In the UK on average, we spend £46 billion on clothing every year, yet girls wear just 10% of their wardrobes. This is not slowing our desire for new items but is leading to 900,000 million items being thrown away every year. All those Primark synthetics refuse to rot and sit in landfills around the country. Those who fell out with their too tight jumper dresses aren’t off the hook either - natural fibres release damaging methane as they go to wardrobe heaven. In light of this, how am I to fulfil my shopping addiction without being a selfish wasteful bastard?

In Bristol we are lucky to have a bountiful supply of charity shops, but when your neighbours old knitwear just won’t do it, where do you go? Rag Trade might be the answer.

Nestling on Upper Maudlin Street (near the hoops of the BRI and just down from Zero Degrees) this ‘recycle boutique’ offers items covering high-end high-street to big name designers. Pied A Terre, Marc Jacobs, Prada, Karen Millen and retro great Biba are just some of the names in store. The emphasis is on luxury and labels and anyone donating an item to the shop gets a 50% cut from its sale. Quite handy for offsetting the price of that Tiffany cuff you really, really need - they had one, it was beautiful and very reasonably priced!

To further ease your conscience as you shop, it’s worth knowing that any unsold items go to Marie Curie, The Big Issue and Traid. If you didn’t know (like me before writing this) Traid is a charity that use textile recycling to provide aid by diverting our shopoholic excess away from landfills and into sustainable development. They even have their own label, Traidmade, where donated clothing is reconstructed and redesigned to be sold on as one off, exclusive pieces. If you’re having the guilty horrors about those label still on/might wear it one day/of course I need a TuTu purchases, it’s well worth looking at their website and feeling like a well informed bad person.

Whether driven by thrift, ecological awareness or just loving a designer bargain, visit Rag Trade and see if it keeps you out of Topshop for a bit. If rummaging for a bargain and increasing your vintage collection does appeal, it’s also worth looking out for organised clothes swapping events, such as Spare Threads. You can raid the wardrobes of other like minded fashioistas, clear out your draws and go home with a smug glow and someone else’s skirt.

Other places you should try are -
Repsycho on Gloucester Road: A wide selection of all things retro, covering several decades.
Uncle Sams on Park St: Boys Americana, 70’s dresses and unusual earrings (not to mention bargain Eighties vinyl).
La Freak Boutique in Montpellier: Offers an eclectic mix of second hand and vintage wear, great for stand out party dresses and fun glamour.

Armed with this article you can happily buy yourself a whole new wardrobe, safe in the knowledge you’re saving the planet…or something like that.

www.ragtradeboutique.co.uk

Morgan Matthews