Why You Should Consider Charity Clothing As A Wardrobe Choice

By Janine Hughes


In today's fashion-conscious world, it's often a challenge to look good without breaking your budget. Unique clothes are expensive and if you opt for something cheaper, you'll end up looking like everybody else. Besides, cheap clothes are often of poor quality too. However, buying charity clothing is a great idea, for several reasons.

By buying from stores that sell clothes to support charity, you help make the world a better place. Most charities struggle to raise enough funds for their work. By supporting their shops, you help them to make ends meet. The money you spend on a pair of second-hand jeans, for instance, might be enough to give a homeless person in Hanover, PA a warm and nutritious meal tonight.

Another important consideration is simple economics. The clothes you find at goodwill stores are often sold for only a few dollars. However, the pieces can be of surprisingly good quality. The result is that you can look great for less and use the money you save on clothes to finance something else, such as an around-the-world trip.

Chain stores that sell affordable clothes often import items made in developing countries. While it's great to support developing economies, the problem is that cheap clothes are often made in sweatshop conditions. Workers are paid a pittance for working long hours in unsafe conditions. In fact, some of the deadliest factory fires occurred in clothing factories where emergency exits were locked and workers were trapped. Some factories also use child labor.

In a world where consumerism threatens to destroy the environment, shopping at goodwill stores is the green thing to do as well. It takes a lot of water and other resources to produce cotton or wool, for instance. Industrial dyes and other chemicals used in the garment manufacturing process do incredible harm too but you can help contain the damage by wearing what is essentially recycled clothes.

From a purely sartorial point of view, it also makes sense to shop at goodwill stores. Instead of finding hundreds of pieces that all look the same, you'll get to choose from pieces that are completely unique. Many of them are of exceptional quality and it's not unheard of to find something almost brand new made by a top designer.

A fun aspect of buying second-hand clothes is that it helps unleash your creativity. Some items can be worn as they are but others may need a little bit of updating. All you need is a pair of scissors, a needle and some thread. A bunch of ties can be turned into a colorful skirt. A pair of denim shorts can become a miniskirt. An oversized T-shirt can be turned into a dress. You'll quickly learn how to spot the potential of that ugly power suit from the Eighties. You may even resell the clothes that you give a new lease on life and start your own business.

Most cities have a variety of charity shops that sell clothes. Simply look online to find one near you. Otherwise, contact charities directly and find out whether they have stores. Some even have online stores.




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