I’m a stonemason, so started off buying clothes for work from charity shops.
The problem is, whenever I get the gear home I always think that’s it too good for work.
So I’d end up wearing it and then eventually relegating it.

In more recent times I’ve become increasingly aware of the issues with buying clothes.
The appalling treatment and working conditions of people on criminal wages.
The clothes mountains that are a result of cheap fashion.
The quality that you get for a £1.99 t-shirt.

Does anyone else buy charity shop clothes?

Yes, or rather my wife buys them for me.
I have a small farm as a hobby, lamb about 60 sheep. My better half often buys things from charity shops which I then decree as too good for farming, although I am often over ruled. She goes to visit an aged relative in Ilkley and shops there a bit. Some top quality gear available there for little money I can tell you!

I don’t physically buy from charity shops. But I love vintage clothes. Ive bought quite a bit of stuff from the states/online which would have probably been bought in charity shops.

It’s quite big business. Go round charity shops picking up pieces for a fiver and get £30/40 for it.

Only for fancy dress purposes. I have bought army surplus stuff to go dressed as Saddam Hussein, a denim jacket to dress as Vyvyan from the Young Ones, a raincoat to dress as Dick Dastardly complete with flying helmet and handlebar moustache and a size 22 dress for my 6 foot 3 (then) 19 stone brother in law to dress as Camilla Parker Bowles.

I've did the same for a fancy dress party. I went as a bearded lady (as I have a luxurious beard).
I couldn't find a dress but I found a lovely skirt and jacket twin set and size 9 shoes to match.

Dyched wrote:I don’t physically buy from charity shops. But I love vintage clothes. Ive bought quite a bit of stuff from the states/online which would have probably been bought in charity shops.

It’s quite big business. Go round charity shops picking up pieces for a fiver and get £30/40 for it.

Similar to this - don't really shop in charity shops unless I need something for fancy dress type things.

Used to buy a fair bit of vintage sportswear (ellesse/fia/adidas/ST) etc... from a couple of shops in Manchester in the Northern Quarter - but as it is now a big business it's shot up pricewise.

One cold day in Londons posh Notting hill spotted a suede sheepskin lined flying type jacket bargain at £20 still have it and wear it in winter!

Claretincraven wrote:Yes, or rather my wife buys them for me.
I have a small farm as a hobby, lamb about 60 sheep.

Any pretty ones?

I always remember my mum looking about in charity shops.
If memory serves me right there was one at the bottom of Oxford Road, just before Temple Street.
I think we’d gone to Taskers and she just popped in.
She saw a picture she liked and bought it for 10p.
It turned out to be an original watercolour by some half decent artist.
She sold it at Sotheby's some year later for about £7000.

Used to buy a fair bit of vintage sportswear (ellesse/fia/adidas/ST) etc...[/quote]

Yeah my son has had loads of my old gear. Ellesse and Fila trackie tops.
And he zips em up all the way and walks properly.

We use charity shops all the time, and why not. Everyone benefits.
We also donate and Gift Aid to a couple of them - Hospice and Barnardo's.
It's a great way to recycle, and I urge everyone to do this.

When I had no money I did. I still have no money but I shop differently. I've bought Primark and a few weeks back I had the thrill of putting some of their £7 shirts in the charity shop along with a Burnley top. I thought I'd be creative and spread the good news. I've still got my Hollands Pies top with a proper embroided badge, so I'm OK.

halfmanhalfbiscuit wrote:Used to buy a fair bit of vintage sportswear (ellesse/fia/adidas/ST) etc...

Yeah my son has had loads of my old gear. Ellesse and Fila trackie tops.
And he zips em up all the way and walks properly.[/quote]

Tell him to check out the Northern Quartee in Manc - still some great finds there if you can be bothered going through the rails.

Used to visit a place called Ryan Vintage who had a lot of decent stuff.

They had an original Fils BJ tracksuit in green and I ran to cash machine for some money to buy it ..... got back and it's gone. £50 for the tracksuit and you could add a 0 to that on eBay at the time.

Yes - I buy from charity shops all the time. In fact most of my decent polo shirts are charity shop buys. You can often find new or nearly new items in there, for example a M&S polo shirt is £35 in M&S, I got some brand new ones for £3 each. It is simply a case of taking the time to look and you can find some real bargains.

I personally wont buy footwear from them though, they have to be new.

Rick_Muller wrote:I personally wont buy footwear from them though, they have to be new.

It depends on the state of the footwear for me. I've bought things but it has to be almost new for me to consider it.

Underpants is where I draw the line

It's the wife's hobby, about 3 afternoons a week. Her and friends make a day out of it. Skipton, Clitheroe, Rawtenstall, they know all the best places for high quality tat. I have about a dozen Ben Sherman's thanks to her nouse

Some quality to be had out there!

Jel wrote:Some quality to be had out there!

Apart from the hats I'd have no problem dressing in any of that

They often call them Vintage shops now to be hip..... but I'd rather pick up genuine 60's clobber often than repro stuff churned out in Asia for a couple of quid a throw and sold in Boutiques for £65 a pop for a t-shirt.

Jel wrote:Some quality to be had out there!

John Inman and his faithful sidekick Trigger!

bob-the-scutter wrote:John Inman and his faithful sidekick Trigger!

It was for ITVs Houdini and Doyle. The clothes itched more than the whiskers.

Nowt wrong with shopping in charity shops! I have got some awesome stuff from them!

halfmanhalfbiscuit wrote:I’m a stonemason, so started off buying clothes for work from charity shops.
The problem is, whenever I get the gear home I always think that’s it too good for work.
So I’d end up wearing it and then eventually relegating it.

In more recent times I’ve become increasingly aware of the issues with buying clothes.
The appalling treatment and working conditions of people on criminal wages.
The clothes mountains that are a result of cheap fashion.
The quality that you get for a £1.99 t-shirt.

Does anyone else buy charity shop clothes?

Given the quality and price available on a lot of things why shop anywhere else unless you have more money then sense

Given away tonnes of stuff that 'vintage' shops in the northern quarter or camden would sell for more than i ptobably did in the first place.

If i dont hand down i drop with hospice shops etc. Clothes waste pisses me off as much as food waste.

Yes - frequently... and especially in the more affluent towns. Some real bargains to be had.

I hear that ClaretTony bought a Dortmund jacket for three quid in the Age Concern shop

bfccrazy wrote:Similar to this - don't really shop in charity shops unless I need something for fancy dress type things.

Used to buy a fair bit of vintage sportswear (ellesse/fia/adidas/ST) etc... from a couple of shops in Manchester in the Northern Quarter - but as it is now a big business it's shot up pricewise.

When did sportswear become vintage and move on to big business?

Sidney1st wrote:When did sportswear become vintage and move on to big business?

Few years back. It’s very sort after nowadays. Trainers especially can bring a fortune. Brands often reissue stuff which can hike the price if you have the original

Dyched wrote:Few years back. It’s very sort after nowadays. Trainers especially can bring a fortune. Brands often reissue stuff which can hike the price if you have the original

Well I didn't know that.
I think I'll stick to buying older Star Wars stuff instead.

On the subject of buying and selling on 2nd hand clothes for a living, my step dad has been doing it for years, his best one was a suit he got for about £20 and resold for nearer to £400.

I drop a few bags of quality clobber off at Barbados every few months , but never purchased myself.Couple of years back took a cracking bag of barely used Ralph and Hilfiger stuff and few days later in Morrisons saw an old boy about 80 wearing a ridiculously too big sky blue Ralph polo while queueing at the checkout . Our shop don’t take books anymore even virtually new best sellers

Sidney1st wrote:Well I didn't know that.
I think I'll stick to buying older Star Wars stuff instead.

On the subject of buying and selling on 2nd hand clothes for a living, my step dad has been doing it for years, his best one was a suit he got for about £20 and resold for nearer to £400.

Yeah its quite astonishing what things sell for. Film cameras is another area now too. I might buy a **** load of walkmans on the hope they make a comeback

AlargeClaret wrote:I drop a few bags of quality clobber off at Barbados every few months ,

How the other half live

Sidney1st wrote:When did sportswear become vintage and move on to big business?

I had an ellesse sports jacket from the 80s on last night - I paid about £15/17 for it a few years ago in the Northern Quarter. One of the lads with me mentioned how similar jackets were going on a Facebook page he's liked for upwards of £150 now.

It's big business.

Definitive no

cutsy123 wrote:Definitive no

Primarni for you then eh...?

Charity shop clothes
Will get you nowhere
They're out of season
It's betrayal with no treason

Zugunruhe wrote:Charity shop clothes
Will get you nowhere
They're out of season
It's betrayal with no treason

With so many trends coming back into fashion - couldn’t it be that charity shops are ahead of season??

Nope, they are like me

Same style all the time means that some years i'm the cutting edge of fashion and otheryears, maybe not so much.

Dyched wrote:Few years back. It’s very sort after nowadays. Trainers especially can bring a fortune. Brands often reissue stuff which can hike the price if you have the original

Definitely the case. Couple of years back my son came back from uni with a tatty pair of 1980s Adidas trainers he had bought on eBay for £100. I went mad at him as I was subbing him for money on food etc.
He spent £25 getting them re-dyed. A year or two later he decided they never really fit him so decided to sell on eBay. Again I went mad at how he had wasted his money.

They went for £500!

1968claret wrote:Definitely the case. Couple of years back my son came back from uni with a tatty pair of 1980s Adidas trainers he had bought on eBay for £100. I went mad at him as I was subbing him for money on food etc.
He spent £25 getting them re-dyed. A year or two later he decided they never really fit him so decided to sell on eBay. Again I went mad at how he had wasted his money.

They went for £500!

Adidas stuff is bonkers atm. They do alot of reissue stuff of what I had 10 years ago. If I had kept them they’d fetch a fortune now.

——-
Its not my kind of stuff but if anyone on here has and Stone Island thats 5 years old or older. Wash it and wrap it up good and in a box. Give it 5 years and you’ll make 5x what you bought it for. It’s gaining a massive following now in the states

Dyched wrote:Adidas stuff is bonkers atm. They do alot of reissue stuff of what I had 10 years ago. If I had kept them they’d fetch a fortune now.

——-
Its not my kind of stuff but if anyone on here has and Stone Island thats 5 years old or older. Wash it and wrap it up good and in a box. Give it 5 years and you’ll make 5x what you bought it for. It’s gaining a massive following now in the states

Aye. I shrunk a load of mine when I did my own laundry. Tumbled dried a couple of stone Island and aquascutum cardigans. Looked lovely on the Jack Russell

Had an old full check Burberry shirt from well over ten years ago and barely worn that I gave to my German mate a couple of months ago. They are going for hundreds now. Couldn't be arsed with the hassle of flogging it

Stupid but I usually just give it all away.

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Aye. I shrunk a load of mine when I did my own laundry. Tumbled dried a couple of stone Island and aquascutum cardigans. Looked lovely on the Jack Russell

Had an old full check Burberry shirt from well over ten years ago and barely worn that I gave to my German mate a couple of months ago. They are going for hundreds now. Couldn't be arsed with the hassle of flogging it

Stupid but I usually just give it all away.

Haha . All that stuff from the early 2000’s is crazy. Especially the caps. Burberry actually stopped producing the check caps due to its association with “hooligans”.

If I were to buy stuff now id buy 2. 1 to wear, 1 in the loft. Even football shirts. Most people chuck them cos its “last seasons”. Keep them all. Plenty of collectors want it for exhibitions etc.

Dyched wrote:Haha . All that stuff from the early 2000’s is crazy. Especially the caps. Burberry actually stopped producing the check caps due to its association with “hooligans”.

If I were to buy stuff now id buy 2. 1 to wear, 1 in the loft. Even football shirts. Most people chuck them cos its “last seasons”. Keep them all. Plenty of collectors want it for exhibitions etc.

Yep lost or gave away tonnes of stuff. Started to get a collection of footy shirts again now but doubt they will ever be that rare.

I didn't buy that much burberry stuff. Preferred Aquascutum. Wish I kept it as they went bankrupt (although returned under different owners and I have some more, albeit more discreet stuff). Gave all of the old stuff away.

Found a bag full of my old football egg heads the other day though Not all of them but a good few! Shame the wrestlers and pogs went awol.

Dyched wrote:Adidas stuff is bonkers atm. They do alot of reissue stuff of what I had 10 years ago. If I had kept them they’d fetch a fortune now.

——-
Its not my kind of stuff but if anyone on here has and Stone Island thats 5 years old or older. Wash it and wrap it up good and in a box. Give it 5 years and you’ll make 5x what you bought it for. It’s gaining a massive following now in the states

I left a few old SI bits in back of wardrobe that the missus ended up getting - I have a few bits I haven't worn in years (must be 15 years+ old now) that could do with some minor fixes on them ... redying or a few stitches where a pocket has come away a bit. Any recommendations for anyone that could touch them up?

bfccrazy wrote:I left a few old SI bits in back of wardrobe that the missus ended up getting - I have a few bits I haven't worn in years (must be 15 years+ old now) that could do with some minor fixes on them ... redying or a few stitches where a pocket has come away a bit. Any recommendations for anyone that could touch them up?

Just got a barbour jacket fixed after 'someone' put it in the washing machine last week. Deadstock in Manchester. Not sure if they repair anything like that but theyve done a cracking job on my jacket. Albeit at a price

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Just got a barbour jacket fixed after 'someone' put it in the washing machine last week. Deadstock in Manchester. Not sure if they repair anything like that but theyve done a cracking job on my jacket. Albeit at a price

Messaged you pal.

Claretincraven wrote:Yes, or rather my wife buys them for me.
I have a small farm as a hobby, lamb about 60 sheep. My better half often buys things from charity shops which I then decree as too good for farming, although I am often over ruled. She goes to visit an aged relative in Ilkley and shops there a bit. Some top quality gear available there for little money I can tell you!

She couldn't come home baht 'at.

Just hi viz coats

ClaretTony wrote:Just hi viz coats

No hats?

bought a hand-made sheepskin coat from a charity shop in shipley for £10. wearing a pair of wranglers now i bought for £2.50.

always look around them and buy stuff regularly and am glad they are still looked down upon.