Everyone who regularly shops in charity shops has been there. You’re scrolling along, you’ve already decided what’s not even worth looking at (although you cheque it anyway because hey, this is where most people find their ‘gems’) and then…. Stop.
Right there. You know that feeling when your hand pauses on a rail; you think you know what you’re touching but… wait, what’s this? Cashmere.
Merino. Something fabulous that just shouldn’t be sitting on a rail between a faded George at Asda jumper and someone’s Christmas shirt from Turkey in 2002.
Well, that.
That was me last Tuesday, rummaging away in my local British Heart Foundation shop in Didsbury. It was chucking it down with rain and all sodden Easter puddingshots were huddling under the railway bridge outside, but inside, beneath the glorious smell of old books and Fprotection, it was paradise. Or at least my plastic bag suddenly was, when I unearthed this: <a href=”http://shop.bhf.org.uk/item/paul-smith-cedar-jacket-men-blue/categ320003642004/id320007582682″> <img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1379″ src=”http://joewears.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain041c218b-94.jpg” alt=”im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain041c218b-94″ width=”504″ height=”504″ /></a> £18.
Eighteen fucking pounds. I seriously looked around to cheque someone hadn’t played a practical joke on me. This jacket could’ve set me back £500 when it was new.
The two old dears behind the till didn’t skip a beat when I rushed up to pay but then one said “Oh, that’s a nice one, that is. Came in yesterday.” To which I nearly died because I’d literally walked past this shop yesterday and thought ‘nah, it’s busy. I’ll go tomorrow’.
Might have walked out with NOTHING today. Mind you, I’ve been charity shopping since university so I know the score. I didn’t do it because I liked dressing well back then, I bloody well needed to so every penny saved on a shirt counted towards rent and beans on toast.
But even when I could genuinely afford to buy clothes new I’ve carried on ’cause let’s face it, there’s nothing quite like the buzz of finding something. It’s addicting. Not to mention nice to feel like you’re looking sw_mcwhile throwing money at worthy causes and keeping stuff out of landfill.
See? Win-win-win. Anyway, it occurred to me that after all these years I actually do have a method.
Now I’m not saying it’ll work for you. Luck is a huge factor, as I’m sure you’re aware. But paying attention to certain things has definitely led me to find better stuff more often than not.
And feeling generous today (or maybe tired, been writing this post for like three coffees now and my vocabulary is showing) I thought I’d share them with you… <img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1381″ src=”http://joewears.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain041c218b-95.jpg” alt=”im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain041c218b-95″ width=”504″ height=”504″ /> Location, location, location. Duh. Hear me out.
Thing is, where you choose to charity shop is gonna massively dictate what you find. If you spend all your time in poorer areas you’ll probably find….. poorer quality clothes. Which is fair enough.
I’ve found absolute crackers in sink estates believe me, but generally speaking the wealthier area you’re shopping in, the more you’ll find. In my experience, there’s a massive difference between a charity shop in Alderley Edge versus Harrogate or Richmond versus pretty much anywhere in Yorkshire. Obvs I’m not saying don’t charity shop in the less affluent areas, treasure’s everywhere, but if you’re hunting designers specifically then follow the money, my friends.
Now I’m not saying jump in the car and head for Kensington either. Affiliate your spending power with your demographics and you’ll strike gold. For me it’s been affluent villages and towns full of wealthy professionals, especially those in their 40s-60s who’ve built up nice wardrobes over the years, take proper care of their clothes and then donate to charity when they no longer feel like wearing something rather than when it actually falls apart.
Same goes for uni towns at the end of term when poor foreign students can’t be arsed packing everything up and take all their high quality, hardly worn clothes to the local Oxfam instead. Win-win. Timing wise, aim for Tuesday or Wednesday morning.
Most charity shops stock their shelves mid-week and generally speaking Monday’s donations go out on Tuesday. Friday is your next best bet with the weekend crowds still a day away. Saturdays are a no-go if you can avoid it.
Everyone else knows about bargain hunting on Saturdays so you’ll be fighting off kids with ASD trying to grab your shirts while their mum shouts at them and old men who think cutting you in the queue is some sort of hilarity. Learned that one lesson after being poked in the ribs one too many times by some random in a Cancer Research charity shop in Bath… <img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1383″ src=”http://joewears.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain041c218b-96.jpg” alt=”im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain041c218b-96″ width=”504″ height=”504″ /> January is a cracking time to menswear-shop too because you get so many bitmares from Christmas that nobody wants. “What does the man who has everything buy? Another blue jumper evidently” as my sister- in-law once shouted at my brother as he forced me to sit and watch him unwrap his fifth double-breasted Jumper that was “virtually identical” to the one’s we’d already given him that Christmas.
Fast-forward six months and chances are a good handful of those jumpers will end up in a charity shop near you. OK, so once you’re in the shop itself you need a game plan. You know how most people gravitate towards suits, coats and knitwear?
Of course you do, you’re idiots just like me. And yes, these sections are great, possibly where you’ll find your biggest designers, but you’ll also have lots of competition so skip past those first. Best place to start is the shirt rail.
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Funny how nobody else knows a decent shirt when they see one, eh? Pass the crappy horizontal stripes with shitty collar designs and instead train yourself to spot the good stuff from two metres away. Look for mother of pearl buttons (they reflect the light differently to plastic ones), cheque the yoke on the back of the shirt is split (which means it’s tailored rather than RTW) and most importantly the fabric itself will hang differently to the cheaper shirts.
Trust me. <img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1385″ src=”http://joewears.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain080e9bc7-6a.jpg” alt=”im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain080e9bc7-6a” width=”504″ height=”504″ /> Texture is everything. Spend 20 seconds brushing your hands along a rail and you can pretty much discount 80% of it without even looking at the labels. I’ve got wivesative once when I held my hands public and proclaimed that I could tell the difference between H&M jumpers and John Smedley by how it felt.
She eyes me funny sometimes but then giggles like a loon when she finds me yet another Loro Piana shirt for fiver. Buyer, buyer. <img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1386″ src=”http://joewears.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain080e9bc7-6a1e.jpg” alt=”im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain080e9bc7-6a1e” width=”407″ height=”504″ /> Flip your clothes inside out too. Literally found a Jil Sander jumper once that someone had obviously donated after taking the labels out themselves.
It was pristine but the flatlocked seams and neat finishing were what caught my eye first, hence me checking the label. Cried when I realised what it was. Went home and wore it with pride.
All for £4.50. Barg. Oh and one last tip before I forget; treat the staff like human beings.
No awkward ‘are you bagging these?’ niceness, just smile and chat. Learn their names. They live there.
Like it or not, they wield great power over your shopping trip so make friends. My local BHF have sorted me out time and time again simply because the ladies behind the till remember that I’ll come in and browse through the men’s shirts every Tuesday. “Oh, we’ve had this lovely linen shirt in that would suit you sir!” Said Jean last month when she fetched me a gem off the sales floor. Nearly fell over in gratitude I did.
You will not find shoes though. Designer shoes anyway. One-day we will and someone will be very rich.
Likewise with premium denim. And finally, if it’s trendy now you’ll never find it. Charity shops man-and-wife own that shit before it even hits the rails. <img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1387″ src=”http://joewears.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain080e9bc7-6a1e48.jpg” alt=”im1979_Charity_Shop_Gold_How_to_Find_Designer_Pieces_in_Britain080e9bc7-6a1e48″ width=”504″ height=”504″ /> Wait.
There’s more. Sadly, the high end brands like Zegna and Brunello Cucinelli rarely make an appearance because a) they’re crazy prices when new and everyone hunts them down in the sales and b) they’re probably still wearing them. HOWEVER.
They do turn up. And when they do, nine times out of ten they’ve ended up in a charity shop who knows they’re selling high-end designer clothes and prices them accordingly. Places like Mary’s Living & Giving shops, who curate all their donations through Mary Portas for Save the Children are great.
You won’t get bargains there but you will pay less than retail. Same goes for The British Red Cross shop in Chelsea. But if you’re after THAT type of thing more often then look at consignment and vintage instead.
Places like Reign Vintage in London or The Vintage Showroom do menswear too sometimes. I picked up a 60s Aquascutum overcoat from a vintage shop in Manchester years ago and it’s still my favourite jacket to this day. Worth every penny of the tenner I spent.
Online of course is a whole other ball game. eBay will get you great stuff if you’ve got the patience to scroll through thousands of listings but Vestaire Collective and Grailed are good shout too if you’re after specific brands. Granted the bargains are few and far between there as most sellers have a fair idea what they’ve got tucked away in their wardrobes but what you will find are gems that have already been sifted through by someone with a trained eye. Obviously you won’t get the buzz of the hunt quite like you do trawling through endless rails I guess, but hey.
Up to you. The latest frontier for me has been British Heart Foundation’s dedicated furniture and electrical shops which surpriseingly also often stock clothing.
Don’t know why but there always seems to be less competition and generally better stuff.
Scored a perfectly good Albam chore jacket for £12 last week purely because I was “looking for a bedside table”. Never found the table. Didn’t care.
Bottom line is charity shopping takes patience. For every dream find there will be days where you spend an hour digging through bags of clothes on legs only to leave with nothing. If you can’t handle that then rent boy it is I guess but you’re seriously missing out otherwise.
And when you do find that perfect something, well I know you’ll understand when I say it’s better than sex. Or waiting for a package to arrive…. Why is that so good? !
Any tips of your own? Love to hear em!
