This year it seemed to me that Winter ended one day and Spring began the next. A few weeks ago I was stomping home at 5pm in the dark. This Friday I was out in the evening, serene Spring sunshine about, and a bright chill in the air. Just lovely.
Befitting this sudden spree of blue skies, I’ve gone charity shop mental and bought myself a whole Spring wardrobe. This coincides, naturally, with my latest push to try and save money and stop shopping in charity shops. One day I’ll get a grip on this, probably with the help of a Channel Four documentary crew following me around making a film about people who hoard until their house is so full of charity shop nonsense that they have to camp in the garden. I mean, I hope it won’t come to that. But hey, it might.
Anyway. I spent £22 today in the charity shops of Glasgow’s west end, and I had enormous fun. Here is my bounty – a dress, a jumper, two t-shirts, a skirt and a cardigan (and a necklace):
And now, let’s break it down into outfits and the occasions for which these outfits are intended (cue rampant daydreaming). Here’s how my Spring is going to pan out in 2013. I’m very excited:
1. When eating a mint chocolate chip sundae in the sun, outside, at a table with a parasol:
These are the two buys that I’m most proud of because they came from Save the Children at the bottom of Byres Road, which was selling everything today for 99p. What a feast. I had to fight my way in and actually got hit in the face by another lady’s elbows as she stormed past me to reach something she really wanted (zebra-print onesie? Rollerblades? I didn’t see, but I hope it was worth it). Anyway, I made it out alive with this Topshop skirt and this River Island stripey t-shirt. Treasure.
2. When strolling down the Rue de la Blah Blah Blah in Paris:
This lovely sundress was £3 in one of the charity shops in Partick. Swishy. The necklace was £2.
3. When having afternoon tea and buns with fancy people:
As soon as I bought this it occurred to me that it might be hideous. I just wasn’t sure – it was right on the line between awesome and horrible. That fine, fine line. I thought it looked very Betty Francis nee Draper. It was £3.75 and marked as ‘vintage’ on the tag, which I thought was sort of a charming distinction to make – putting it without a doubt on the ‘awesome’ side of the line.
4. When Helmut, misunderstood Swiss millionaire and my part-time boyfriend, whisks me off for yet another skiing holiday at yet another Alpine resort, and I drink all the beer in the mini-bar one night and then steal his lambswool jumper from his suitcase before telling him that it really is over between us this time:
Isn’t this jumper THE BEST? It’s huge – probably because it’s a man’s jumper, size L – and it’s really soft wool, in a sort of speckled duck-egg blue. It was £6 in the charity shop on Hyndland Road. Helmut will never miss it.
5. When going sailing:
Because its nautical, with the stripes, yes? I got this brilliant t-shirt in Oxfam on Byres Road (hello Katie if you’re reading this) for £5.99 and I love it because the stripes look like messy paint stripes. The yellow cardigan was a prezzie from my mum, which I had been wearing pretty much everyday, since yellow clothes are my new obsession.
Lastly – what I should have bought – this ski suit. It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful.
I also bought a great big bag of potatoes for 10p in Waitrose so I can at least eat while also going mad in charity shops, and stay within budget. Potatoes for every meal. Worth it. Let the Spring commence – I have the outfits. I’m ready.
Amy Jardine 