The weird and the wonderful.

One of the things I love about charity shops is that you can find some very odd items in them, some so hideous that you can’t imagine why anyone would have bought them in the first place and some so wonderful you wonder how anyone could ever part with them.

Last month I spotted some black culottes in the Salvation Army shop and thought they’d be useful for work. I’m often up and down ladders so skirts are not always practical or even decent. But I had the kids with me and they were a full £10 which is expensive for a charity shop so I left them. Another trip to the shop and they were still there. As I was alone, they had been reduced and the shop now has a changing room, I tried them on. It was then that I realised that they weren’t actually culottes but a skirt with a full split down the front and the back - and that it had built in pants!

Then I looked at the labels and had more of a surprise. They were brand new and had been £79.99 in TK Maxx but originally £320. Ten pounds, now seven, didn’t seem to be quite so bad now. Closer inspection revealed that they were John Paul Gaultier which might explain a lot. For some reason the thought of built in pants really amused me and I wondered if the person who bought them originally just didn’t realise what a odd item of clothing it was and that is how they ended up in the charity shop with the labels still on. Or does TK Maxx give any clothing they can’t shift to charity? Needless to say I didn’t buy them as I wanted culottes for modesty’s sake.

It may also be needless to say that when they were reduced again to a pound I did. Mainly for the novelty value; I can now say that I have a John Paul Gaultier skirt (if that is what it is) in my wardrobe and that I’ve saved £319 - though I know I haven’t.

But will I ever wear them? Yes, I think so, if I can decide whether I should wear pants with them or not.

Sophie