The best dress I’ve ever owned didn’t come from a glossy high street store, nor cost anywhere near three figures. It didn’t arrive in tissue paper from a slick online boutique, and it didn’t involve me doomscrolling through “New In” sections at midnight, panic-buying three days before a big event.
No, my greatest fashion triumph came in the form of a hot pink, puff-sleeved maxi dress covered in multi-coloured metallic dots. It looks like the accidental-but-much-cherished love child of a disco ball and a unicorn; basically, all my fifth birthday party dreams stitched into reality. And the best bit? It cost less than a tenner from a charity shop on Bristol’s Gloucester Road.
I’ve worn it to birthday parties (including my own) and once on a Monday afternoon just to cheer myself up. Every time I wear it, people ask where it’s from. And I get to say the most satisfying thing: “Oh, this old thing? I found it in a charity shop” while making my best not-smug face. Honestly, nothing quite beats the thrill of that line. This is dopamine dressing at its finest.
And that’s the joy of Second Hand September. It’s a challenge launched by Oxfam, encouraging us to ditch fast fashion for 30 days and to shop only second-hand. It’s also a chance to look at our overstuffed wardrobes and our overstretched planet and admit we can’t keep going like this.
Because here’s a scary truth: up to 40% of all clothing manufactured globally each year is never sold.Never. Sold. Mountains of perfectly good jumpers, jeans, and dresses are sitting in warehouses, heading straight to landfill before anyone even gets the chance to wear them. By 2050, the amount of unworn clothes could stretch from Earth to Mars and back. And right now, in the UK alone, we collectively own 1.6 billion items of clothing we never wear. That’s clutter on an interplanetary scale.
Fashion can be intoxicating, of course. Clothes can make us feel like superheroes, or at least like slightly more competent versions of ourselves. But fashion is also one of the most polluting industries on the planet. It guzzles up precious water, releases toxic dyes into rivers, and racks up serious emissions as fabrics travel halfway around the world. All so we can impulse-buy a polyester dress that will sit in the wardrobe, worn for an average of less than five days over its entire life.
And yet, there is some good news: small swaps can make a big difference. Every time we buy a dress second-hand (or donate those jeans we’ve been swearing we’ll slim back into since 2015), we become part of a bigger movement; one that extends the life of clothes and reduces the demand for new ones.
Second-hand shopping isn’t just good for the planet either. It’s a shedload more fun than wandering around soulless shopping centres where every window display sells identical versions of the same ideas. Charity shops and vintage stores are like treasure hunts, because you never know what you’re going to find. Pre-loved boutique Déjà Vu, in Cardiff, is one of my favourite spots for picking up a second-hand bargain in a calm, well-curated environment. You get the bonus glow of doing an official-good-thing as well as the buzz of finding a gorgeous new sweater.
It’s a source of great parental pride that my son has inherited the thrill of the hunt. His go-to for a new outfit isn’t ASOS or the high street, but Hobos in Cardiff, a vintage shop I adored as a teenager and which, happily, is still going strong. For him, it’s not just about being sustainable (though he’ll tell you that too, smugly, between bites of his falafel wrap). It’s about individuality. Why buy the same jeans as everyone else when you can find something no one else will be wearing? It’s also a helluva lot cheaper than buying new.
If all this sounds appealing but you’re the type to break into a cold sweat in TK Maxx, you’re not alone. Sustainable stylist Becky Barnes admits second-hand shopping can feel overwhelming at first, but she has some clever tricks. “Start small,” she says. “Pick a shop with fewer clothes on the rails, or a pre-loved boutique where everything is beautifully curated. It’s an easy sidestep into second-hand without the chaos. Then once you’re more confident, you can graduate to car boot sales or the bigger charity shops.”
Her other golden rule? Take your time. “Do a second sweep. You’ll notice things on shelves, in baskets, or tucked away that you missed the first time. And don’t stick rigidly to your size or even your section. Some of my best finds have been men’s cashmere sweaters.” Basically, Becky is the Marie Kondo of charity shops, only with better knitwear. She even swears by timing your trips: midweek is her favourite, when the weekend donations are just hitting the rails.
In other words, successful second-hand shopping is part luck, part patience, and part willingness to try something a little outside your usual box. And isn’t that half the fun?
Try it for thirty days (or longer, if you catch the bug). No one’s asking us to renounce fashion forever or live in sackcloth. But this September is the perfect excuse to rummage, swap, and get a little more creative.
Of course, one outfit won’t save the planet, but steering clear of the interminable fast-fashion conveyor belt? That’s how we stop making the mess worse.
And if along the way you find a hot pink, glitter-dotted dream dress that makes you feel like a five-year-old at a birthday party? Well, that’s just the icing on the (sustainably sourced) cake.
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