28.7.10



*Satchel, charity shop, £4 *Tortoiseshell Audrey Sunglasses, giveaway win at Pretty Much Penniless
I had my first ever shift at my favourite charity shop today, I had such a wonderful time! I'll be working every WEDNESDAY (not Tuesday, sorry, haha!) from 12:30 to 17:00, so if you are in the area come on down, hehe. Though I would really insist that you pop by in the next few days, I have never seen so many clothes in stock! I don't have the confidence to get a proper job yet, but already I feel more comfortable working in a retail enviroment, I just can't wait for next week now, though I'm sure I'll pass by before then to buy a few more clothes! At first I was really shy to ask the lovely lady, Vicky, I work with if I could keep stuff back for me, but before I could ask she told me to go around at pick what I'd like. I ended up with a faux leather tulip skirt, a Harvard tee and two pairs of shorts. They would have cost me a total of £3.50, but Vicky told me to ring it through the till at only a pound, how kind of her?! Anyway, I thought I'd make this post quite charity shop related so below I'll be answering some of the questions from my previous post. Please do share your answers to these questions too, or comment with any more questions on charity and car boot shopping you may have and I'll reply below! I'll be answering the rest of the questions over the next week or so. Here we go...

Where are your favourite charity shops in London?
To be honest, I only really ever go to the same few in the Battersea area, but I always pop into every charity shop I pass as who knows what I might find? My favourite charity shop is definately the Wandsworth Oasis on Battersea Park Road, which is literally just around the corner from my flat and is now where I am volunteering (yay!). The majority of my secondhand clothes come from there, I usually visit about three times a week, hehe. This charity shop is quite touch and go though, some pieces are a tad expensive for my liking, but they have a lovely fifty pence rail where I have previously bought clothes from Zara, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Primark, H&M, Jil Sander, New Look and vintage to name a few. They stock lots of mens shirts and hobo jumpers, dresses and skirts, baskets of belts and scarfs for around fifty pence each, plus there are also bags, shoes, jewelry, bric-a-brac and furniture. I would really recommend that you search 'charity shops in London', or a more specific area or road into Google maps, It's really a great way of discovering new charity and junk shops!

Do you have any tips for haggling and cheap buying?
I personally don't like to haggle in charity shops, even the ridiculously expensive ones (ten pounds for a Primark top, no thank-you!), as it's for charity and all, so I would recommend that you get to know the people working in the shops. That way they will start to know what your style is and point out pieces they think you will like, hold stuff back for you, give you discounts and even stuff for free! It's great fun haggling at car boot sales, though. The most important thing is to have lots of change in various pockets on you and in your bag, if you carry notes with you then the sellers will know you have more money and may try and rip you off. I tend to pick something up that I want, ask how much it is and if the price is too high then I'll put it back down, nine times out of ten they will immediately reduce the price, if not don't be afraid to ask if you can have it for less! Sellers usually reduce their prices even more near the end of the car boot sale as they don't want to take everything back home, so hang around as I have often seen clothes that where £2 at the beginning of the day be reduced to 20p near the end. 

What is your favourite charity shop find?
Oh, now this is a difficult question! I actually can't think of one top charity shop find, I have quite a few but my mind changes practically every day, so here is a list of my favourite bargains which have been seen on my blog to date: tie dye dress for £3, hobo jumper for 50p, satchel for £4, vintage bag for 10p, floral skirt for £2, denim shirt for 50p, zara raincoat for £9.50, lace vest for 50p, zara plum dress for £7.50.

23 comments

  1. So glad you had such a lovely time! I'd love to work in my local charity shop, but I simply don't have the time with work etc! It works very well to your advantage as you get first dibbs on everything! My nanny volunteered for years at a local one, and she'd always pick up gems for me.

    Lou x - craftyandquirky.blogspot.com

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  2. Oooh sounds like a wonderful job for you! Hope to be seeing many of your buys soon from the shop. Also I don't know how you find so many awesome finds, everytime I go to a charity shop, I can never find anything! Maybe I'll have to visit your shop some day!

    Btw, those are some awesome tortoiseshell sunglasses, I just ordered a similar pair from ebay (not charity shop unfortunately!)

    S
    http://notjustmedical.wordpress.com

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  3. I love the outfit :) I also volunteer in a charity shop, it's only for an hour a week but I still get staff discount and you meet some interesting people. Really usful tips here, thankyou! x

    Fashion teapot ♥

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  4. I'm also a charity shop worker and I love it (:
    Great post, and I am jealous at the lovely stuff you get for mere pennies.
    x

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  5. Great post, and what bargains!

    Love those sunnies.

    xx

    p.s enter my giveaway http://hairadviceandallthingsnice.blogspot.com/2010/07/its-giveaway-time.html

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  6. I love this post so much. You are so wonderful. You really are, I know I often repeat this but I really do appreciate this blog.

    You are such an inspiration, I think working at the Charity shop is such a lovely thing to do and how amazing is it that you can keep things back before they are snapped up in the shop!

    You know when I go to boot sales, I am always armed with coins not notes, it really does make an impression on the seller if you carry too much cash! Although I won't ever forget the time we did our own car boot and a woman paid me in 1 penny’s!

    And the sunglasses- Miss Hepburn eat your heart out xxx

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  7. What a perfect job for you - and you get your pick of the good stuff too! x

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  8. Brilliant post! The sunglasses suit you so much! :D

    I would love a job like this, I may have to pop over to south london to have a gander! x

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  9. Ooh congrats about the volunteering work and winning those glasses, I really like them although they probably wouldn't have suited me because of my face shape.
    I really like ready your answers to the questions, I didn't ask anything because it would have been something completely boring. X

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  10. Wonderful answers to the questions my dear :) you are a stunner...you should really try and get into modelling :) thank you for the comment on my blog really cheered me up i think im going to do more outfit drawings because im not really that camera friendly hahahaha

    I worked at Oxfam for a year voulantary and had a banging time goodluck all my love sweet pea :) Oh by the way i wrote you a comment before about coz you were down i would send you a brooch i have made a necklace that i wanna sen you to cheer you up i wondered what your adress was?

    email ellamasters1988@hotmail.co.uk

    xxxxxx

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  11. Oo I would die if I worked in a charity shop - I would try to hide everything so I could buy it aha! I love your denim shorts and tights. Is that a wall in your house or a curtain? I always love the background

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  12. Yay! You answered my question :D I'm definatly going to try that on google maps and see what I find!

    Lots of love :) xxxxxxxx

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  13. I really like the tee, a lovely outfit!

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  14. You are so bloody beautiful Jazz - I love your style

    Little Rachael Vintage
    Http://littlerachaelvintage.blogspot.com

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  15. I'm so pleased that you're volunteering at your favourite charity shop - what a great job! Love your outfit today too. You really look like a model. xx

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  16. GORGEOUS OUTFITS! I love your style and now I' m following you :)
    If you want visit and follow me:
    http://rejectingtheobviousness.blogspot.com

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  17. Hi Jasmine :)

    I have been an avid reader of your blog since the day I discovered it. I was amazed to see how similar our interests are.
    I too love my V&A membership and cafe lounging, never pass a charity shop without a rummage, and get a buzz from a car-boot sale hunt.
    I'm glad you're enjoying your new volunteer position by the way :) I've been working for the Samaritans organization for over a year now and it's very rewarding.

    Also, it's only natural to feel a bit low or that you "could do better" somedays.. But sometimes we're self-critical because we just want to be the best we can be.
    You're a beautiful and sweet girl who writes an amazing blog!

    TC.

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  18. I used to work in my favourite charity shop, it is fantastic when you get to be the first to look at everything! I love your outfit :)
    steph x lemonadeandlimedrops.blogspot.com

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  19. Sooooooooo jealous of the satchel, a perfect satchel is hard to find. Veeeeery niiice! x

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  20. I need to find charity shops near the place where I'll live in September because I don't want to buy a lot of clothes in shops since London is more expensive than Spain. But charity shops are definately the perfect alternative!
    I adore your sunglasses, btw. And that plum dress form Zara was in my I NEED IT list last year when I was working in Madrid. My boss got it for a tv presenter and I was staring at it every single day. I never found it in a shop. xxx

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  21. http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/blog-secrets/145-how-to-get-a-3-column-template.html

    Hey lovely! Of course I don't mind! This is the tutorial I used, but I don't have a template as such?! I hope that helps.

    Don't be down, your blog is gorgeous!x

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  22. your outfit is adorable! i'm a sucker for polka dot tights :)

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  23. i really really love your outfit! i love the sunglasses too :)

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