A fashion blogger who saves more than £500 on her Christmas shopping will only buy from charity shops this year.
Iso Neville, 24, from London Bridge, spends her time rooting out second hand bargains in vintage shops to add to her wardrobe - and she applies the same rationale to buying for other people too.
Stylish Iso, who is head of social media for an art agency, spends an average of £200 on her Christmas gifts every year - saving about £560 compared to the average spend in the UK on gifts, according to Atomik Research.
She said: "As a teen, normal high street clothing shops were too far away for me, without getting a lift from my parents.
“Instead, I would my browse the charity shops near home and quickly found there were plenty of treasures there for sale at a bargain price.
“Now that I’m older, I don’t see a need to shop at fast fashion stores when second-hand shops have such great quality items.”
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In 2019, Iso vowed to go 100 per cent second hand in a bid to save money, avoid waste and help the environment.
The blogger said a shocking statistic convinced her to make the change - that there are enough clothes on earth now to clothe the next six generations.
“Sustainability is very important to me and there are very good quality clothes in charity shops, which outlive your average clothes in a fast fashion shop,” she said.
After making the switch in her own life, Iso has applied her second-hand way of living to her gift buying too.
She said: “Friends and family know how much I believe in charity shops, so they now expect all the presents I buy to be second-hand.
“No one has ever complained to me, because it’s the thought that counts and, after all, you would never even know the items weren’t new!”
She also says people compliment her on her incredible discoveries, which she hopes will lift the stigma attached to buying things second hand.
She said: “Since lockdown, it seems a lot of people in the UK have been having a clear out, because there’s so much choice at the moment in charity shops.
“You can really find some amazing stuff and I’ve even been able to furnish my home with things I’ve bought at Barnardo’s.”
This year, Iso has already found plenty of ideal gifts for her loved ones in charity shops.
She said: “I have a friend who recently got into tennis, so I found a pack of brand-new Wimbledon tennis balls and pins in a local charity shop, which I’ll give to her this Christmas.
“A good top tip for thrifty gift giving is to get a plant from the garden centre and buy a plant pot from a charity shop to go with it.
“No one would ever know it’s second-hand and they often have very quirky and interesting plant pots for sale."
Children's charity Barnardo's teamed up with Atomik Research to commission research into people's Christmas present intentions this year - which suggested two thirds of people in the UK will consider shopping in charity shops.
The research also suggested people consider thoughtfulness as key in finding the perfect gift, with sustainability also an important consideration.
Iso said: “I’m very environmentally conscious and Christmas can be quite a wasteful time of year, but it doesn’t have to be.
“I use my social media to kind of spread that message and to make sure that if I'm posting a photo, people are aware that everything I'm wearing is second-hand.
“A lot of people will have tighter purse strings this Christmas after the effects of the pandemic, so charity shopping is an excellent way to save some extra cash.”
Iso's five top tips for finding charity shop bargains are:
1. Search regularly - pop into your local shop twice a month or so as new stock is updated daily.
2. Browse online - Barnardo's has a great website - and Thrift+ allows you to shop second-hand and choose which charity to donate the proceeds to.
3. Find the premium section - most charity shops have a designated section for better quality items.
4. Buy books - second-hand books are incredibly cheap and are just as good as their brand-new counterparts.
5. Look closely - some items might be more jumbled than in fast fashion stores, so double check sections that aren’t your size. You might find a treasure that’s been hidden in the wrong place!
Are you planning on having a thrifty Christmas? Send your top tips to jessica.taylor@reachplc.com
Her top second-hand buys are a pair of Chloe sock boots for £90, originally priced at £1400, a Burberry trench coat for £150, down from £1500 and a Louis Vuitton Noé handbag for £300 - which sold for new at £1250.
