Belinda in her frock

Belinda in her frock.

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.

I've always loved a charity shop

I’ve always loved a charity shop – it’s so much more exciting than a “normal” shop, you never know what you’ll find in there. And they’re cheap, what’s not to like?
I didn’t have an impoverished childhood by any means but money could be tight and there weren’t shops like Primark back then so charity shops could be a bit of a life saver. A primary school teacher friend of ours tells a story about how she’d had some misgivings about her new job in a seemingly very middle-class school. That was until she said to one little girl “that’s a nice swimsuit” to which the girl replied “Thanks, it was 10p from the Oxfam shop”. Of course, that girl was me. I still remember the cossie, it was rainbow stripes with a yellow frill. So, as you can see, I started early.

Even though I’ve always been a charity shopper, I’ve really got into it again recently. This is mainly because St Neots doesn’t have many clothes shop, as Ingrid has mentioned, but it is very well served for charity shops so charity shopping is a bit of a must. My husband does say to me that I don’t have to get my clothes second hand (I’m a full time mum and can feel guilty spending money on myself), then laughs at me when I go “normal” shopping and can’t find anything I like. The last time I went on a shopping trip to “proper” shops I did find it quite daunting, they’re so big and they don’t categorise by colour!

The thing I like best about charity shopping is that you can afford to take risks and buy things you probably wouldn’t if you were paying full price. I often get clothes I know I would never have bought if they hadn’t been cheap but end up really liking them and wearing them loads. If it does end up being a complete disaster, which in all honesty it rarely has been for me, at least you can feel good about having given some money to charity.

Sophie x

The recent convert

I’m a relatively recent convert to shopping at charity shops and I am definitely making up for lost time. In the words of X Factor, my journey to all things preowned has been a long and winding one. Admittedly I was a bit of a second hand snob, when our children were born I insisted any toys which had been owned before were put through the dishwasher – I kid you not.

My first real venture into second hand was via the wonderful NCT Nearly New Sales, a vast room full of everything baby with so many sellers and bits to buy – kid in a sweet shop, I think so! I soon became a seller too and twice a year I can be found at the Priory Centre helping, selling, buying and buying some more.

From then I headed for the high street, for me to venture into a charity shop was quite a big step, the first time I went charity shopping was with my friend Sally who is a veteran in these things. I wandered in and started to have a look around. Ridiculously I felt so self conscious thinking people would look at me but funnily enough no one gave two hoots.

I think my husband would agree that I love shopping, whether it be online or on the high street I like the feeling I get when I buy something new to me. Since moving to St Neots I’ve found the shops here aren’t really able to provide me with the choice and style I like. New Look is great but I fear I’m getting a bit old for the styles they sell. Beales is wonderful and has some great names like Phase Eight and Esprit but they are maybe a bit pricey to feed my need to shop.

There has been lots of talk about the increasing number of charity shops in St Neots, I’m a great believer in the shops being full rather than empty so why not add to the high street and give to charity. I’ve since found I can get a Thomas Pink shirt for £5 and Coast top for £2, now theres no chance they will be opening shops here any time soon!

Since my first foray I think I have become a bit addicted, I love shopping and miss Regent Street and the choice of London but I’ve found I can still shop a lot and spend a fraction of what I used to spend! There’s nothing better than bringing a bag home filled with bargain buys and getting them on as soon as possible! This love of all things preloved has brought about this blog. We hope you like it and can get the same charity shop bug that we have!

Till next time

Ingrid xxxx

Launch party pictures

A few little snaps of our Blog launch night.

This just happened to coincide with a small 40th birthday celebration for our Sophie or in her words “any excuse for a drink” We also did a bit of swishing which was great fun and something we will definitely do again! 

The Launch Party

The Launch party

We were having a girl’s get together at my house anyway so in honour of our blog we asked people to wear something they’d got from a charity shop.
I wore my “new” £1.99 from Barnardos John Rocha dress and Ingrid looked great in her Warehouse dress she bought on our last shopping trip together. Anyone who didn’t have anything from a charity shop we saw as a challenge and have signed them up for our case studies (more on this later). It was great fun comparing bargains. My friend Amy wore an original sixties jacket which we bought together from a charity shop in York when we were students, more years back than we care to remember (we worked it out as 1998). It cost her a whole pound and she’s still wearing it!

We also asked people to bring any of their unwanted clothes so we could do a swap. I think it’s known as swishing. This worked really well, mainly because Ingrid was really organised and brought a rail so peole could see what was on offer. I think most people went away with a new item of clothing, I certainly did, and recycled some stuff too. It really is true that one persons trash is anothers treasure. It was quite amazing, if not a little depressing, that something which looks dreadful on you looks brilliant on someone else. And good to know that an unloved piece of clothing has gone to a good home. The first person to arrive brought some chunky jewellery, so taking Ingrid’s comments on board (she said my jewellery was understated, non-existent, more like!), I nabbed it straight away and, as it went well with my dress, wore it all night. I only took it off when I started some quite rigorous dancing!

So all in all it was a fun night, bit too much if some of our heads were anything to go by in the morning. I really enjoyed the clothes swapping aspect and would recommend people doing it. Anything left over I just took to the charity shop (of course). I’d certainly do it again. And we got everyone to look at the blog - the Prudent Pair are up and running!

Part Two

Part two

Hello and welcome to our new blog. We are very excited to be doing this blog together, so much so its taken us all of the summer to get all our ideas in one place and get things out there on the world wide web. When we started this adventure, we decided we should introduce each other, a somewhat scary thought as I’ve no idea was the lovely Sophie will write about me so I will maybe be super gushing just in case she is more eloquent than me!

Anyway, here goes.

Sophie and I have been friends since meeting through the NCT when two of our children were babies. Over the last 5 years we have got to know each other pretty well and have discovered that we share a love of many things:

•           Charity shopping

•           Lidl

•           Drinking to excess

•           Occasionally going to church

•           Gossiping

•           A very sarcastic sense of humour

•           Up cycling

•           Being a bit crafty

•           Having bonkers boys

Sophie is the cool one, she as a really fab style and always looks groovy even with wet hair on the school run. I like the word quirky but I’m not sure Sophie will! Now a full time mum of Edward age 5 and Henry age 3, she has been involved as a volunteer for the NCT and now as a Parent Governor for our infants school. In days before children, Sophie used to be an academic librarian, (I may now find I’ve not really understood her job for the last 5 years – I did listen Sophie honest!) We live quite close to each other in a small market town in Cambridgeshire and now as our children are at school and playgroup we have been able to get together more as grown-ups rather than parents.

Our passion for charity shops has really taken off since the beginning of 2014. We often get together to show each other our purchases or talk about funny incidents which had happened whilst shopping. Often we can be heard saying “It only cost £2” and delighting in our frugal shopping.

So why do a blog? Well friends of ours have often asked us how we are so successful in our charity shop shopping so we thought we would share our views and thoughts on how to get the best out of your local charity shops

So here we are!

Intro

We are Ingrid and Sophie, two friends who live in St Neots, Cambs who have a shared love of charity shops and finding a bargain. In this blog we hope to share this with you.

We’re not the types to keep our bargain hunting a secret. If someone compliments us on our dress/top/bag we won’t just say “thank you” but will have to follow it with “It was £1.99 from a charity shop you know”.

We decided to do this blog together as though in some ways we’re very similar – sense of humour, bluntness, in looks and style we are very different. We thought it would make things more interesting. Let’s see.

Sophie on Ingrid

I’ve never seen Ingrid not looking nice which, considering I see her first thing in the morning on the school run, is saying something. She’s one of those people who look effortlessly smart and stylish.

It was my idea for us to write a bit about each other’s “look” as the way we see ourselves and how others see us can be completely different. But now as I come to write it I’m struggling. Not because I can’t think of anything nice to say, I only have good things to say, but because it’s a hard thing to define.

Ingrid wears a lot of different stuff, jeans, skirts, dresses, leggings, yet she still has a distinctive style. I think this is down to her use of colour. She’s very good at knowing what colours suit her, and this was even before she had her colours done. She wears strong, bold colours and also black and white. I’ve even seen her in an all white outfit which she managed to keep clean!

The thing I admire most about Ingrid’s style is her use of accessories. She’s not just a jeans and a top kind of girl, obviously, she does wear jeans and a top but she’d always team it with a striking piece of jewellery or an eye catching scarf which can really make an outfit. I think people would say that scarves are “very Ingrid”.

I’d say that Ingrid stands out from the crowd in her dress sense for all the right reasons, never looking over the top, but like she’s put some thought into an outfit. If I didn’t know better I would think that she spent a lot of money on her clothes, which just goes to show, if you don’t tell people it’s from a charity shop, they’ll never know.