Oxfam Sligo held their first giant swap shop event last month in the Radisson Hotel in Sligo and I’m really hoping they’re planning some more.  Oxfam is a reasonably new edition to Sligo – we’ve lots of church charity shops but not that many that do decent secondhand/vintage clothes for those of us looking for a bit of thrift style. Oxfam cultivates a culture of giving and recycling which I really like, and you know it’s going to a good cause which is even better.

I’ve had 2 giant bin bags of clothes waiting to be dropped off somewhere for the last 6 months so this was perfect- I brought them to the Radisson instead and got vouchers for each thing, more for suits and coats and less for skirts and things.  I had enough vouchers in the end to buy a small shop, so D and me were both able to get a whole bunch of free new additions to our respective wardrobes.

I wasn’t sure what to expect clothes wise, and I’m not the easiest to fit without trying things on first, but I was really surprised; I ended up with quite the haul.  I picked up a great cream bouclee dress and crop jacket that isn’t quite right, but I’ll hang on to it a bit and see if I can make it work. A white cotton/lace dress that reminded me of the wholesome peasant look that chanel is going for this Spring Summer is just a bad fit- I look truly wrong in it, so that, along with a red cardi thing from awear are going back in the charity bag. Another zara dress isn’t great on top so I’ve turned it into a skirt and I love it.

the once dress, now skirt (zara)

I picked up two lovely scarves – a mustard woollen scarf and a black pashmina – something I’ve wanted for an age.  I found a really unusual necklace; crochet suspended in a wire frame that needed a few tassles removed, but looks great now.

Crochet/Lace Necklace

And I picked up a darling red and white polka dot dress that I was not at all convinced about, but is actually really cute on, especially with the grey oasis cardi I picked up alongside it.  The dress is the kind of thing I would have never bought in a shop, or even thought to try on, and it shows how great a bit of risky thrifting can be.

Polka dot dress and grey cardi