Where there are thrift stores in New York, there are charity shops in London. The vocabulary might be slightly different, but the goods on sale are essentially the same: secondhand clothing, or what the store owners here prefer to call gently used garments. The challenge I’ve been given for London Fashion Week: Find a charity shop outfit in less than 24 hours. This plays to my strengths as a seasoned vintage hunter-gatherer. The problem is that things have changed since I was cutting class to rifle through bargain bins at the local Oxfam, so I’m admittedly a little nervous.
My rule of thumb for thrifting in London is to start with the posh neighborhoods first, since donations tend to be more luxe (I once scored a Lanvin blazer at a charity shop in Belgravia). When I pass the Cancer Research UK store in Marylebone on my way to the Margaret Howell show, I’m convinced I’ll hit the jackpot. What I had forgotten about charity shops in London is that they tend to be smaller and more expensive than their American counterparts. And while I instantly gravitate toward a long, multicolored mohair skirt that looks like something quirky Scottish designer Louise Gray might wear, the $100 price tag is off-putting, even if the proceeds do go towards a good cause. Thankfully I spot a skinny snakeskin belt (I’ve been fiending for python since the dresses at Altuzarra), and it rings up at a reasonable $12.
After the prim and proper edit at the Cancer Research store, it seems a good time to go gritty, so I head over to my old stomping ground, the Salvation Army on Princes Street. What I find there is a more jumbled selection: lots of leather pants which could work if they weren’t so vampish, and printed floor-length sundresses that are cute but too summery. Just as I’m about to give up, I spy a beautiful woven Peruvian scarf with a flower motif and rainbow-colored stripes, and it’s only $4. Bingo! It looks like something out of the global-traveler fashion story in _Vogue’_s September issue.
With a few shopping hours left on the clock and only a couple of accessories in the bag, I decide to dial a British fashion editor friend for help. TRAID, a charity shop on Westbourne Grove that raises money for international development, is apparently where stylists go for cheap, fun finds. I pop in before a Pringle of Scotland presentation and find myself blissfully nearing charity-shop nirvana. There are flirty polka-dot dresses in one corner, a full selection of Burberry-esque trench coats in another, and pussy-bow blouses galore. I stumble on a chic black Dior suit, but eighties power dressing isn’t quite the look I’m going for. With Michael van der Ham’s devoré renderings on my mind, I make a bee-line for a bright red velvet pantsuit ($40) and decide to pair it with a purple cashmere tank ($15). Later on at dinner, Vogue beauty writer Catherine Piercy gives my new purchases the thumbs up. She says the suit reminds her of a Tom Ford for Gucci look that Gwyneth Paltrow wore in the late nineties. I am silently very relieved!
The next morning, dressed in head-to-toe charity-shop chic, I run into fashion blogger Susie Bubble after the Marios Schwab show. “I love your suit,” she says, eyeing up my outfit. “It’s very seventies YSL.” Shall we say mission accomplished?