Recycled clothing
The first time I put my blog through this gender analyzer it said it was 90% sure my blog was written by a woman. Today I ran it again and it said 56% sure, but thinks it’s gender neutral. I'm surprised. So, I thought that what was needed to swing things back in the right direction was a post about clothes and bargain shopping.
I have been getting into "recycled" clothing of late. There is a Vinnies near where I live (Vinnies stands for St Vincent de Paul, and is an "opportunity shop" for those who may not know) but for the whole first year I lived here I never had any luck when I went in there, and thought it was full of old, grotty, smelly things, to be honest. That is until a few weeks ago, when I stumbled in and then stumbled out again with six things for $52. Here they are:
This froggish/apple green fine corduroy shirt-dress which I have been wearing about lately in the autumn weather, and which people keep commenting on. It was actually brand new, with tags still on - they must have got some shop stock from somewhere, and I doubt it was expensive in the first place, but I am enjoying owning it. In the end I went back and got the plum-coloured one they had also, as I figure I could wear it to work.
I also got another shirt for work with tags attached, in a bright apricot colour and the first time I wore it the stylish girl who sits next to me commented on it.
A French Connection cardigan-style top for work in a wide green and black stripe, with large press-studs up the front and a belt around the waist
A light-weight Rip Curl pull-over hoodie, for slopping about (I am not really into brand names, but these are clothes that would normally be quite expensive)
A blue zip-up woolly cardy
A pale pink jacket, which I bought for my Mum. I am good at buying clothes for my Mum. She reckons she can never find anything, but she just needs me to go shopping with her :).
* Note nothing is ironed in these photos - and it all went through the wash to get rid of that smelly business.
Then I went into the vintage clothing shop up the road from my church the next day, because I was walking by it on the way home, and got a long Witchery cardigan for $25, which I thought was worth the massive $25 because it’s pure wool. It even has sequins on the belt. Not sure why, but they're sparkly.
So, now I feel like I basically have myself covered for winter, just from random op-shopping, and it has restored my faith in the whole venture. When I have days like that I wonder why I have ever payed new prices for anything, but I am not always so successful.