Rags or Riches? charity shops revived

Along with my love of ethical fashion you may have also noticed my love of all things vintage and charity. It all seems to have become all the more relevant for the times we find ourselves in; as Mary Portas states, a financial and environmental crisis like nothing we've seen before. So imagine my joy to find both of my treasures, ethical and charity, at the centre of a shift in shopping and the culture of fashion as a whole. (Admittedly I say all this regardless of the news of endless queues at Gucci on the opening day of the Selfridges summer sale, but I can't ask for everything to change at once now can I!)

Oxfam is in the midst of another overhaul - this one I feel more fitting than the upmarket Westbourne Grove shop of their last attempt - and stylist and designer Mrs Jones, AKA Fee Doran, is taking the reins. She's been customising the stock, turning whatever she can find upside down and inside out, producing pieces to buy in the re-styled Camden shop and online. This cumulated in a shop launch and runway show to preview her collection, followed up with workshops teaching participants to pull outfits together and customise clothes. The final twist is the Festival DIY tent, which kicks off at Glastonbury, to which I lent a helping hand last week.
Not only does this project ask us to give back to charity, an area which means so much to so many, but it also aims to improve us through teaching long lost skills and asking us to embrace our own creativity and talents. Fashion in its rawest form.

Along with Oxfam’s revival, which is well worth a visit, a lot of other charity shops are getting it right. Cast your minds back to one of my earliest posts on the re-launch of the Age Concern shop in Oxford – a stylists dream. And I’ve maybe mentioned before too, the British Red Cross on Old Church Street where there is rail upon rail of once worn designer pieces. Ben de Lisi regularly donates, but due to the affluence of the surrounding area on my last trip I also found Stella McCartney, Ralph Lauren, nearly new Manolo Blahnik, Nicole Farhi, and the list goes on, at bargain prices. You won’t find yourself trawling through crowded piles of used and unloved garments, as insiders - stylist, designers, fashion writers, musicians - have already discovered. The shop looks like any other on the high street.

At the same time Mary Portas Queen of Shops returned to our screens with a new series
Mary Queen of Charity Shops where she aimed to change the image of charity shopping. She’s also opened her very own charity shop in the Westfield Village, supported by Grazia, to raise the profile of charity shopping. Mary's Charity Shop has been a huge success, with celebrity endorsements and donations from numbers of high end designers and celebrities. She spotted this shift from, as she names it, 'greed to giving' which was happening at the same time as this economic meltdown. The it-bag, in-skirt, fashion media led 'must have this' and 'buy that now' attitude seems to have lost its momentum. With style icons shifting to Alexa or Peaches, with their individual style or Michelle Obama, with all her integrity and commitment to raising the profiles of young American designers, there really does seem to be movement towards a shift in our attitudes. In some circles of life many do still have the money to spend on high fashion, this will never change, but even Vogue ran a 'More Dash than Cash' high street editorial in their last edition, filled with customised pieces and unique character. But it's not just the financial question, the giving to charity, or recycling rather than filling landfills, but also a question of individuality and personal style. (An issue I feel pretty strongly about; I discuss in my first column for the City Butler Magazine, and also posted here back in May, Fashion as Identity and Knowing your Fashion Identity.)

So who are these initiatives aimed at? In the most recent Ageless Style issue of Vogue, fashion features writer Sarah Harris discusses the wonders and advantages of going vintage in her article Beyond Retro, but highlights the assumption that vintage isn't for women over 40. Vintage and charity might be fine for the young fashion brave, but does it really have a role in the wardrobes of all ages? Well as always, not every trend is for every figure and the same stands here: find an era that suits, for example 50's can only be flattering for the older or curvier woman. Or costume jewellery, hats and silk scarves are always an individual twist to an outfit, but mean you don't need to take the look head to toe.

So when wearing your nearly-new £60 Manolo Blahniks, and you’ve not only pleased your bank balance, had the act of buying from charity ease your soul, relished in your contribution to ethical fashion issues and the environment, you can also have said something about yourself and your character and individuality.