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Everyone loves a bargain – and there’s nothing better than being able to boast that your fab new dress/skirt/jacket cost a £5 from your local Oxfam -“yes I look great and yes I’m going to heaven”.

Some of my favourite clothes come from charity shops (my best buy ever is a pair of vintage pink butterfly YSL sunglasses for £2.50 which still makes me smile to this day) and I’m always happy in the knowledge that not only did I spend pocket money on a fab item of clothing and had a friendly chat about the weather with the lovely old lady behind the counter, I also gave money to a good cause.

Here are some of my snippets of good advice for the best bargains:

1. Head out of big towns – after all that’s where everyone is and betcha-bottom-dollar all the vintage shop owners/professionals are clearing out the shelves of all the best bits before us mere mortals can get to them. Seaside or rural towns tend to be best – and I find the richer a place is, the better the pickings. You can find all the charity shops in your area (or if you’re out of town) by searching online at www.charityshops.org.uk.

2. The best buys to go for are scarves, belts, bags and jewellery – buying these means you don’t have to worry about sizes, and are the cheapest and easiest way to update your look. But when you do buy second hand clothing the clothes will be smaller – so don’t run out of the shop screaming if you end up in a dress 2-3 sizes bigger than you normally buy.

3. At the moment I always make a beeline towards the dress rails – vintage dresses are so easy to wear – you can take them up if they’re too long – and there’s no dress that doesn’t instantly look fantastic with a great belt. And they’re an easy thing to translate from Summer to Autumn too – add a blazer and pair of tights and you’re well away.

Charity shops pretty much rock really, which is why I was horrified to read in the Guardian the other day that due to the current economic situation, people aren’t donating as much to charity shops as they used to, instead preferring to try and flog their castaways on e-bay and the like.

This is bad news for us charity shop lovers, so give your karma a boost – give your wardrobe a good clean out, get a bin bag together (even better fill one of those charity bags that come through your door – they’ll then pick it up for you) and get donating, happy in the knowledge that someone just like you is going to find your no longer wanted dress/skirt/jacket for £5 and feel and look fabulous.

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