Readers share their best secondhand finds for Oxfam's Second Hand September
To mark Oxfam's Second Hand September campaign, which encourages people to avoid buying new clothes for 30 days, the Guardian asked readers for their favourite thrift discoveries and the stories behind them. I enjoyed how different the answers are, from a £2 hat to a designer suit.
Nisha Daniel in Kolkata bought a pink-and-red Prada pleated silk jacquard skirt on eBay for £28 in 2022. It arrived crumpled like a tissue, and it took about three hours and as many rounds with an iron to restore the pleats. Deb Grant, a BBC Radio 6 presenter, found a blue 1960s dress at a shop called Shag in Melbourne for $50, and wore it to the Brit awards.
Alicia from Adelaide paid $5 for a 1970s dress at an op shop in Orange, New South Wales, in 1996. She had it in her bag when she married a few months later, and says it is still in good shape, with swirls of pink dots that look like an optical illusion from afar. Rachel's mother found a choker at an op shop in Western Australia for $5, took it to a jeweller to be cleaned and learned it was sterling silver by the Italian designer OP Orlandini. The jeweller was so impressed he did not charge her.
Jane from Lewes hesitated at a £50 price tag for a startlingly orange suit before discovering it was by Altuzarra and worth at least £2,000 new. There is also Graham Berridge's £2 knitted hat from a British Heart Foundation shop, bought for his festival-loving son.
What I take from the collection is that vintage hunting rewards patience and a closer look at labels, fabric and condition. The stories are also reminders that pieces from earlier decades can stay wearable for many years.
Source: The Guardian
Nisha Daniel in Kolkata bought a pink-and-red Prada pleated silk jacquard skirt on eBay for £28 in 2022. It arrived crumpled like a tissue, and it took about three hours and as many rounds with an iron to restore the pleats. Deb Grant, a BBC Radio 6 presenter, found a blue 1960s dress at a shop called Shag in Melbourne for $50, and wore it to the Brit awards.
Alicia from Adelaide paid $5 for a 1970s dress at an op shop in Orange, New South Wales, in 1996. She had it in her bag when she married a few months later, and says it is still in good shape, with swirls of pink dots that look like an optical illusion from afar. Rachel's mother found a choker at an op shop in Western Australia for $5, took it to a jeweller to be cleaned and learned it was sterling silver by the Italian designer OP Orlandini. The jeweller was so impressed he did not charge her.
Jane from Lewes hesitated at a £50 price tag for a startlingly orange suit before discovering it was by Altuzarra and worth at least £2,000 new. There is also Graham Berridge's £2 knitted hat from a British Heart Foundation shop, bought for his festival-loving son.
What I take from the collection is that vintage hunting rewards patience and a closer look at labels, fabric and condition. The stories are also reminders that pieces from earlier decades can stay wearable for many years.
Source: The Guardian
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