High fashion on the high street? Give me a charity shop and a fiver instead

If you have been following my blog, then you may have noticed that I’ve been rather off topic recently. I’ve been discussing broader environmental issues rather than just ethical shopping issues. The reason for this is that I’ve been doing so well – I’ve been sticking to my pledge and only buying from charity shops, charities and ethical outlets. I recently splashed out on this recycled t-shirt from earth huggers, a great website full of recycled goodies that may well have become my new favourite shop.

But, unfortunately, I’ve had a bit of a lapse. You see, I was invited to an event at a rather swanky club in Mayfair and my modest wardrobe really didn’t rise to the occasion. So I had to buy something to wear. By the usual persons standards, it wasn’t overly indulgent, just a top and jeans, but for me it’s a rather shameless lapse of my morals. But the strange this is, I actually really enjoyed buying things again which is something I didn’t expect. I still hate the high street, I hate the way that fashion is so fickle and most of it is so tasteless that shopping is just a bore, I hate the way that finding jeans to fit takes all day and I hate the way that it costs so much just to get just a top. But I discovered that I love the smell of new clothes, I love the way that some shops wrap the clothes in tissue paper like their delicate fragile things, I love the way that the clothes are actually new and aren’t bobbly or grubby from the previous owners dirt. Despite these things, I’m not giving up. Yes I feel bad about giving £50 of my hard earned cash to two high street shops but it was a one off and I do repent. I’ll find some way of making it up by volunteering for a charity or something. But I’ve been reading recently that some companies are actually really green but they just don’t advertise the fact – you never know, some high street stores might not actually be that bad! Look at me trying to justify myself. It shouldn’t matter to me if a high street store has converted to using only organic cotton or the like, the fact remains that the share holders will be raking it in and that’s what I really object to: fat cats getting fatter. So, it’s back to the charity shops for me. I still love charity shops, but then who doesn’t: discovering a bargain whilst listening to the mellow tunes of radio two – how could anyone not love that combination.