Sharon Rose’s thrifty shopping guide

I love reading Sharon Rose’s Vintage, Fashion, Me blog. Sharon Rose has an admirable talent for excavating gorgeous clothes from charity and thrift shops: a Marc Jacobs dress for £5, anyone? So I took the opportunity to ask, how does she do it?

The lovely Miss Thrifty has given me the honour of doing a guest post while she is away.

For anyone who is not familiar with my blog, I have a love of modern and vintage designer items, ranging from jackets, dresses, jeans and blouses to handbags, shoes and accessories. I especially enjoy sourcing these from charity shops and boot sales around where I live. I’m very lucky that there is an abundance of charity shops and regular boot sales, so I generally have great chances of picking up good quality items.
Here are my tips for picking out fabulous pieces:

1. Expect The Unexpected. I’ve often gone out for a specific item in mind, but come home with something that wasn’t even on my radar.

2. If in doubt whilst thrifting-BUY IT!! Oh, I’ve debated over items so many times, walked away-even for a short time and gone back for it and its gone!! For the amount of money you’ll paying for it, it’s worth the gamble!

3. Quality, not Quantity. If you want to spend £3 or £4 on a cheap, chic bargain pop to Primark. I’m not knocking this, as I have some great bargains from here, but for quality items for the same price, go thrifting instead at the boot sale or charity shop. Aim your expectations higher. For winter this year, I sourced cardigans and jumpers in cashmere and merino wool for less than £5 an item. You can also pick up decent Levi’s for a similar price.

4. Have fun creating your own style. At prices like these, you can afford to make a fashion mistake every now and then. You can also try something you wouldn’t normally: wearing a lovely vintage or evening dress with woolly tights and a cardi rather than your usual jeans, for example!!

5. Try to go to charity shops on a Thursday or Friday. I’ve found this is the time I get my bargains, trekking out on a Saturday afternoon to look for goodies is not a great idea to get that rare one off!!

Here are some pictures of my favourite finds, thrifted over the years (click for full size):

Hope these goodies give you food for thought next time you walk past your local charity shop. Good luck with your finds!

– Sharon Rose, Vintage, Fashion, Me.