THINGS THAT MAKE ME ANGRY - HIGH STREET "VINTAGE"

So today I am going to have a bit of a rant. This is because I am fed up with high street shops like Topshop and Urban Outfitters selling clothes that they claim to be "vintage" for extortionate prices. When I was young(er) and naïve, I would go to these shops and spend hours sifting through the "Vintage" section (which consisted of faded, old Nike t-shirts tie-dyed and cut in to crop tops) trying to find something 'cool' and 'unique' for under £45. I then discovered that there were places called charity shops where you could get all of this junk for a fiver and this changed everything.

Mens Urban Renewal at Urban Outfiters. £25 for a tie-dye t-shirt?!

I love charity shops and I think if you have the time and the willpower to sift through the crap you can find some real gems. I have a Jaeger maxi dress that I bought for £1 and a Versace silk top I got for £4. That's £5 for EXPENSIVE clothes!

The 'Urban Renewal' section of Urban Outfitters. The t-shirts start at £20..

I was in Topshop the other day and most of the things they were selling in the "Vintage" section looked like half the stuff you can find in Oxfam or Save The Children. I think the reason these sections of high street shops are so popular is that they are in the shop you want to look around anyway, yet they sell stuff that you won't find anywhere else (on the high street anyway). They are aimed at the kids who are just on the edge of 'cool' (but not cool enough to go to a charity shop and dive in to a pile of damp-smelling jeans to find a bargain).

Motel Vintage at Topshop. This cropped shirt was £30, you could buy a shirt for £2 and make that!

One thing I would like to say is that a lot of charity shops now accept donations from high street shops of their last-season clothing items; a charity shop down the road from my house in Bath gets weekly deliveries of Urban Outfitters last season stock which is a great way to get a bargain. Always ask in a charity shop as well; I find that if I'm looking for something branded in particular (Levi jeans for example) the staff can usually tell you if they have any and show you where they are.

Go charity shops!