Vintage clothing treasure hunt
In the UK, we buy more new clothes than any other European country, but increasingly more people are looking to vintage and secondhand shops to find preloved items in the knowledge that Fast-fashion is trashing the planet.
If you’re new to secondhand shopping, it can be confusing to decide where to start when charity shops are packed with items to sift through. We’ve been exploring some of the options – charity shop tours are one way to get familiar with places nearby. For more of a vintage boutique vibe (that still does good!) Jo Heaven has been running charity boutiques to raise money for Empower the Gambia. Their most recent venture is a Bristol-based pop-up boutique, Emporium of Loveliness. We had a chat with Sophie who works there.
Emporium of Loveliness on Alma Road has preloved clothing, accessories and gifts to explore / © Leah Fleming
Sophie: At the moment we’ve got a £2 sale rail downstairs, a 3 for £5 deal on, and keep an eye out for our January sale. We’re looking to do more pop-ups and events in the New Year and in Summer hopefully some festivals, just to establish ourselves in as many places we can.
Leah: Have you noticed a shift recently in the way people buy clothes?
S: Definitely. People are aware of fast fashion now and they’re looking towards alternatives like charity shops.
L: How do you guys differ from other charity shops?
S: We try to keep it as high-brand, yet cheap, as we can. So I’d like to think it appeals to different types of shoppers.
L: How do you source everything here?
“Keep going back [to charity shops] and build a rapport with the people who work there”
S: It’s all by donation, and then we organise it depending on what sort of brand it is. The shop is split into two levels, and we’ve also got two other Wiltshire-based shops so we can rotate our stock between them.
It can be difficult to sort through everything when people turn up with 5 bags of stuff! That can take about a week to get through, but sometimes we’re working with the same stuff and moving it around. It’s different every week but we make a lot of stuff work. We like to have something for everyone.
L: Do you have any tips for people new to vintage shopping?
S: I’m quite new to it myself! I think you need to visit them as much as possible. Keep going back to places and build a rapport with the people who work there because once you get to know them, they can let you know what’s coming in and help you keep track.
L: Can you tell me a bit more about the charity?
The wall art is all by Bristol-based street artists / © Leah Fleming
S: Empower the Gambia is a family-run charity. Jo Heaven founded it and runs all 3 of our shops. Jo and her small group of volunteers empower children and women, providing human resources and work collaboratively with communities. We’ve recently helped to open a deaf unit in one of the schools we work with, we also send clothing and other resources like solar panels.
(Sophie gestures to colourful patterned bags and clothing next to the till) all of this is actually handmade in Gambia. The women we work with actually made these, and then they send them our way!
You can find Emporium of Loveliness in Marlborough, Malmesbury and Bristol, but keep an eye out for future pop-up events.
Do you have a favourite charity or vintage shop to recommend? Tell us on Twitter @monkeywrenchmag
Follow @emporiumofloveliness to keep up to date with their gorgeous products on Instagram