise the heel was too high for them. I'm not sure, but they're mine now!

 Yup, I've been trying them on at home, trying to work out what to wear them with - I've got a few tops which feel very autumnal, in burgundy, khaki and mustard shades, so I'm thinking of putting them together with some trusty black jeggings, or even tights and denim shorts.  Maybe pop on my ever faithful taupe aviator jacket. Very autumnal! Admittedly I probably won't be able to walk miles in them, but I think I will probably wear these babies until they are worn out!

 Just look at all that lack of wear by their previous owner!  I know charity shops might not seem like an obvious place to have a look if you are looking for something on trend, and season suitable, but I really want to show you that it can be done!  These boots were originally from Next, and I've had a little scout about on their website, and found that near enough exactly the same boot in black is currently selling for £75 new. Definitely a good feeling all round!

And finally, this is what I wanted to have a look for in there in the first place: books for the people kitten... These are the two that came home with us, for a bargainous price of 50p each!

In short: St Peter's Hospice Shop on Sandy Park Road, I heart thee!