Meathwoman's Diary: Hooked on the romance of owning something with such history and character

One early morning recently I was passing a local charity shop when I noticed an enthusiastic queue forming outside and realised I had stumbled across one of their coveted window sales.

As with most charity shops, the windows are saved to hold more sought after items like designer goods and high end pieces that are off limits and carefully kept behind glass for eagle eyed treasure trove enthusiasts to salivate over until they set it free via an anticipated sale.

A store worker came to the door just before 9am and let the first person in, just one person at a time, presumably to prevent crazed shoppers wrestling each other to the ground for the Michael Kors handbag they had been eyeing up from the week before.

“She’s got the Gucci boots” words from an animated punter who was giving a running commentary on the purchases ahead of him ravaged through the crowd like a bombshell with devastated bargain hunters looking like they had just been told that Christmas was cancelled.

The disgruntled queue took in the alarming news with some drifting away, their prized item being swiped before their very eyes while others hung on to see if there was anything else worth taking.

I had visions of some poor unfortunate soul who found themselves at the top of a random queue one Thursday morning and fancied the pair of brogues in the window being rugby tacked to the ground by an irate crowd all vying for a piece of designer leather!

Charity shops have become a vital resource in our communities in recent years, both for giving people the opportunity to buy affordable goods and in turn the profits from those purchases going back into the locality.

In a society that demands instant gratification and where fast fashion has become the norm, it offers us an other way to shop.

In environmental terms, the textile industry, is the fourth largest cause of pollution, as a result of clothing production doubling from 2000 to 2014 with more than 150 billion garments now produced annually, and 73 per cent of all textiles ending up in landfill or incineration.

Also less than half of your online returns go back on sale, as it's cheaper and less hassle for retailers to send them to an incinerator or landfill!

But apart from the monetary and environmental costs, what price is this consumer culture having on our ability to think outside the box and champion individuality that is so embedded in our heritage?

I recently came across a newspaper headline which stated “I can only wear an outfit once.”

The mind boggling admission was that of an ‘influencer' who was commenting on this dubious new age occupation that has besieged modern culture and was describing what was necessary to flog whatever latest tat she had been paid to promote.

I couldn’t help but think that if these are some of the ideas social media darlings are ‘influencing’ young people on then stop the world and let me off.

Admittedly when I was a teenager, it was more polaroid than Instagram and photo albums than Facebook so I can sit back with my rose tinted glasses remembering a time when social media did not dictate.

When I started buying second hand clothes, trendy terms like vintage or pre loved is something I had never heard of.

In fact, it was definitely not considered cool to wear clothing that belonged to someone who was now very possibly dead and when I explained my latest purchase to my puzzled friends as a teenager they didn’t seem to get it thinking the whole thing was a bit odd.

Since those early forays I’ve become completely hooked on the romance of owning something with such history and character behind it.

Being in a thrift/vintage/second hand store is like entering a time warp seeped in mystery and learning or dreaming about the clothing is half the charm of wearing it.

Not hard to see why when you think that some of these items have lived through world wars and revolutions and still stand the test of time.

Once upon investigating a jingle jangle noise coming from the lining of a leather jacket I bought in Paris I discovered two Belgian francs from 1986.

Another time I found a pair of antique lace gloves in a £10 fur coat, things that don’t happen when you order from ilookthesameaseveryoneelse.com

But the great thing about second hand clothes is that there are no rules and dressing yourself head to toe in your local charity shop (and Meath has some amazing ones)

Stephanie Farrell, who manages the NCBI stores in Meath, says that the footfall in their retail outlets has escalated enormously since Covid left us all appreciating our local resources.

"All of the profits generated in sales and donations through our stores go back into the service provision for over 55,000 nationwide people with sight loss. What is generated in the community, goes back into the community."

"Almost everything we have in our stores is one of a kind, It's the thrill of the find of those treasures you can give a second lease of life to.

So maybe before you add that item to your virtual basket, think about exploring the world of second hand and add to the tapestry of an item's story whilst helping your community.