Belinda's new frock

Our frequent ‘“nice dress” “thanks, got it in a charity shop”’ conversations, are often followed by people saying “I can never find anything in them”.

So, as part of this blog we are going to take people round the charity shops and see if we can find other people bargains too.

Case Study 1 – Belinda, July 2014 

Our first volunteer was Belinda, a good friend of both of ours. We set out on the hottest day of the year to do a tour of St Neots finest shops. We started at CRUK at the top of the High Street and worked our way down in time for school pick up. Belinda was looking particularly for dresses and skirts but was open to anything that took her (our) fancy.

I’m pleased to say that our first attempt was a success! We found stuff in the very first shop we went into. I always think that this sets a good precedent. Belinda tried on a lovely floaty, strapless, patterned but predominantly red Monsoon dress. Belinda is blonde and was wearing a red dress at Ingrid’s birthday do (you’ll hear more on this later) which she looked great in, so we were pretty sure this dress would suit her. It did. She also tried on a more muted M&S dress which looked nice, but didn’t have the wow factor of the Monsoon one. Also, being from M&S was probably less of a bargain (yes, we think like this). In the same shop Belinda found a black halter Dorothy Perkins top still with the labels on and an evening bag.

In Barnardos, my personal favourite as everything is £1.99, Belinda got a black but summer-y skirt and Ingrid an Oasis dress. We also saw a man dressed in a swim suit (ladies) and shorts (short). Now, you don’t get that in Debenhams! We couldn’t help but titter, but seriously, hats off to him, I’m all for people dressing how they want to – and it was a very hot day.

So we did it! We now don’t just find stuff for us in charity shops. We were lucky that Belinda was great, very open minded and not afraid to say if we’d picked out something hideous. She said herself that if we’d not been with her she would have had a quick look but not really seen anything. She liked the look of the Monsoon dress but would not have tried it if we hadn’t egged her on. It really did suit her.

So, if you’re new to charity shopping our advice would be –

• Take a friend, for advice and arm twisting

• Make sure you’re not in a rush, you only really find things if you take the time to look.

• Try things on, they can look completely different on from off. Also, sizing isn’t as reliable when the clothes are second hand.

• Be brave, go for something you wouldn’t normally chose, you might be surprised and hopefully in a good way.