Story Donated By Helen Darroch

I found these shoes when living in the Jordaan area of Amsterdam on a street called Hazenstraat. It is a brilliant little second hand shop, run by the most laid back lady, with the biggest curly hairdo you have ever seen…well she does live in Holland I suppose (refering to her temperament, not her hair)… Whenever I would go in, she would be sitting in exactly the same place, a huge armchair, puffing on a cigarette in what could only be described as a den of soft furnishings and piles of higgledly piggledy bargains. This place has an air of excitement; a feeling of impending brilliantness (not even a word but you feel my excitement right?!) Upstairs there were baskets of hand-made lace,a vast array of fabulous shoes and a red velvet chaise longue in which to try on all the shoes.

I have big feet – UK size 7.5 and it was just my luck some rather large Dutch lady had given up her shoe collection of which I bought a few pairs.

I wore these particular shoes to my civil wedding ceremony along with a white trouser suit.

Thanks, oh big footed Dutch lady………
Helen Darroch

Story Donated By Boff Whalley

I got this fantastic safari suit from a Charity shop in Armley about fifteen years ago. I thought it would be perfect for that Morecambe & Wise ‘Riviera Touch’ look. I love it so much.

Unfortunately I have never found the perfect event at which to wear the suit. It sits in my clothes pile and waits to be worn. Sometimes I get it out and put it on, then decide it isn’t the right moment. One day I’ll wear it in public and people will say, “Hey, you’ve got The Riviera Touch”.
Boff Whalley

Story Donated By Emma Adams

I found The Spanish Lady at a massive car boot sale in Leeds. I was making a short film at the time and one of the sets needed to be totally rammed with charity shop glory. So, I was there with my Art Director (Mark Mathews where have you gone?) who is really good. He was holding the purse strings, trying to stretch the budget as far as he could. We were going round and I saw her and I just fell in love with her haughty stare, her creepy sprayed on lacey vail and her chipped nose. I said ‘Mark can we have her?’ and he was like, ‘She’s too expensive and we don’t need her’. I knew he was right but I was sad as we walked away from her box… But then it got towards the end of the morning and people were drifting off and I saw that she was still there! Her price had dropped. Mark bought her and gave her some dignity back by touching up her nose.

She looked ace in the film.

After the shoot I bagged her up and took her home. The Spanish Lady has ever since been my pride and joy. Her showbiz days are not over either. She had a cameo role in a play I wrote last year.
Emma Adams