RAG week spirit: A Guide to St Andrews’ Charity Shops

You walk past Jack Wills, reminiscing about the good old days when their clothes were nearer to your price range, and when mummy and daddy cooked you supper. Nowadays, as a self-reliant student, you can barely afford to buy jumpers in H&M. Life is tough. You are scrumming it. But those outfits from Asos? You just had too many events to attend.

Is this you? Well, an often neglected yet practical resolution to our Asos-purchase-guilt-complex is to browse the delightfully varied and inexpensive attire that Charity shops have on offer. As a rare exception, our materialistic concerns can be transformed into a positive act of giving. So, in the spirit of Rag Week I took a grand tour of five of St Andrews Charity shops, and honestly had the best shopping experience I’d ever had in St. Andrews.

Whilst it is true that my friend was rather convincingly disguised as a granny for Halloween, in a costume bought entirely from Charity shop gear, it would be ill-conceived to say that fashionable young students would be at a loss to find something worth buying. Although you aren’t guaranteed to find a particular piece of clothing in a certain hue, the element of unpredictability is exactly what makes frequenting charity shops so fun. It’s no surprise that Rag Week’s CATWALK team sourced lots of their clothes from our local charity shops; their fabled hidden treasures aren’t really quite so hidden. In fact, St. Andrews’ charity shops are overflowing with fashion gems.

Oxfam

Best For: printed blouses and smart shoes.

The Salvation Army

Best for: warm stylish coats and overall menswear.

Barnardo’s

Best for: recent high street finds.

Cancer Research

Best for: Monochrome clothes (oh so on trend) and vintage blazers and skirts.

British Heart Foundation

Best for: formal attire, and accessories.

In all five shops that I visited I can safely vouch that there is a limitless supply of warm coats, friendly smiles and absolutely no shortage of all things tartan. Ahh St. Andrews.

So if you need something distinctively hip to wear to CATWALK or you haven’t quite been seduced by the promise of shameless Mr. St. Andrews egos and the far tamer Disney bop, I urge that you give into the allure of retail therapy, and pop into a charming charity shop. It is Rag week after all, and every little counts.

All photos courtesy of Katherine Thornton and oranges-and-apples.com