‘I just feel like it’s been my secret for too long,’ says TV presenter Miquita Oliver. ‘Buying clothes from charity shops really is just a more exciting way to shop.
Oliver, 36, was raised in a single-parent family in London by her mother, Great British Menu presenter Andi Oliver, and says she grew up shopping from second-hand stores.
She says, ‘I have been dressing in charity shops my whole life: to me it’s not niche or different. My nan introduced charity shops to us just as the place we shop. I just love the stories that come with the clothes.’
Oliver says that she loves to buy men’s tailoring because she feels a connection to her uncle.
She says, ‘My uncle passed away when I was five. He was really a very well dressed man: he would wear old Armani suits.
‘I think that’s why when I go into charity shops, I am always somehow led to menswear tailoring. I’m looking for my uncle in the clothes that I buy.’
‘It’s a mission, not a hobby’
Miquita describes shopping in second-hand and charity shops as a ‘mission’ and definitely ‘not a hobby’, and says that she prefers shopping in the flesh to using apps.
She says, ‘The second-hand world now has lots of ways to buy online, and that’s really great. But for me, I love the whole experience of charity shops. The people who work in charity shops are at the heart of their community.
‘They care about the clothes, and they always want to help.The girls in my local charity shop opened my eyes to how much more you can get from shopping in charity shops.
‘They always put things aside for me. I feel really loved. They have a special place in my heart.’
Miquita says that she likes to ‘take a day’ shopping and is more than happy to travel to find items she can connect with.
‘If I want cashmere, I’ll go to more affluent places,’ she says. ‘If I want something younger and trendier, I’ll go to Hackney. It teaches you about the area around you and the people who donate the clothes.’
‘I like to get little details changed’
Miquita says that shopping for second-hand clothes offers a connection to her local community: she uses the local dry cleaners to customise clothes, and regularly ‘recycles’ clothes she has bought by taking them back to another charity shop.
She says,‘I think people forget about all the different ways to exist in this world: dry cleaners are amazing, they’re all tailors. They will fix hemlines and change fabrics, and it costs three quid or something. It’s a great way to buy these things and make them feel like your own.’
Her local dry cleaner helps her customise clothes to suit her personality, she says.
‘I like to get little details changed and tailored to me and my personality and my style,’ she says.
‘I think that most people know I love a short skirt! I love to get the hem taken up because it feels more like me. I am filming a lot, so I always need a lot of fresh clothes.
Every so often, I take a big batch of them back to the charity shop. It feels like the right way to live in the world – putting yourself in that cycle of the universe.’
‘You have to trust your gut’
Oliver also shops for presents for her family in second-hand shops, saying that it helps her feel in touch with her loved ones.
‘I love second-hand shopping for gifts for other people,’ she says. ‘You really have to trust your gut, trust your instincts.
‘You have to think about what they would really love and why.. I got my grandmother the most beautiful ornaments, gorgeous art deco looking glassware: one of them was shaped like an avocado. You would only get that in a charity shop!
‘Spending those moments searching the racks for hidden gems to give them a second lease of life – that’s truly priceless to me!’
0 Commentaires