Melinda does Charidee shopping

I love clothes. In fact I wear them everyday. I especially love jackets, just ask my children, in fact maybe don’t, they have a lot to say on the subject.

There are so many great reasons to buy second hand. Chances are if you are reading this and following the Prudent Pair then I don’t need to tell you that. One thing I love is that you find styles and cuts that may not be on the high street this season.

Recently I had a day to myself and chose to ignore the endless list of ‘stuff’ to do and have a leisurely stroll around the many charity shops in town. I hadn’t done it for ages but winter was on it’s way I and I felt I could justify the purchase of a woolly, or two…..

What is it in a garment that catches one’s eye? It’s so hard to define. Often I get it wrong I pull out a top only to discover that it boasts an unexpected jewelled embellishment or a lattice-work back……nice enough maybe but not for me. Perhaps it is the quality of the fabric that speaks out? It might be the turn of a collar or the colour. 

Anyway I picked out a snug, hooded, cable cardigan with quite long sleeves. This is a big plus for me. My arms are of gibbon-like proportions, so long that it is hard to buy tops that don’t stop halfway up them.

 I also picked out a tweed jacket, I would guess 1980’s. It was a bit odd and I knew the children would hate it but to my mind there was something smart about the shape of the collar. The sleeves were not quite long enough though. I fancied it had what my grandma called a’good cut’. It is this kind of detail that can be hard to find in anything but the more expensive lines. Guess what? The long sleeves of the cardigan worked under the jacket, how great is that?! Both sold to the lady whose knuckles were grazing the floor….

Another couple of shops later and I had also bagged a navy silk shirts and a stripy T. A good haul by anyone’s standards and I fully expected that to be it for the day.

Then I saw it. I had actually spent enough and had had my fix for the day but we are need of the second Harry Potter and I thought there was no harm in looking for this in the next charity shop. Of course I found myself drawn to the jacket rail.

Now I am not a snob and if I like something I will wear it irrespective of where it comes from. That said expensive clothes are usually cut pretty well, they hang nicely and they feel good to wear. If they feel good to wear I feel good wearing them.

I spotted a good looking cream sleeve and pulled out a good looking cream jacket. It seduced me before I even saw the Whistles label. Slipping it on I discovered that is fitted beautifully and the sleeves were so long that even I could turn them up in a stylish-yet-casual fashion, but and it was a big BUT it was £10. What a dilemma.

Then I thought, this is a Whistles jacket, a luxury item. What are the chances of another luxury item entering my life right now? I can tell you they are low. And the sleeves, those lovely long sleeves…..

And yet did I need another jacket? No. Did I need to part with another tenner? No, definitely not. Was it a warm and wintery jacket that would keep me snug? Well that would be a no too. Oh dear, what to do, a queue was forming outside the changing room…..

So did I buy it? Of course I bought it. When I got home I checked and by my reckoning and a dash of twisted logic I am one hundred and twenty pounds up. So if you see me sporting an unseasonal cream jacket now you know why. Oh and no looking at my monkey arms……

Stop Press The 80’s jacket has more votes in this house than Whistles…….

By Melinda Lomas, Guest blogger x

(photo of Whistles jacket to follow)