I have a new hobby. Unfortunately it’s not bungee jumping or anything exciting like that. Quite the opposite, in fact. My new favourite, incredibly unexciting, thing to do is browse the charity shops on Clarkston high street. There are five charity shops (of varying degrees of decentness) and I am astounded by a) the things that people give away (prime example: a Peep Show boxset! Why wouldn’t anyone want that) and b) the things that people actually think other people would want (example: a used Primark bra!)
Over the years it has become more acceptable to buy goods second hand, from a used book we want to read from Amazon, or a cheeky vintage gem from eBay. However, there is still a taboo that stems from actually stepping foot into a charity shop. A few weeks ago, I went for a wee wander down Byres Road with my Mum, Gran and Sister, and had to practically drag them in to one. But when they actually had a look around, they couldn’t believe how brilliant it was. My Gran actually said that she wouldn’t have known it was a charity shop if I hadn’t pointed it out to her.
So why is it that we’re embarrassed to buy perfectly decent, but pre-loved (that bra certainly was) things?
Perhaps it’s our perception that’s all wrong. For me, charity shops used to have connotations of smelly tweed jumpers and dead peoples’ ornaments, and maybe that was the case for my Gran’s generation, when you lived by the mantra of ‘waste not, want not’ and would probably only donate something to charity if it was falling apart. These days, however, we buy too much, too often and therefore it’s not surprising to find things in the charity bins that still have the labels on. My friend who volunteers in one actually found a Burberry coat floating around!
Certain towns and cities have now been nicknamed ‘charity cities’ because the likes of Oxfam and the Red Cross stand in the graves of the Woolworths and the Mothercares.
The media portray this as a bad thing, but while so many high street chains are failing, the charity sector is booming and we should accept and embrace that. So next time you’re looking for an outfit for a night out the weekend before payday, take the charity shop challenge and see if you can find a gem whilst donating to a worthy cause. My next challenge is to convert my fiancé, a self confessed clothes snob, who turns his nose up at anything non-Ralph Lauren…wish me luck...
