#ILoveToOpShop
June 15, 2015
My Mum and I love a bargain. LOVE. There has been many a squealing of brakes and sharp turns upon the spotting of an A-frame sign and the frantic call from the passenger . . . "OP SHOPPPP!!!!"
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| Taking a break in Freeling, which you may recognise as the setting for McLeod's Daughters Wearing my new Rachel Zoe cardigan from Costco, Kmart top, ASOS jeggings and Target boots Eating a Balfours custard tart. Why wouldn't you? |
Now you know how I love Savers (the Recycle Superstore) - more on that later - but quite often the best ones to hit up for the real bargains are the country/rural (often church-run) shops that are far enough away from the city to avoid the antique dealers and vintage re-sellers out looking for stock, with hardly anything priced over $5 and usually housed in church halls or converted homes. Getting in among the racks and shelves usually nets some awesome vintage finds at a low low price.
Our most recent trip netted:
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| Bally of England pumps - $3 |
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| Squishy soft PU bag with cool Lucite handles - $4.00 |
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| Handwritten price tag said "Glomesh". "I'll be the judge of that," I said. Tag inside confirmed it was! $4.50 |
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| Target coat - $10. Not vintage but great condish. You don't know how hard it is for me to find coats. |
Plus this cool retro money box that most South Australian kids of a certain era will remember! For my husband, of course.
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| Savings Bank of South Australia (now BankSA) computer moneybox - 50 cents |
Mum scored this set of English vintage crockery for $5.
FIVE DOLLARS.
Left for someone else, full set of bone-handled steel knives at $3 a bundle.
All bought from the Swap Shop in Balaklava, South Australia. Do not go there, please.
On the weekend, I popped down to my local Savers for a bit of a look. Savers can be intimidating to the novice. It's HUGE. My best tips are to start in the section of things you like and use the scan method rather than flick through each item individually. I read a tip somewhere that you should use your eyes to seek out and target the patterns, prints and colours you like instead of wasting precious shopping time and energy handling brown boucle and lime green pleather. If you're a label lover who op shops for brands, eyeball the labels instead of the garment itself and zero in if one appeals to you.
I only bought two items on this occasion but what I did get was worth the trip . . . check these out:
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| Vivienne Westwood "Anglomania" + Melissa jellies - $5.99 (FOR REALS) |
So that was quite pleasant.
It is a well-documented fact that op shopping does not count as regular shopping and in fact, should be considered a charitable donation.
I am a regular user of the #Ilovetoopshop hashtag on Instagram. How about you?
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