ANY charity shop connoisseur knows just how hit and miss it can be looking for hidden gems.
But one woman who’s “obsessed” with scouring the shelves in her local has revealed she hit the jackpot recently – and only had to shell out £4.50.
The successful shopping trip began with a trip around the Crisis store in Dalston, where she found a Bob Mackie fleece, an oversized checked dress she “really liked” and a cute high neck dress.
The knitwear in the store caught Sophie’s eye too, but she had to rein herself back in when she spotted “another cream cardigan” that she “did not need” in her wardrobe.
She spotted some gingham trousers she wanted, but were “way too small”, and then headed into the next shop – Mind.
A pair of gold cowboy boots caught her eye, but they weren’t leather so she left them, and she also spotted a hand crocheted top with an open back that she thought was “cute”.
The final stop on her charity shop jaunt was Sense, where she found her jumper gem.
While she thought it was cute and quirky, it wasn’t until she looked inside that she realised she’d found a designer item.
“I thought it looked cool and the tag said MCQ, which I knew was an Alexander McQueen diffusion line,” she said in the video on her TikTok page.
“So a quick Google Lens told me that this was in fact Alexander McQueen and it had been worn by Noel Fielding on the Great British Bake Off.”
It also bought up a listing which had the jumper listed for a whopping £450 ($550).
“FINDING ALEXANDER MCQUEEN FOR £4.50!!!” Soph captioned her TikTok video.
The comments section was almost immediately filled with people praising her for her find, with one writing: “Well done, I usually find a £4.50 jumper for £400 in mine!”
“Honestly this is usually me too!!” Soph replied, laughing.
“Did you buy it?” another asked.
“I had to!” she replied.
Ross Dutton has been a manager for Crisis's charity shops for four years and currently runs the charity's Finsbury Park shop in London.
Choose your area – As a rule of thumb, the posher the area, the better quality the clothes that are donated.
Don’t hang around – If you see something you like, buy it, as it’ll likely be gone when you come back
Look out for cut-off labels – Some of your favourite high street stores will have deals with local charity shops to donate stock that isn’t sold during their own sales. Often part of the deal is that they need to cut the labels off the clothes.
Stay at home – While some charities have their own site, like Oxfam and Crisis. many also sell from dedicated eBay stores, such as British Heart Foundation and Scope. You won’t get the range of bargains that you would get in a physical store, but if you’re looking for something specific it may be worth checking online too.
“What a bargain!!” a third commented.
“Omg the cowboy boots!!” someone else said.
To which Soph replied: “So cute but weren’t great quality”.
