Thursday 21 January 2016

Find of the week.


My find of the week is this black and white geometric skirt, purchased from Sue Ryder in Sale.
Sale is such a dangerous place for me to work as the high street there is basically just becoming charity shops only and I have to walk past every single one of them on my way from the tram station to the office!

The Sue Ryder shop there only opened quite recently and it is a bit of a shop/jumble sale as the majority of the clothes are just piled together in size order in wooden compartments. There's a few dresses and coats on hangers but the majority of clothing is just in piles you need to rummage through.
All the clothing, shoes and accessories in the shop are a set price of £1. In a way, it's a typical discount shop (much like those that Barnardo's run) in that some stock is in such a condition that most charity shops would rag it but look around and you can find some real gems, like this skirt which was unworn and still with the original tags from boohoo.com. I've gotten quite good at just standing back and looking at fabrics and colours rather than trying to separate every single garment which would take forever!

I probably go into this Sue Ryder three times a week as the stock turnover is super quick. I think what's happening is the shop is selling all the stock which has been through pass-on in the local area and not sold. Many of the items have tags from other Sue Ryder shops with standard charity shop pricing just crossed through in marker pen. I rarely get back through the door without a purchase.

I always think to myself whether this model is the future of charity shops. No doubt it's a good way to make more money than the clothing would in rag but it's also a really low maintenance and cost set up. There's no getting away from the fact that it can look messy and it's difficult to know how long any piece of clothing has been out on the shop floor for but I think it really appeals to those of us who like a good rummage and feel charity shops have lost that.

Have you ever been to a shop like this? What did you think of it?

Char x

Thursday 14 January 2016

What I wore today (Jan 14th).


Another of my New Year's resolutions, along with blogging at least once a week, is planning my outfits the night before. I'm terrible for trying to scrape something together ten minutes before I have to leave for work and then feeling rubbish about it all day because the item I really wanted to wear was inevitably in the wash! 

Due to being out late last night at ice skating (another of my resolutions!), I failed on planning Thursday's outfit on Wednesday but stumbled on some inspiration this morning and created what's below from some of my most recent charity shop finds.


The dress is originally from Topshop but I picked it up in the British Heart Foundation shop in Bury on Sunday for £5.50. It's actually from the tall range, something I am certainly not, but I like that it's come up quite long on me. I've never rated Bury for charity shops and was having another horrendous experience there until I went into BHF! I also picked up two denim dresses from Topshop and New Look.
The green necklace is the one featured on my last blog which I got from the British Red Cross Encore range in the Eccles shop - it was £2.

 

I put this floral black and cream jacket over the top of the dress as my office is ABSOLUTELY FREEZING at the moment! Originally from the G21 range at George, I got it from Scope in Sale for £2.99 last week on my lunch hour.

And here I am modelling the whole thing.



What do you think of the prices of these items?

Char x

Tuesday 12 January 2016

Like H&M? Love Encore!


 

The Encore range at British Red Cross shops is something that's been on my radar for a while now. As I understand it, these are brand new clothes donated by high street stores. The items are either imperfect or end of line stock which can't be re-sold. There's hardly any information online about the range which really surprises me as I'd've thought the charity would use it as a selling point. I'd be interested to find out how many charity shop lovers know about it?

From my experience, the range is mainly H&M clothing, usually from recent seasons. There seems to be Encore items in most British Red Cross shops - my personal favourites are Droylsden and Hyde in Manchester and the Renshaw Street shop in Liverpool city centre, where a member of staff told me deliveries come every couple of weeks. Recent finds include a Cos ring and four H&M necklaces for £4!

So I was delighted yesterday to stumble across a British Red Cross shop that I'd never been in before (charity shops I've not been in in the Greater Manchester area are few and far between now)! The shop is in Eccles, a small town just west of Salford and just down the tram line from Media City. I feel as if Eccles is one of those places which has really suffered as a result of improved transport links into Manchester and its cause can't be helped as it's in walking distance of the Trafford Centre. Many of the shops have closed or been boarded up and it hardly seems like a hive of activity at first glance.

Despite that, I can honestly say that this shop is hands down one of the best charity shops I have ever been in! All the stock is beautifully presented in colour blocks, the staff and volunteers are lovely, the customers all seemed to be regulars and they sell books for 50p - hallelujah! What more could you ask for?

£30 worth of Encore clothing, if you're me...

£30 in a charity shop in one transaction takes some doing...here's what I bought...

Interesting olive green statement necklace, £2.

Black and white patterned jumper, £3.50. This has a lovely zip-back detail which extends from the neckline to the waist.


 The photos of this high-necked, ribbed mini dress don't really do it justice. I can remember seeing this in store, loving it and not purchasing because it was pretty pricey so to get it, unworn, for £4.50 was nice!

 This photo doesn't do this gorgeous navy blue mixed textured jumper any favours either but it's super soft and feels such good quality for the £3 I paid.

 Black skirt with gold zip detailing, £3.


 Super pretty cream lace blouse, £4.

 
 Casual cream slouchy tshirt, £2.50.


Bizarre fluffy black jacket, £4.

Black skinny trousers with faux-leather detailing, £3.50.

Considering those prices are on a par with normal donated good prices, I'd say the Encore range provides excellent value for money and is an inspired path for the British Red Cross to have gone down.

Have you ever bought anything from the range? How do you feel about British Red Cross shops in general? I, for one, certainly wish there were more!

Char x