You may be asking, what does thrift have to do with DIY? Well, erm, just about everything! Thrifted clothes are the backbone of my DIY projects, as I simply don’t have the money to buy new clothes and then experiment with cutting, sewing and ripping them. I wish I had the cashola to fund the luxirare style ‘DIY’ (“take 17 kilos of chains, glue them to a jacket, done!”), but in the meantime I will have to stick with what I can source cheaply from an opshop. I guess also, my interest in DIY was born out of buying cheap thrifted clothes and wanting to make them my own and on trend, and even though I now have a little bit of extra cash to spend on Topshop and Asos, the sense of satisfaction when I have done it myself is unbeatable. Finally, being a bit of a greeny at heart, I love the element of thrift and DIY that promotes recycling and making old things new again. I hate to think of all the clothes that get thrown out and believe it or not, you can often find better quality thrifted clothes than the cheap new stuff out there.
If you haven't seen the original post have a look at Part One - A Guide to Thrift Shopping (for the VERY thrifty). In that post I outlined a number of essential factors to help you find cheap thrifted clothes (some say vintage but maybe its best to be honest and just call them 'old'). I decided it it might be a good idea to drill down a bit more into the concept of ‘Location, location, location’, as there were are a few points I think could be better expressed (must apologise for my rambling in that post – if you haven’t seen it check it out!).
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
What I was trying to iterate in my last post was a theory around location, demographics and clientele that dictate finding a good charity shop (yes, I may have thought about it too much...). The last couple of months have provided me with a lot more insights so here goes.
Thrifting potential is definitely something that can be broken down into the what and the where (and the how much?). For me, any success in terms of what I find in charity shops (and how much I paid) is often directly relevant to the area I am looking in. It may sound strange so I have done a little breakdown for you for various areas in your town and their relative thrifting potential (keeping in mind that this is an evolving theory that may be different depending on the characteristics of the place that you live). I have also done a broad map using the London Tube map to illustrate my points (click for whole image). I have only included a section of the map, namely the North, East and West, because I don't have a whole lot of experience in South London.
Locations have been rated as to their thrifting potential using the highly technical OMfuckingG scale (the number of times on average a punter says OMfuckingG when thrifting at this location, brought on by the combination of an items quality and its price).
Affluent Areas
These areas are often characterised by local residents with high income levels, which you can spot in the form of big nice houses and a uniform of white linen and gold sunglasses for the middle aged women (and some very tight looking facial muscles). Charity shops in these areas are often touted as the place to go – due to the likelihood of finding high quality, barely worn items. I agree that the catchment will mean designer, and overall better, items. Also, major chains of charity shops, such as Oxfam, The Salvation Army and others will often send their nicest pieces to these shops. However, for that reason, this quality of merchandise will set you back a pretty penny, locals are happy to pay and shop owners are much better at realistically pricing their items. 20 quid for a jacket isn’t cheap or DIY-ready in my eyes… (I told you this guide was for the VERY thrifty).
Thrifting Potential: Zero OMfuckingGs
Gentrified Areas
Gentrified areas are generally central locations that used to be somewhat rundown, lower income neighbourhoods, that have seen an influx of young professionals and new development. These locations are great for vintage shopping, as there are usually heaps of vintage shops here that sell you nice items (albeit at a serious mark up). However, there are slim pickings in the thrifting department – for the simple factor that there are probably a huge number of people like you, frequenting thrift shops looking for a bargain, so anything good doesn’t last long. Not the mention those sneaky vintage sellers who swoop down and get everything good before your even out of bed on a Saturday morning.
Thrifting potential: Two OMfuckingGs
Cusp Areas
Areas that are on the fringe of newly gentrified locations are what I like to call cusp areas. Soon they will be completely gentrified, but for now, they can sometimes hold a number of good charity shops that benefit from a close proximity to newly gentrified areas, but still retain a little bit of the down at the heel character that is essential in finding bargains. Although you may find there is still competition for thrifted items, the turn over is generally lower than in gentrified areas which means better bargains.
Thrifting potential: Three OMfuckingGs
Suburban Areas
This is where the thrift gets enticing. Suburban areas are key to snagging the best thrifted bargains. A major factor in this is the clientele. The people who go to thrift shops in suburban locations are much less likely to be trendy, fashion forward bright stars – which makes your thrifting a whole lot easier. If you can find a thrift shop in a suburban location, with a local area that feels a bit like heaven’s waiting room (read: lots of old grannies with cute clothes saying goodbye to this life), I promise you will get your hands on the big time. Capes, pleated skirts, amazing jackets, peg leg trousers aplenty. Generally these type of thrift shops are cheeeap too – 2 pounds for a pair of pants type cheap. You won’t feel bad DIYing those pants believe me.
Thrifting potential: Five OMfuckingGs
Urban Fringe
You wouldn’t think your town's fringe, think warehouses, industrial units, miles of freeway etc, would have good thrift opportunities did you? However, do a bit more research and you could find that there is more hiding inside those titan sheds that you first thought. I’m talking about sorting warehouses or depots. Major charity shops such as Oxfam, The Salvation Army, Marie Curie etc often have a depot where any items donated to a charity bin get sent for sorting and checking. If you are very lucky, your local one will have times when it is open to the public. This is when things get hectic and amazingly thrifty. I have been to a few that do 'bag' or 'kilo' sales, ie fill a bag for 2 quid, or a pound a kilo. When you’ve filled a bin bag to the brim for 5 quid you can definitely afford to DIY some of its contents.
Thrifting potential: Six OMfuckingGs (would have been 8 but you had to spend 12 quid on the train to get there and then walk through an industrial estate didn’t you?).
Small towns
What can I say – small towns are where it’s at for thrifting, low retail rents often mean there are heaps of stores in the one place. Now if only my boyfriend would stop the car when we go somewhere and see one…
Thrifting potential: Six OMfuckingGs
There is obviously going to be a whole range of anomalies to the analysis above. I must admit that complex cities such as London are also harder to predict due to the mixed nature of wealth and demographics (one street will be gorgeous victorian terraces and the next one will be a council tower block). However, the only way to find out is if you explore. If you see an op shop - have a look inside, no matter where you are and what it looks like from the outside. You may be pleasantly surprised. Once you have visited enough you may be able to form your own spatial analysis of thrifting potential....
Do any of you have any other tips for thrift shopping that I haven't mentioned? Would love to hear them!