Second Hand September
Second hand, vintage, thrift, recycled, resale, no matter what you call it, its all essentially the same thing, clothes that have been pre-owned and pre-loved, so if buying something that that has previously hung in someone else's wardrobe doesn't float your boat, look away now. Its Second hand September, an initiative launched by Oxfam to encourage people not to buy any “new” clothes for a whole month, it coincides with the launch of the charities second hand boutique inside Selfridges on Oxford Street, curated by former Vogue alumni, Bay Garnett, whose vintage credentials are as about as good as it gets. Selfridges have purchased all the stock at their cost and all proceeds go straight to Oxfam. Our high streets are jam-packed with charity shops and day to day they are a life line to those whose economic situation leaves them with no other option, and if you have never ventured inside one, they aren't all a jumble sale with smelly, musty, tatty looking stock, far from it, lets not forget they have to function like any normal business, while their workers may be volunteers each store needs to turn-over enough money to pay their rent and rates, so more often than not the merchandise is nicely ordered by product category, size and even colour to make shopping more appealing, and most of them sift through the donations carefully and remove any undesirables such as second hand-smalls (Covid precautions are also in place, with donations being quarantined before being put out on sale) Of course charity shops aren't the only port of call for pre-owned clothes, there are the online market places such as eBay and De-pop which are perfect for those wanting to buy high street clothes that perhaps they missed the first time around, plus there are more and more “curated” vintage shops popping up online, curated in this instance means cherry picked for their quality, washed and repaired, however the prices are slightly higher for their troubles. If you're a designer label lover but find the prices out of your reach then second hand is the way to get your kicks without the hefty price tags, with the rise of re-sale sites such as Vestiaire, Vide and HEWI you can get your hands on nearly new clothes & handbags from some of the worlds biggest luxury brands at knock down prices and you don't even have to leave the house.
Photo credit : Oxfam
