Last Thursday, feeling quite fed up with a week of hospital tests and a day job and a house move in between, I decided to haul myself off my proverbial sick bed and make a pilgrimage to Selfridges (surely the Mecca of shopping in London) to join the always fabulous Liberty London Girl for a spot of vintage dress-ups. The lovely people at Oxfam had asked us to come and play stylist in their equally lovely Curiosity Pop-Up Shop in the Selfridges Ultra Lounge – along with London’s best fashion editors, stylists and alpha bloggers.
The shop was a veritable emporium of genuine vintage, second hand treasures, and serious designer clothes donated by various celebrities (if I only I was able to fit into Kate Moss’s teeny sample size, I could have had her iconic midnight blue sequined gown for £300 for example – madness, I tell you!). Our job for the evening was essentially to prance around the shop, pulling vintage looks and styling complete outfits for customers, shop girls or the store mannequins. While Sasha (who has spent a good chunk of her professional career as a stylist extraordinaire) managed to put together a complete outfit that cost less than £70 (that’s her look on the right, above and below, that is just begging to be taken to a festival in a big grassy field), typically of me, I somehow managed to hone in – completely by accident – on the most adorable peach skirt suit (which just happened to be Mulberry. And donated by Alexa Chung…). I swapped the matching jacket for a double-breasted navy blazer from the men’s section (£30), teamed it with a cute printed tee (£20), ah-mazing Charlotte Olympia t-bar heels, a collegiate boy’s tie as a belt and a vintage map of London souvenir scarf (£30) worn as a pocketchief and which came home with me later, thank you very much. I’m sure I could have found cheaper items, but I wanted to put together a look that was fun and quirky and wearable.
On top of the super-fun Curiosity Shop, I can’t overstate how excellent I think Oxfam is. All of their fashion projects – aside from being rather wonderful in their own right (their second-hand boutiques and online vintage store are like real-life treasure hunts) – open up charitable involvement to an entire group of people who might otherwise not be involved, and all the proceeds go directly to their very worthy international aid projects around the globe. And what could be better karma than wearing clothes that are doing a bit of good in the world?
Special thanks to Oxfam volunteer (and fashion student) Erin for being a complete doll and modelling my looks – I think she looks like a gorgeous preppy princess in this look!
Do you have a favourite vintage/charity shop?
Love, Miss B xx
Sounds like a lot of fun!
I like near NYC and have a few favorite shops there… Edith Machinist (not a charity shop but re-sale/vintage.)
I also have two, actually in Greenwich, CT, a town with some of the richest women (or their husbands!) in America. Their taste isn’t always cutting edge but the quality is fantastic and I have some great things….Sigerson Morrison and Prada sandals (new) and lightly-worn Ferragamo suede loafers and triple-ply cashmere cardigans. None are super-cheap but I keep and wear them for years.
Second that. There is no better place to go charity shopping than the richest neighbourhood you can possibly find – all those wealthy wives cast-offs!
B xx
Broadsideblog, I’ve heard here in England that Chester is a good place for charity shops, high concentration of WAGS!
B! Absolutely adore the outfit choice. That skirt is to die for. Cute, fresh, preppy with a sophisticated edge – just like you eh?
Erin makes a great model, really suits her.
I must admit I’ve never really bought myself anything second hand, I get too caught up usually in the glitz of department stores – shame on me really, as it seems there is a wealth of choice out there.
Hope you are well!
x
Aww, thanks for the lovely words Miss B!
Love the tie belt- nice touch (-:
i’m doing some MAJOR blog-catch-up, so forgive me while i spam your comments…!
What an honor!! I wish I could’ve been there to watch you girls play dress up in real time. Fashion gets such a bad rap for being soulless, but projects like this really change that storyline!
xo
This is unrelated to your post, but I just wanted to say g’day!
I’m a friend of Hilary Goode and we had dinner last night and were chatting about blogging etc when she mentioned you. After visiting your blog I realized I know you already, as I’ve been here before! Small world, the blogosphere isn’t it! Anyway, just thought I’d say hi! xxx