This Week in Charity Shopping - just What The Doc Ordered

It's been a pretty good few days in the wonderful world of charity shopping this week. I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday when I spotted a Dr Martens box on the shelf of the first chazza we visited and discovered these Royal Blue patent boots tucked away inside. They were my size, they'd never been worn and were less than a quarter of the original £90 asking price (the shop label was still stuck on the soles).

Funnily enough, only a couple of months ago, I'd treated myself to my first pair of Docs since the 1980s in their half price sale after falling in love with them all over again after wearing a fake yellow pair I found in a chazza shop. I wore them during the festival season and, what with my hip misbehaving since I got back from Greece, they've been an absolute godsend. If you look closely at my feet in my End of the Road photos you'll spot a hint of lavender.

The Docs I'm wearing here are called Pascal and they're made from exceptionally supple leather. I was a bit worried about these Lamper boots as patent isn't the easier leather finish to wear but I've had them on since 9am this morning, I've walked around the supermarket, Ikea (I know, don't die of shock) and B&Q and eight hours later there's not a blister to be seen!

My other favourite finds this week are the 1970s fringed suede skirt and the soft-as-butter vintage Shelly's, London tan leather knee high boots. The silk Kate Moss at Topshop blouse was a £2.50 chazza shop bargain a month or so ago.

Although I share my vintage finds regularly on the blog there's a lot of stuff I buy in charity shops each week that never get a mention. For me, the real joy about charity shopping isn't just about the glamorous pieces, it's finding the ordinary, often mundane, things that I resent paying full price for. Whenever I need something I ALWAYS search for it secondhand before I buy new. Society is shockingly wasteful, spend a bit of time trawling your local charity shops (or those further afield if the ones near you aren't up to much) and I can almost guarantee that you'll find what you need for a fraction of the original price and without costing any more of our earth's precious resources. Take this black top I wore with one of my most recent acquisitions, a 1970s Indian block printed wraparound skirt. I'd never dream of going out and buying a black top from a proper shop (how boring!) but it's been a staple item in my wardrobe ever since I bought it secondhand last Autumn.

 People often recoil in horror at the thought of buying secondhand underwear but things don't need to be worn to end up in a charity shop like, for instance, this Marks and Spencer bra with the tags still attached and mine for the princely sum of 50p.

 There was a box of these TopShop socks in my local hospice shop the other day, marked up at 3 pairs for £1. I've no idea how much they were in store (Walsall's high street Topshop, like our Marks and Spencer, shut down a few years ago) but I can guarantee it was more than 33p so I bought the lot. These are remaining pairs that I haven't yet worn.

As you know, unless I'm in India, I always paint my nails. I was thrilled to find three discontinued Barry M nail paints which the chazza manager kindly gave me for nothing as I'd already spent quite a bit in her shop. The Nails Inc (£1) is a gorgeous shade of green and it shares its name with my namesake, Queen Victoria.

I'm not a brooch wearer generally but this one is bastard massive - just the way I like my jewellery. The cuff with semi-precious stones had a price tag of £40 attached - but cost me £2.95. I'm sure I don't need to explain the Indian bracelet except to say it was £1.50!

I love a vintage Indian silk scarf and always snap them up when I find them. The brilliant thing about living in a multicultural area like mine is the wealth of Asian and textiles readily available in our charity shops.

Jon and I are voracious readers and these paperbacks will be donated back to the charity shop when we've finished with them.

I can't resist retro kitchenalia. The red saucepan was made in Czechoslovakia, the orange pan is by an posh Swiss company called Spring, who are still going today, and the '70s tea service is by Staffordshire Potteries.

I left home almost 35 years ago and have yet to buy a new tea towel,  why would I when there's a wealth of fabulous vintage ones in charity shops? I'm reluctant to use the Ulster Weavers' lobster or the Welsh dragon with the Design Centre, London sticker on so I'll probably frame them instead.

Remember these Moroccan leather belts being the in thing back in the early 2000s? I loved them but could never justify spending £35+ on a belt but, as I'm always saying, if you wait long enough the thing you want will always turn up in a charity shop.

Hardly the most glamorous thing in the world but a pack-a-mac is always useful to keep in the van just in case and although camo isn't really my thing, at 50p I couldn't leave it behind.

Doing my research for our next Indian adventure I've been advised to pack a hat as it can get quite chilly in North India in January especially if you're travelling about in a tuk tuk. I'm not generally a woolly hat wearer but this slouchy River Island number with a pleasing metallic thread running through is perfect.

I love it when the clearance charity shop has a £1 day, it makes you reconsider things you wouldn't normally buy like these two Indian-made pieces, neither are wildly exciting but I loved the colours. Despite the odd shape, the burnt orange dress looks surprisingly good on and both are now possible contenders for the travelling wardrobe.

I loved the cape sleeves on this gauzy cotton blouse but loathed the wishy-washy blue colour, so I dyed it with Dylon's Espresso Brown (£3 in Wilko). It fits into the rest of my wardrobe perfectly now.

And if your charity shops really are rubbish then search eBay. I honestly do believe that there's nothing you can't find on there, it just takes dedicated searching and lots of patience. Recently Jon and I have been discussing getting a new armchair for me as the seat pitch on our Egg chairs (see below) are just too low for my troublesome hip. I'd found the chair of my dreams on a super cool website but managed to find the same one, which had been used for an hour on a photo shoot, for a third of the price on eBay - it should be delivered next week.

My beloved Egg chairs - found at a car boot sale.

Our weekend off will mostly be spent shifting furniture.

See you soon!

Linking to Patti & the gang for Visible Monday.