Story Donated By Jane Zanzottera

Despite the fact that a friend of mine described this shirt as “the most revolting thing I have ever seen” it has been part of my wardrobe for the better part of 11 years. I bought it from a charity shop in Kings Heath, Birmingham (a charity shop Mecca, or it certainly was then) whilst immersed in the heady bliss of first love. The object of my affections was as obsessed by charity shops as I was and many a Saturday afternoon was spent trawling these hidden gems together.

I loved my shirt from the moment I set eyes on it and proudly wore it the very same evening where I went out for someone’s birthday. Embarrassingly, I cannot recall whose birthday it was, but it was the first time I had ever tasted Mexican food and I paired it with a pair of red trousers. The red trousers were too much I fear and after that, whenever I wore it, I wore it with black trousers or a black A line mini skirt.

Incidentally, my friend was forced to eat her words, weeks after they were uttered, when Vogue or Elle had a fashion shoot with a shirt of similar colours and fabric pattern on!
Jane Zanzottera

Story Donated By Amy Seaward

Here is my charity shop lady, ain’t she divine. I enjoy looking at her in all her soft focus glory, she was next to another lady in the RSPCA charity shop on Kirkgate, Leeds but she was far more beautiful. She came into my life in 2002 when I made my (then new) boyfriend carry her through the streets of Leeds, little did he know what he had let himself in for.

She wasn’t expensive (shame I know) I think £2.99 was all she set me back.
Amy Seaward

Story Donated By Nomie Parker

I bought this for a very good friend of mine after enjoying the pile of snoopy reading matter that graced her loo. I happily handed over my 50p to the lovely ladies in the Armley Community Charity shop [ now closed and sadly missed] and trotted home – congratulating myself on my purchase and feeling smug about being such a kind and thoughtful friend.

We’d just had our bathroom done with a rather dinky corner loo that lacked an ornament .So out with the snoopy mirror which fitted perfectly and has remained there ever since.

I have since admitted my selfishness and will swap it soon for a book.
Next time I will buy her something that is easier to photograph.
Nomie Parker

Story Donated By Sarah Howells

A few years ago, to the delight of my son, I bought all new matching bed linen, a first for me in my whole life. However, my inner junk junkie was never far away and it just didn’t feel right. The knitters of Armley Helping Hands have eased my discomfort with their gorgeous squares blankets, picked up for £5 at I Heart West Leeds or Charming Armley Cake Competition.

The flowery pillow slips are from St Vincent de Paul (20p the pair, that’s 10p each!), the disgust/incomprehension of work colleagues when I return to the office with them makes it doubly worth it. The iron bedstead was found in the overgrown back garden of a house in France, brought to London and given to my sister, after 10 years she gave it to me to make way for Ikea bunk beds for the kids, her loss my definite gain. One piece was badly bent, but I happen to have a friend who is a blacksmith so problem solved. The rage/disappointment of my puritanical 16 year old bounces off me, I’m shielded by a forcefield created by my version of shabby chic.
Sarah Howells

Story donated by Pete Z / DJ Booth

I bought these DMs in Armley in the late 1990’s. I think it was in the British Heart foundation in about 1997. I needed a new pair of boots to do shows in and up until that point I had always bought handmade boots from “made to last” in Woodhouse. Its quite odd to find a pair of size 12’s in a charity shop and they fitted a treat and I needed some boots that didn’t look ‘hippy’ and a bit more mainstream.

With these boots and a fake leather jacket from a charity shop in Morley I created DJ Booth for Cabaret Heaven. For the first few cabaret’s nearly all of the playlist came from vinyl bought in charity shops across Leeds, but eventually I switched to my first mixer and cd players.

DJ Booth at that time always wore the jacket and boots and jeans and a big bunch of keys from my top desk drawer that holds lots of useless things, including keys that we don’t know what they are for anymore.

PeteZ

Story Donated By Sarah Howells

What the…????? Yes this is a skirt marker, it does exactly as it says on the box. No, I don’t know either. Thing is, I bought it for the box cos it just looked inexplicable, but someone has defo used it. How accurate is it? It involved puffing some chalk dust out onto the skirt by some very complicated contraption, there is a measurement along the pole, but I keep wondering why? Why? Why? Anyway, I put it together to show you.

Dressmakers amongst you – don’t be jealous, even though I’m not sure what exactly it is, I’m fairly certain it’s rubbish. Another Community Shop, Armley purchase, and it definitely wasn’t more than £1. Are you surprised?
Sarah Howells

Story Donated By Sarah Howells

When I was a child my Mum was a teacher at a primary school in Seacroft, Leeds and, without consulting any of us, gave all our books to the school library to give it a boost – I never got over the loss of Gobbolino the Witches Cat, The Little Red Fox, Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf, all Laura Ingalls Wilder, Harry the Dirty Dog, The Land of Green Ginger yada yada yada – even joining the Puffin Club didn’t ease my pain. So from my late teens to date I set about buying them all back, from charity shops. Gobbolino, the Little Red Fox, Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf, Laura Ingalls et al and Harry are back in my life, along with a few more including 13 Dr Dolittle books (no I didn’t know that either). Once I even had them all in alphabetical order by author, but then the shelves fell down.
Sarah Howells.

Story Donated By Abby Dix

I bought this for one of my best friends. No prizes for guessing what her name is? The red colour used on the front cover of this book is amazing, its really rich and it looks great against all the gold leaf. Its hard to believe that the book is over a hundred yeras old, its in such good nick. The inscription on the inside cover says that it was given to Sarah Illingworth whilst she was at Beeston Sunday School at Whitsuntide in 1905. Although the front cover looks like its a book about enchanted castles its actually a hefty biblical tome. My theory is that Sarah Illingworth put the book on her bookshelf in 1905 and it didn’t see the light of day until I bought from a charity shop in Pudsey 2008 which is why it still looks brand new!

I haven’t given this book to my friend yet. We have a bit of a thing going where we buy each other presents from charity shops but then can’t bear to part with them. She has a fine collection of Snoopy paraphernalia that is, by rights, mine. Maybe she’ll swap them for this book?
Abby Dix

I bought these wellies for my daughter the other day when we were in town and it was chucking it down. Her feet were soaking and I just happened to spot these in Scope’s window display. When I asked if we could buy them the woman said ‘of course – its all for sale’. You wouldn’t get that in any other kind of shop would you? It’d be like – ‘No I’m sorry but Head Office say we can’t sell stock thats on display’. Anyway my daughter was really pleased with these boots, especially because they had their previous owner’s name written on the inside in green felt tip ‘Shazia Khan – Class 3LB’.

We went and splashed in lots of puddles afterwards and she insisted on being called Shazia for the rest of the day.

Story donated by Jenny Halliday.

Story Donated By Marjory Pickles

I bought this Karaoke machine from an Oxfam shop a few years ago. I wouldn’t say I’m the worlds best singer but this Karaoke machine really boosts my confidence, my friends have said I could easily be mistaken for Madonna when I’m singing Like A Virgin.

Mind you, I was at a party a while ago and I was doing Wham’s Wake Me Up Before You Go Go and someone said that I sounded like a dead ringer for George Michael as well.
Marjory Pickles

I bought this Panti-Hose And Tights Repair Kit a couple of years ago from Kirklands Hospice in Huddersfield. the thing I love about it is that its from a time when people really did make do and mend which is so different to how things are now. I’m sorry to say that I haven’t used it and and that whenever I get a ladder in my panti-hose I just go out and buy a new pair.

The picture on it really makes me laugh, its like an escaped pair of legs that will only be stopped by the Winfield Panti-Hose And Tights Repair Kit. Lord knows what those legs got up to whilst they were on the run, but they look like they’re up to some mischief.

When I was a teenager I remember reading in ‘Just Seventeen’ magazine that blobs of nail varnish stop ladders from running. But you could only really put the nail varnish on whilst you were wearing them which meant that you ended up with nail varnish daubed all over your legs. Hardly as sophisticated as the Winfield Panti-Hose And Tights Repair Kit.

Story donated by Abby Dix.