#CheapNChicChallenge: Join Me In The Second-Hand Fashion Challenge

Hello Everyone!

As some of you will have noticed I have been harping on about 'The Second-Hand Fashion Challenge' on my various social outlets! For those of you who wish to find out more please do read on...

Basically I've been reading up a whole lot on fast-fashion, vintage fashion, second-hand, everything under the 'eco-fashion umbrella' and I find it pretty amazing/shocking if I'm honest with you...

Without going into the whole she-bang about the devastating results of 'fast-fashion' I have found some pretty thought provoking facts:

• £140 million worth of clothes go into landfill each year in the UK alone
• Only 20% of clothing is made in Britain
• An average spend per person on clothes per year is £780 
• Only 1/8th of all unwanted clothing & textiles is donated to charity whilst the other 7/8ths is sent to landfill! Source

I am becoming an eco-babe on a mission, now I'm not one to preach but I am one to get people involved!
I feel like bloggers especially fashion bloggers have extra pressure to buy into the trends and constantly update our wardrobes. Regular hauls and lookbooks are flooding the blogosphere and many of us are struggling with wardrobes that are bursting at the seams and bank balances that are dwindling.

Join me for a challenge

Lets do a little experiment for just one month, in which we don't buy ANYTHING new for our wardrobes. Let's call it a wardrobe rework or a fashion cleanse. Whatever we class it as I just want to have a shift in perception about what fashion really means to you. If after a month you have had literally no connection with the challenge then hey-it's only 4 weeks out of your life and you can continue on your fashion path. What I'm really hoping is that the challenge will be fun, inspiring, thrifty and will change peoples opinions on second-hand fashion and trends in general.

The Rules

• You can only buy from charity shops/flea markets/car boots
• eBay is allowed but only for second-hand/vintage goods (no cheeky buy-it-nows!)
• If you feel like you REAAALLLY need something that's new, take a photo of it, pin it, write it down & then re-visit at the end of the challenge & see if it's still a must-have.

I am a fashion styling graduate & I've studied fashion, trends, promotion and photography plus I have been an avid charity shopper for the last 5 years. I'm not asking you all to wear kaftans made of hemp and vegan shoes but what I am asking is for you to look at your wardrobe through different eyes. Rework things, have a style shake-up, weed out the items that don't mean anything to you and find something that you really connect to as a garment. I love trends. I love looking at trends and putting my own spin on them. I'd much rather do that then wear a dress that Primark have put on the rail that epitomises the trend, yet hundreds of people will be wearing the same, poorly manufactured piece for one season until the next big thing happens.

Throughout the month I have created little prompts and mini challenges for you to take part in. I've created the #CheapNChicChallenge hash tag so we can all support each other through different social media. It also provides a fresh feature on the blogs and people can follow your journey too.

The challenge will start on September 1st 2014 so put it in your diary & spread the word. The more the merrier :)

Feel free to use the artwork on your blog/Instagram/Facebook any social media you like & link back to this post so others can join in too!

I can't wait for this to start! If you have any questions you can send me an e-mail or tweet me @MyNameIsRachey

Thanks for reading :)

Rachelle xxx

Charity Shop Chic: BUMPER EDITION!

Hello everyone,

 So I've been a bit lapse on the whole charity shop blogging, although that doesn't mean I've not found anything! I did attempt to make a video showing all the things I'd managed to find but I just look like such a goon, hopefully I'll feel more confident doing them in the future. Until then here are my favourite buys from the last few weeks...

St Michael Houndstooth Jacket £2.00: Really cute 60s inspired jacket. There was a teeny mark on the cardigan in the shop so she let me have it for £2, nothing a bit of Vanish couldn't sort out :) I love the gold buttons!
Jaeger Wool Cardigan £3.50: This cardigan is much brighter than the photo and its a lovely thick quilted wool material. Great for the transition from coat to thinner outer layers for spring (haha it's peeing it down as I type this!) Again I must've been having a thing for gold buttons that day as this one has them too!

Floral Crop Top £3: Not sure what brand this is but I'm guessing it's just a high street cheapy. I used to be very particular about not buying high street brands in charity shops unless it was decent quality but I've worn this little crop top so much already and it's still looks new!
Polka Dot Crop Top £2: I've worn this polka dot number so many times too! It's actually a size 16 (I'm more of an 8-10) and has a big square neck but I just wear it backwards and it's a relaxed, oversized crop shape :)

Fred Perry Tee £2.99: I'm having a bit of a Fred Perry moment, I bought my Fred Perry dress from TKMaxx a few weeks ago for a bargain of £25 and then I spotted this beauty in the mens section of the charity shop a couple of days ago! It looks really cute with my denim shorts. I was contemplating whether to go a bit scissor happy and cut the sleeves and length a bit but I've decided against that, instead I'm going to appreciate it's classic t-shirt shape.
Tie Dye Sweater £1.99: If you follow me on Instagram (which you totally should by the way!) you will have noticed this tie dye top getting a lot of attention! I wear it so much! I remember being in Oxfam thinking 'it's awful but I love it' so for a measly £1.99 I just couldn't leave it behind.

Printed Shorts £1.50: Ok so these shorts are actually pyjama shorts however I think on a sunny day I can totally get away with wearing them as daywear. I love the monochrome 'fleur de lis' print, and they are a sturdy cotton material with an elasticated high-waist :)
Diesel Dungaree Dress £3.50: Eeee when I saw these in the charity shop I actually did a happy dance (When I got into the changing room where no-one could see me!) I've been looking for a black dungaree dress for aages. I just couldn't bring myself to go into Topshop and pay ridiculous amounts for something that is having a moment in the fashion world. It fits perfectly although is a little on the short side, but hey that's the story of my life-thanks giraffe legs!

80s Leather Jacket £15: Ahhh another beautiful find! I've been on a quest for the perfect leather jacket for  like, ever. Here it is folks! Found in the mens section of a charity shop in Grange. It always pays to check out all the sections! It is really 80s, has gorgeous flocked leather panels, a leather tie belt and even a top gun lining!! £15 is such a bargain for a real leather jacket and I'm planning on getting it altered so that it fits perfectly and I can wear it forever I.D.S.T.
Tan & Black Stag Bag £2.50: I found this last week, and although it isn't vintage (Accessorize if you were wondering) it still has vintage charm. It looks like new and the gold stag head it super cute! I don't usually wear brown bags but this is a sweet exception :) I found it online and although it went in the sale and is now sold out, it's original RRP was £32 BOOM!

Oasis Checked Trousers £3: As I mentioned before my giraffe legs don't always make trouser shopping the easiest of activities, hence why I usually stick to tights and skirts/shorts combos. These trousers are just the most flattering shape I have ever worn! They are tight enough on my tiny waist, skim over my shapely bottom haha *adecdote time* Once whilst I was waiting at the train station with my headphones in but not on (anti-social) I heard a group of girls say 'Wow her bum is so out of proportion to her body, she's skinny but her butt is like HUGE!' Some people would be mortified at that comment not me though, I like my big bum! Although 'huge' is a massive exaggeration! Anyway, then the trousers taper down to a skinny leg that finish below my actual ankle instead of mid calf like most trousers-hooray for longer length! They are from Oasis, no idea how long ago though. they are a size 12L which makes me think they are quite old as it is a very small 12!

I hope you like these kind of posts, I often get asked by my friends and family if I could charity shop on behalf of them, it is difficult to shop for other people anyway especially even more so when charity shopping as you never know what you're gonna find and the sizing is so unpredictable! I genuinely wish I could be a professional charity shopper. I wonder if such a job exists...

Which is you favourite item from my 'haul'? Do you enjoy charity shopping?

Thanks for reading :)

Rachelle xxx