On Tuesday dad and I parked in the long stay (and free car park) in Cupar knowing we\u2019d be a while in town. Both of us were quite hungry and we saw that Milly\u2019s Kitchen was open! (By Boots in the middle of town) This was my first meal sitting inside a cafe in over 4 months which was so exciting.<\/p>\n
I had a delicious pesto, mozzarella and tomato sandwich and dad enjoyed a bacon roll and we both had a coffee before we headed out to begin our \u2018mission\u2019.<\/p>\n
So what is that mission? Well, I set myself a challenge to buy a \u00a320 summer outfit where each item of the outfit came from a different charity shop.<\/p>\n
Over the course of lockdown many people have been online shopping to prepare themselves for after the pandemic and also out of boredom. I\u2019m not going to deny that I have also been doing the same thing but what I came to realise is that I don\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n
Many online shops are fast fashion stores which is the second most polluting industry on Earth. Fast fashion includes the use of cheap, toxic and textile dyes and the second largest polluter of clean water globally after agriculture.<\/p>\n
Most fast fashion stores are online or have huge stores and chains around the country.<\/p>\n
Soon high street shopping won\u2019t be a thing and local clothing stores will empty and close because they won\u2019t have the money to keep up with the big, cheap, \u2018fashionable\u2019 stores. And I\u2019m sure we\u2019ve all heard the news about a recent fashion brand\u2019s scandal … Anyway who wants to then spend 4 quid on shipping? Certainly not me!!!<\/p>\n
There is however always a solution. I am 14 years old and of course want to keep up in the \u2018fashion world\u2019 especially in the summer months but I don\u2019t have a spare \u00a360 to spend.??<\/span><\/p>\n I am on TikTok which is where a lot of fashion inspo comes from at the moment and I have noticed many people my age and older are beginning to buy thrifted clothing. There are a great many videos of girls (or boys) heading out with friends into charity shops of thrift shops and finding some gorgeous pieces of clothing.<\/p>\n There are lots of videos of people explaining why fast fashion is bad and people are becoming to realise the damage of this so-called \u2018globalisation solution\u2019<\/p>\n In the UK we are lucky enough to to have many a charity shop. In Cupar we are even luckier to have six of them which is where I set my challenge.<\/p>\n I was looking for pieces of clothing that would make an outfit or two fit for a Scottish summer. I wanted to show what you can also do for only \u00a320!<\/p>\n We began at Barnados<\/a> where they have about 6 racks of clothing. With our masks on and sanitised hands, we began looking. Dad spotted a men\u2019s shirt which included browns, blues and a white base colour which would go with jeans with a top underneath. We also saw a necklace and bracelet on the jewellery wall. Both of us agreed it would be sensible to put the items aside whilst we browse the other shops and were kindly allowed to leave them at the back of the shop.<\/p>\n I was feeling happy and buzzing to continue. I had already found THREE things in the first shop.<\/p>\n Next we headed across the street to the Salvation Army<\/a> where I have shopped before back in January. The Salvation Army<\/a> has lots of different clothing items. The back of the shop has books, toys, kids clothes and accessories but the front is filled with racks of thrifted clothes.<\/p>\n Dad and I decided we were now hunting for a pair of trousers\/shorts\/skirt and maybe a top of some sort to go underneath the shirt we had left aside at Barnados.<\/p>\n *I have officially decided to only buy jeans from charity shops now after that day.*<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They had a whole rack of wonderful jeans. Some very worn, some hardly worn and all very fashionable and affordable. I picked out two pairs. One was dark, flared and had glints of sparkle running through, as if someone had been wearing them in an art class. The pair I decided to go for were light blue, bootcut\/flared and low waisted jeans. Very summery. Not to mention they were Dorothy Perkins jeans for \u00a33.50! From the women\u2019s rack of vest tops I spotted at pink patterned top which is incredibly \u2018IN\u2019 right now. The top is originally from Gap and I have seen similar styles worn by famous people so you can imagine my excitement. All in all I spent \u00a35 at the Salvation Army and it most definitely won\u2019t be the last time I shop there.<\/p>\n Before our last stop we went into Barnados<\/a> to purchase the items we\u2019d chosen on our first visit. Altogether the shirt and two pieces of jewellery were \u00a39 so I had \u00a36 left to spend and ALREADY had completed the challenge.<\/p>\n I had a oversized shirt which can be worn on its own or with a vest top underneath, I had a new pair of jeans, a stylish new vest top and two new pieces of jewellery as the accessory.<\/p>\n After discussion with dad we decided to try and add one more thing and headed to the British Red Cross<\/a> which looked like it had lots of clothing to look at. (Before I carry on the staff in all the charity shops we visited were incredibly friendly)<\/p>\n We spent quite a lot of time browsing in the Red Cross and without really knowing what we were looking for ended up buying another oversized shirt for \u00a37. I had gone \u00a31 over budget but it did not really matter as I had already completed the mission. Let me also mention that it was a Ralph Loren shirt, in incredibly good condition and was in their top range of clothing!<\/p>\n Dad also bought something for himself. He loves loud shirts and the women working in the BRC<\/a> asked if we liked bright tops and from the back brought out two brilliant ones.<\/p>\n Dad straight away pointed at the red, flowery one and said: \u2018I\u2019ll be having that.\u2019<\/p>\n So if you ever need the Cupar Now man, he\u2019s the one walking round talking to all the businesses in a very loud, bright shirt!<\/p>\n So that was the end of my summer clothing challenge. I completed it, much more easily than I thought I would.<\/p>\n It made me realise how wonderful charity shops are and how many amazing items of clothing are right on my doorstep which I do not need to pay postage for.<\/p>\n I love buying worn clothes as they have more of a meaning to them.<\/p>\n I hope I have opened your eyes to a new way of clothes shopping and how easy it is to walk into your local town, find the charity shops, buy an outfit for under \u00a320, save the environment, support local businesses and STILL look stylish.<\/p>\n I just would like to let you know that previously mentioned that Cupar has 6 charity shops. I however only shopped in 3 this time around.<\/p>\n The British Heart Foundation<\/a> reopens on the 27th of July and we just missed Caring for Cupar\u2019s<\/a> opening times. Next time I visit (for I plan to do the same thing in the autumn) I will shop at both and also at Toby\u2019s Magical Journey!<\/a><\/p>\n This blog will also appear on CuparNow\u2019s blog<\/a> and please check out my social<\/a> medias<\/a> to see more pictures of my new outfit and how to mix n match the items.??<\/span><\/p>\n Please let me know if you enjoyed this and if you have any ideas for my blog please let me know!<\/p>\n Love, Martha B x<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hi and welcome back. I have to firstly apologise for not writing for a while. 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