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Superstitions & ULs Regarding Used / Second-Hand Clothing

escargot said:
Techy and I recently bought jackets from a charity shop after being caught in heavy rain. One was a very nice, BNWT fleece. I can't understand how it would end up there, unworn!
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Two of my lot did stints working in a local Charity shop in gap years before going to uni. And I can report that they got a LOT of new clothes in. People order them online, and then for one reason or another decide they don't want it. It doesn't fit, or isn't the colour they thought it would be, or the style is wrong...

and they can't be bothered to send it back. They literally cannot be bothered to pack it all back up and take it to the Post Office, or ask for a returns label. So they hand unworn and often quite expensive clothing to the charity shop.

I benefitted enormously in a sartorial way from their jobs.
 
I spent most of my ‘office’ working life in my late 20’s and 30’s wearing charity shop clothes and found some stunners, designer stuff and super quality. As my wages were never wonderful, I was glad to be able to look smart at least.

My best friend’s dad died last year and there was this thing he had when anyone he knew died, he would (with their prior permission) have all their clothes. Now that my friend’s mum is in a care home, my friend is tasked with clearing the house and sending all her dad’s inherited clothes to charity. She said there are cupboards full. Just so much. And her mum (as I remember from when we were kids together) never threw any clothes away and was a great rummager through village jumble sales. It was the way it was back then if you didn’t have much money. I remember along the upstairs corridor of her house there was a long shelf that ran the whole length and it was full of clothes to the top. I think if there was any superstition there it was that you didn’t throw clothes away at all if you could use them for anything.
 
Used to buy all my shirts from local charity shops - but over the years the supply of decent/new ones seems to have dried up (round here anyway). Strangest charity shop I ever went to was in Alderely Edge - suits on sale for £500 second-hand!
On the subject of superstitions I am descended from fairground folk (the Drakeleys) and my grandmother said that their tradition was to burn a dead persons clothes.
 
There‘s a second hand shop in Marlborough where the clothes are eye-wateringly expensive, @BlackPeter. The normal ones like Oxfam, Heart Foundation etc are wonderful but normal sort of prices.

Because of working from home for years I don’t possess many formal clothes and picked up the outfit for my mum’s funeral in Feb from Ebay. Black velvet waisted jacket and heavy black velvet skirt. About £18 for both.
She would have approved, she got me into buying second hand clothes.
 
Fanari_Lloyd said:
There‘s a second hand shop in Marlborough where the clothes are eye-wateringly expensive, @BlackPeter. The normal ones like Oxfam, Heart Foundation etc are wonderful but normal sort of prices.

Because of working from home for years I don’t possess many formal clothes and picked up the outfit for my mum’s funeral in Feb from Ebay. Black velvet waisted jacket and heavy black velvet skirt. About £18 for both.
She would have approved, she got me into buying second hand clothes.
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Having spent most of my life working outdoors with children like you I have never had many formal clothes and when on one occasion had to go to a private dinner at Claridges (to do with my partner not me!) I had to hastily buy a dinner suit from a charity shop so I didn't show her up!!
 
BlackPeter said:
Having spent most of my life working outdoors with children like you I have never had many formal clothes and when on one occasion had to go to a private dinner at Claridges (to do with my partner not me!) I had to hastily buy a dinner suit from a charity shop so I didn't show her up!!
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When my son went up to Oxford I picked hin up a nice dinner jacket with tails, satin lapels etc at a car boot sale from a former RAF pilot.

One had to have the bloody thing for the Mess, Old Bean!

It fitted perfectly and he wore it often, including at his College's Ball. On the Big Wheel.

Dunno how much they cost new but that one was less than a tenner!
 
escargot said:
When my son went up to Oxford I picked hin up a nice dinner jacket with tails, satin lapels etc at a car boot sale from a former RAF pilot.

One had to have the bloody thing for the Mess, Old Bean!

It fitted perfectly and he wore it often, including at his College's Ball. On the Big Wheel.

Dunno how much they cost new but that one was less than a tenner!
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Quite possibly the "RAF Type" bought it second hand, most mess functions require you to wear dress uniform, not often that you would wear an evening suit. Many young officers of my acquaintance bought second hand or former hire items as they knew they would not get much wear.
 
Eyespy said:
Quite possibly the "RAF Type" bought it second hand, most mess functions require you to wear dress uniform, not often that you would wear an evening suit. Many young officers of my acquaintance bought second hand or former hire items as they knew they would not get much wear.
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Yup, makes sense! :D

This one was an uncannily perfect fit. It had a lot of wear in Sonny's possession. Dunno if he still has it.
 
Lb8535 said:
I worked once with a high-ish level manager earning a good salary who bought as many nice suits as he could second hand He called it "wearing dead peoples' clothes."
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Once I was visiting my hometown to find there was an unexpected death obligating me to attend a funeral the same afternoon of my arrival in town. I rushed to the Salvation Army store, bought a decent ensemble (slacks, suit coat, tie) for about $10 and made it to the funeral just as it was getting underway.
 
Lb8535 said:
I worked once with a high-ish level manager earning a good salary who bought as many nice suits as he could second hand He called it "wearing dead peoples' clothes."
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Reminds me of Alexei Sayle and his shiny suits.

The story goes that he bought the first one at short notice from Oxfam when he was booked for a comedy club, best he could do. It didn't really fit him but he squeezed into it and found it got the laughs.

I bet that was a dead man's suit.
 
EnolaGaia said:
Once I was visiting my hometown to find there was an unexpected death obligating me to attend a funeral the same afternoon of my arrival in town. I rushed to the Salvation Army store, bought a decent ensemble (slacks, suit coat, tie) for about $10 and made it to the funeral just as it was getting underway.
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My son Escet traveled to the UK from California for his grandfather's funeral with his suit carefully packed in his case, which was randomly seized and searched at the airport. :rolleyes:
 
escargot said:
My son Escet traveled to the UK from California for his grandfather's funeral with his suit carefully packed in his case, which was randomly seized and searched at the airport. :rolleyes:
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Dunno why this bit didn't post -
The case was seized for searching when he landed so he couldn't take it with him. He was given a receipt and sent on his way.
(Which seems strange to me as if there were anything dodgy in the case he could have just done one.)

So he had no suit to wear for the funeral and had to borrow one or go in his travelling clothes. As I wasn't invited I didn't see him.
 
Just realised that we are all discussing our joy over second hand clothing bargains, but not much mention of shoes. Growing up second hand or home made was very much the norm, but never second hand shoes! We often went barefoot to save wear on shoes, even when offered lightly worn school shoes from neighbours or friends my mother would turn them down.

Even now I could not wear another persons cast off shoes!
 
Eyespy said:
Just realised that we are all discussing our joy over second hand clothing bargains, but not much mention of shoes. Growing up second hand or home made was very much the norm, but never second hand shoes! We often went barefoot to save wear on shoes, even when offered lightly worn school shoes from neighbours or friends my mother would turn them down.

Even now I could not wear another persons cast off shoes!
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My mother's favourite stall at the local market was the secondhand shoe stall. My sister and I would stand further away, shuffling our feet and being insouciant, whilst she rummaged through other people's cast-off footwear. I would say it was weird, but after she died I did keep one pair that I knew for sure she'd picked up at that stall, and I have worn them on numerous occasions myself.
 
Eyespy said:
Just realised that we are all discussing our joy over second hand clothing bargains, but not much mention of shoes. Growing up second hand or home made was very much the norm, but never second hand shoes! We often went barefoot to save wear on shoes, even when offered lightly worn school shoes from neighbours or friends my mother would turn them down.

Even now I could not wear another persons cast off shoes!
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My gran refused to allow us to wear second hand shoes under any circumstances at all. She was afraid we could:-
A) Catch something (verrucas maybe) or :-
B) That pre-worn shoes cold affect our feet as we were young.
Maybe quite sensible reasons. It was Clarks clompers for us all the way. I still ended up with bunions and hammer toes, despite always wearing "sensible" shoes.
 
Eyespy said:
Even now I could not wear another persons cast off shoes!
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My folks made me wear my uncle's cast off shoes, so I spent school years in unfashionable, uncomfortable and soundly mocked 'winkle pickers'. I wear what I damn well like everywhere now. You can keep your smart shiny shoes. I wear trainers, DM's literally anything but 'proper shoes'....
 
My feet are a size 12 or 13 depending on shoe style, which means either I don't find shoes or there's no choice or they are expensive. I always hunt out Dead Men shoes in charity shops, although to be honest most I wouldn't want to be buried in.
 
Michelle Gomez on fine form as the psychotic Sue White in the unmissable telly comedy Green Wing. NSFW (language):


maximus otter
 
one of the charity shops locally had racks of nearly new and unworn cycle tops the other week. The volunteer said they had a couple of boxes out back, no-one quite knew what they were, as this is not a big sporting stream. a real mix of sizes and styles, I picked up 4 for £15 , two still had shop tags in.

Son loved them
 
Eyespy said:
Just realised that we are all discussing our joy over second hand clothing bargains, but not much mention of shoes. Growing up second hand or home made was very much the norm, but never second hand shoes! We often went barefoot to save wear on shoes, even when offered lightly worn school shoes from neighbours or friends my mother would turn them down.

Even now I could not wear another persons cast off shoes!
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My gran would never allow us to wear 2nd hand shoes. She said it was because they had formed to fit someone elses foot. We had Clarks shoes as kids always. My feet are a mess. They seem to resemble my Dads'.
 
Just finished watching Lucy Worsley's account of the Black Death in the British Isles in 1348. Apparently, the primary vector for transmission of the disease (aside from airborne transmission in cases of pneumonic plague) was HUMAN fleas and lice (not rat-borne fleas, as I had previously thought).

As the clothing of the deceased was typically distributed among the surviving family, you can guess the rest . . .
 
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chrissho said:
My gran would never allow us to wear 2nd hand shoes. She said it was because they had formed to fit someone elses foot. We had Clarks shoes as kids always. My feet are a mess. They seem to resemble my Dads'.
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Ditto here. We always had our feet carefully measured and properly fitted shoes during the time I was growing up. Yet now I have horribly deformed feet with dreadful arthritis, like my mum, who grew up just before and during the War, wearing whatever shoes her mother could afford.
Just goes to show, so much is genetics rather than ill fitting shoes!
 
Frasier Buddolph said:
Just finished watching Lucy Worsley's account of the Black Death in the British Isles in 1348. Apparently, the primary vector for transmission of the disease (aside from airborne transmission in cases of pneumonic plague) was HUMAN fleas and lice (not rat-borne fleas, as I had previously thought).

As the clothing of the deceased was typically distributed among the surviving family, you can guess the rest . . .
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Is there a species difference between fleas that live on rats and humans? I thought they were the same.
 
I remember going to jumble sales with my mother and seeing second-hand underwear for sale.
 
catseye said:
Ditto here. We always had our feet carefully measured and properly fitted shoes during the time I was growing up. Yet now I have horribly deformed feet with dreadful arthritis, like my mum, who grew up just before and during the War, wearing whatever shoes her mother could afford.
Just goes to show, so much is genetics rather than ill fitting shoes!
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I believe that you are correct there. Always had measured feet and properly fitting shoes-ugly thing sometimes too. Only consolation is they might have been much worse if we had second hand shoes. We can never really know.
 
chrissho said:
I believe that you are correct there. Always had measured feet and properly fitting shoes-ugly thing sometimes too. Only consolation is they might have been much worse if we had second hand shoes. We can never really know.
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I remember the shoe shops with X Ray machines in so that you could see the bones in your feet and how the shoe was affecting them.

Great for well fitting shoes, crap for radiation poisoning.

Still no fekkin superpowers either.

https://www.theoldie.co.uk/blog/what-was-a-pedoscope
 
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