Second Hand Stylings - Day One

A little while ago I challenged Vix to blog a century of style, a decade a day. If you haven't already, go and check out how amazingly well she's doing it. In return, she suggested that I try incorporating an item of second hand clothing or accessory into each outfit for a fortnight. I've been planning a blog post about second hand stuff for a while and this will tie in with it nicely, so Vix, consider it challenge accepted!

I love second hand things. Anything with a story behind it is far more interesting to me than something sterile and brand new. I work in a 16th century building full of antiques and it's bliss. Modern minimalism is just not for me. And while I'm on the subject, I like calling things second hand. I'm not knocking anyone who does use the term but why is everything suddenly classed as "thrifted" now? I like to say the word (all together now - thrrrrriffffffted) but it's not very descriptive. I like to know if someone has rummaged in a jumble sale for that vintage scarf, or if they've found it in a tiny little charity shop, or if they got up at the crack of dawn to beat the queue at a car boot sale. And Antipodean readers, do satisfy my curiousity - what exactly is an opshop? It seems like the term second hand doesn't get used very much any more and it saddens me a tad. Perhaps it's just me. After all, the quickest way to make me giddy with excitement is to say "Look, Alex - a second hand bookshop!"

I don't consider myself much of a second hand success story though. I have nothing but admiration for people like Vix, Helga and Jem who wear fab vintage stuff all the time and make it look so stylish and funky, but I never quite seem to find nice vintage clothes when I look for them. I'll touch more on this in a future outfit post I think - don't want to write a giant essay tonight!

I love charity shops but mainly for books. It's rare that I actually buy clothing from them as I find that it tends to fall into 3 categories. 1) lovely but not in my size. 2) awful, just awful. 3) Nice but hugely overpriced. Yes Oxfam, I mean you. That Primark dress was never more than a tenner brand new so don't try and charge me £14.99 for it now, ok? I'm finding that the more of a "normal" dress size I approach, the more bits I do find and I've got a few bargains recently so I'm sure they'll feature soon.

Car boot sales? I've got some lovely stuff from there this year, mainly courtesy of the very nice lady who has mountains of clothes in my size and charges 50p for everything. But even then, I only go to the car boot sale because it's within walking distance and starts at a reasonable hour for a Saturday morning. I'm not dedicated enough to get up at stupid o'clock and hunt down things.

And I don't have huge amounts of luck with ebay either. But having said all of that, if I can find a bargain or two then anyone can! Hopefully you'll admire a few of the things you see over the next fortnight.


Today's featured item is a rather delightful pair of Irregular Choice heels. I can only indulge my love for IC shoes with the help of ebay as they're a little pricey for my budget to buy brand new as a general rule. I got this pair for about the £20 mark which I was really pleased with as they're in very good nick. And just look at them. Aren't they amazing? Even the men at work (not known for noticing footwear) complimented me on them.

Top - Dorothy Perkins
Skirt - Tesco sale
Shoes - Irregular Choice via ebay
Necklace - ancient, can't remember
Ring - New Look

And seeing as I have an enormous collection of second hand books, here's what I'm reading today (99p from a charity shop btw) It's a lot better than the last one of hers that I read. No great shakes but enjoyable froth nontheless.



I will warn you all that I'm away this weekend visiting pals and then next weekend at my cousin's wedding so the blog entries may incorporate more than one outfit but I will do my best to keep the updates nice and regular. I'm looking forward to this challenge!