So, before I start this rather frivolous post about my favourite pastime in Aberdeen- charity shop hunting a.k.a thrifting, I would like to start this post by urging you, the reader, who took your time out of your day to read my blog to raise awareness for the Palestinian GENOCIDE, and while you are at it, please start BOYCOTTING PUMA, HP, AHAVA, and many other companies profiting from Israel's CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.
Please consider donating a cup of coffee's worth to the India Covid relief fund, to check in on your friends from time to time, and to never be desensitised to the atrocities in this world. It has been an emotionally heavy week to process, but I am thankful for this platform because it allows me to liberate these thoughts. Even if only one or two people read my blogposts, it still gratifies me to know that I could change people's hearts and minds just by writing from my heart.
Anyway, since I have been writing about study advice and revision advice for the last month, I thought it would be nice to share with you another aspect of my life in Aberdeen that not many people know about, my friends included. Not because I have intentionally hidden it from them, but just because I prefer doing it alone.
If you are new here, do not know who I am, or have no clue as to where the heck Aberdeen is, it is a city in North-eastern Scotland where I have been studying medicine for the last three years.
So, *rubs hands in glee*, let us get started on my beginner's guide to thrifting in the UK, shall we?
See, whenever people tell me they enjoy cafe hopping in Aberdeen, the only thing I can contribute to this conversation is my love for "charity shop hopping".
To my non-UK friends who might be unfamiliar with this concept, charity shops are essentially thrift stores, but non-profit. They are fairly ubiquitous and support a wide range of charities. Off the top of my head, I can name a few: Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, Sue Ryder, YMCA, and many more.
Guys, the amount of time & money I spent shopping in charity shops is unbelievable.
You might wonder what the appeal is in shopping for other people's second-hand clothing, but when you see a cute Topshop dress going for $1, tell me you are not tempted.
For illustrative purposes 😜, enjoy this slideshow of me donning charity shop outfits in pictures. Sigh, I do not even remember what life was like pre-Covid times...
You would not have thought these outfits were thrifted, right? I might have questionable taste in fashion, but I am the most eagle-eyed thrifter when it comes to the rare steals in charity shops. As a rule of thumb, I have never paid anything more than $3 for a clothing item (unless it's a jacket, in which case, maybe I would push it to $5 if I really fancy it).
Plus, all the clothes are in decent condition. Having volunteered in St Michael's Hospice's charity shop when I was back in college, I know what goes on behind the scenes...kind of...I was mostly sorting books and assigning hangers to items of clothing. BUT, I have seen the volunteers use a steamer and iron to even out the creases, and they only display the clothes that are clean. Hence, I have never once worried or experienced any problems with wearing clothes bought from these shops.
I used to live ten minutes away from Union Street in first year. Union street is this long stretch of road that forms the city centre, with shops on either side of them. There were several charity shops juxtaposed next to each other along the path I used to take to get to Union Street, and I would ALWAYS get side-tracked, ending up browsing around those shops for any good bargains.
For reals, if you do visit or end up studying in the UK, pay a visit to these charity shops. Charity shop hopping on weekends was truly my favourite weekend pastime in first year, especially after Sunday service. Shopping aside, it is a cultural experience because you can learn a lot about the socioeconomic status of the people who donated these clothes, as well as imagine their life stories. I once got a Hollister puffer jacket for $10 from British Heart Foundation- brand new, with the $49.99 tag still on. It was made for men, so it said. I have never given two craps about gender when it comes to clothing so I obviously bought it because hello?? Hollister?? Anyway, I remember thinking to myself as I left the shop in the pouring rain that whoever donated this must have just recently broken up with their partner so they decided to donate this jacket their partner had gifted them to the nearest charity shop they could find. Okay, I know, not the most realistic possibility, but how entertaining this exercise is! You also find a lot of football jerseys, school uniform, and anything under the sun. Obviously, I have no use for someone's S5 blazer and skirt, but it is still an interesting exposure nonetheless.
My favourite charity shop has to be Sue Ryder, simply because everything is priced at $1, and books are priced at 4 for $1. Currently, at least a dozen books line my bookshelf in my flat. Yes, you will not be able to find the latest books in the market, but since when do we buy books like they are fast fashion? I usually choose books by authors that I recognise because I have read their work before, such as A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Regrettably, I have never come around to finishing all the books I have thrifted, so I have imposed a self-ban on buying more until I have finished the others first.
My bookshelf, by the way, was also thrifted from the British Heart Foundation furniture shop along Union Street. 😂 I am the most ardent supporter of thrifting I know of. You would probably believe me now if I tell you that I thrifted all my furniture in my Aberdeen flat from that furniture shop for under $300- this included a wooden dining table set with four chairs, a wardrobe, two bookshelves, two bedside tables, two study desks (which were dressing tables really but they fit the bill), as well as a second-hand vacuum cleaner. Oh yeah, bow down and call me the queen of thrifting. All these furniture are wooden and of stellar quality. Steals, man. If you need someone to help you thrift for second-hand furniture, I am the best candidate for this job. If medicine fails, I know what my backup plan is.
Of course, most importantly, there is the noble cause of contributing to the actual charity and reducing the amount of fast fashion purchases from Primark. It is a win-win situation for both these charities and stingy people like myself. Occasionally, I have also donated clothes to Sue Ryder. This is what makes these shops a sustainable business. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Even amongst charity shops, experience has taught me that some shops are more boujee than others. Sue Ryder by far has the cheapest prices, but the quality of clothes you get there is also fairly dubious. You are likely to find "grandma clothing" in Sue Ryder with eccentric patterns and jarring colours.
The more expensive charity shops include British Heart Foundation (BHF), Cancer Research UK, Oxfam, and Barnardo's. Though, on one occasion, I did manage to get a 50% student discount when I was at BHF by showing the volunteers my uni ID. One of the main reasons you should bring your student ID everywhere 😉.
Whenever I have a friend visit me who is not from Aberdeen, I am sure to give them a private tour of Sue Ryder 😆 and some of the more obscure charity shops in Aberdeen. So far, every one of them loved the experience, which tells you a lot about the kind of friends I make! Birds of the same feathers do flock together.
Vice versa, whenever I visit friends in other cities in the UK, I love paying a visit to the charity shops scattered around where I live, for all the reasons above. My friend in St Andrews told me that she managed to thrift a pair of third-hand Doc Martens that were still in good condition and WAS HER SIZE OMG for like $20 or something. Insane! When I visited them in St Andrews, I definitely made a whirlwind trip around the charity shops there, which did not take long, because town centre of St Andrews is miniscule.
To round this up, if you are looking for a fun (not to mention inexpensive) pastime in the UK, do visit your local charity shops and make a difference whilst looking pretty dang good while you are at it!
💋
Jie Fei
Comentarios