8 Reasons You Need to Embrace and Love Thrift Shopping/Charity Shopping

Save your money, donate to charity and look fabulous while doing it

I have always been such a huge proponent of going to charity shops since I used to go with my dad as a child. For reference, in the UK we call thrift stores charity shops. Basically, buying clothes from second-hand stores where the money goes to a charity. If you do this regularly, the amount you spend on clothing will significantly reduce, while being able to still be super fashionable with some unique vintage finds. You won’t be contributing to the fast fashion brands that always seem to have bad press, but equally, you won’t have to fork out hundreds for ‘sustainable’ brands.

1. You Save Money

You save a lot of money.

I’ve bought an incredible quality vintage, houndstooth coat for £3. Even a shoddy-quality similar coat from H&M would cost you around £30.

I honestly don’t know how to demonstrate the immense savings and bargains to be had at charity shops without you going in and seeing the labels for yourself.

Particular savings are to be had in the book section. In a chain bookstore, a book will set you back at least £8. But in a charity shop, you can get newly released books for as little as 20p but typically around £2. If you’re an avid reader like me, this will amount to some serious savings in the long term.

If you are an avid clothes shopper, and have a genuine passion for clothes, you can easily half or quarter your clothing budget through some charity shop trips.

I get lots of charity shop inspiration on YouTube, as people will “haul” the items they found, and some of those items are to die for. Even better when they tell you it only cost them a couple of dollars.

I would love to hear some of your best charity shop bargains.

2. It’s A Treasure Hunt

If you have a genuine passion for styling and clothing then charity shops are the place for you.

With no stylish mannequin displaying the current season's trends, it is up to your watchful eye to pick out the pieces that are worth buying.

Of course, quite a lot of the stuff there is super ugly, but there are always some diamonds in the rough when you take the effort to look at every single piece.

Get into a routine in some of your highly frequented charity shops and have a route that you always take so that you can see every single item. And I mean the men’s and children's section too. Sometimes items are organised incorrectly or simply a men's shirt would look great on you or vice versa.

Let your creative vision shine and hunt out the true gems. It is far more satisfying than simply picking something off the rail in a standard high street store that has essentially already been chosen for you.

3. Environmental Benefits

Americans alone throw away about 10.5 million tons of clothing every year.

“Buying secondhand means you’ll be keeping plastic out of landfills and positively contributing to the decrease in worldwide textile demand and subsequent waste.” — University of California Berkley

It isn’t just a case of landfill and plastic. By not buying new you’re reducing water consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases.

Your want to help the environment need not come at a cost of your taste in fashion or wanting to remain trendy or well-dressed. By simply shopping at charity shops you will have a seriously lower carbon footprint than buying something brand new, and still have new clothes hanging in your wardrobe.

Even if the rest of your life does not reflect similar changes to benefit the environment, this is one by-product of thrifting that will seriously reduce your overall carbon footprint, particularly if you’re an avid shopper.

4. You’re Giving Money To Charity Even On A Budget

Each charity shop donates the proceeds to a different charity.

If you’re an avid shopper, you could be donating around £10 a week to charity, a figure that usually is not realistic for students. But because you’re buying things you need (or just want) it's a win-win for both parties.

If clothing is a large part of your budget, then purchasing your clothing through charity shops could mean that a large part of your budget goes to charity.

It's a fantastic way to donate to charity regularly no matter what size your budget is.

5. Unique Items

There are certain items in any given fashion season whereby you can tell straight away where it is from. This is the case with many fast-fashion items as they are shoved down our throats as the season’s ‘it’ item.

But if you want items that you know no one else will be wearing the charity shops are the place to find that.

I love the vintage jackets you can pick up for £5 or less and the aged, unique graphic tees are the originals that H&M and Forever 21 try to rip off and charge triple the price.

In order to find something no else has, charity shops are perfect. You stand out far more with rare vintage gems than overpriced fast fashion.

6. Cultivation Of Your Personal Style

Similar to my point earlier, because you do not have mannequins scattered across the shop floor showing the trendiest items, you are truly free to pick the items that genuinely speak to your personal style.

There no trend pressures or exclusively trend-led pieces. Frankly, there is a lot of rubbish in the charity shops, but this encourages you to cultivate your personal style because you are picking only the items that you are drawn to with your eye.

It is true that sometimes the items alone can be uninspiring as they won’t be styled, particularly unlike high street chains. But this can actually be very freeing, a men’s shirt becomes a dress, a vintage tie becomes a headscarf.

Be drawn to the colours, patterns and textures you love and let some creative vision fashion it’s way into your wardrobe.

7. You’re Not Supporting The Likes Of Boohoo

The news in the UK has been filled with the new information that Boohoo had been paying their staff in the UK, just £3.50 an hour, despite the minimum wage here being £7.38 for those between age 21 and 24. Boohoo’s owners are billionaires, there is absolutely no reason for this to be occurring.

It is not just Boohoo however, the environmental and ethical implications of fast fashion are rife and well-known. You can still buy and wear items from say Zara, but if you buy that Zara dress from a charity shop you are not putting any money in Zara’s pocket.

It’s a fantastic way to go about the issue of wanting affordable, fashionable items without contributing financially to fast fashion companies.

8. The Items Can Be Better Quality

The best items that end up at the charity shops are the ones that have been lived in and worn for years, decades even. Their quality has already been proven to stand the test of time.

Those 80s blazers that fit you like a glove are always better quality than the high street blazer that came out last year and is now in the charity shops.

Now, of course, not everything is better quality at the charity shop. Some people donate their items because it is slightly damaged.

But if you look for the right fabrics and materials, that £5 thrift store item, will be a million times better quality than the item you can find for £5 in the sale section of a high street shop.

What does better quality mean? It means you can actually wear and re-wear your items with confidence and ease. Making your item’s cost per wear mere pennies.

It means it will look like your outfit cost you hundreds, because trust me, I have thrifted items that have cost me £6 with an RRP of nearly £200. When in actual fact, your entire outfit could have cost you less than £20. It’s a fantastic way to look chic and expensive while really keeping your spending on clothes down.

These 8 tips hopefully demonstrate the widespread and varying benefits of shopping at charity shops. It allows you to be philanthropic and donate a relatively large amount of your earnings to charity no matter your budget. It contributes to the reduction of your carbon footprint without sacrificing your trends. In fact, quite the opposite; the cutest vintages finds are to be had at the charity shops. These are unique items you won’t find on your high street. And did I mention the incredible savings?