Charity Shop Tuesday: Buying the Same Thing Twice

About nine years ago, I bought the shirt in the photo below, new. It’s jewel-purple, comfortable, and flattering. I loved this shirt so much I wore it for my BA graduation.

I did not love it as much as that pink bag, but both were to meet a sad fate:

• The pink bag, being made out of cheapy fake leather, eventually disintegrated. The only part of it that’s still intact is the pocket, which I cut out of the lining with a view to reusing it elsewhere.
• The purple shirt, being made out of polyester, melted one day as my mum was ironing it for me. The collar was left with a weird blackened and twisted patch. My mum suggested we remove the collar off. I suggested I cover it up with something. Cue literal years of procrastination.

In the meantime, when I found a bright pink version of the same shirt in an Oxfam shop, I had to pick it up.

They are identical, except that I still have the belt that came with the purple shirt, and the pink shirt’s belt is missing.

You’ll note that the purple shirt now has a sequinned collar – that’s how, after the years of procrastination, I decided to cover up the melted bit. I finished sewing on the last of the sequins a couple of days ago and I’m very happy with the result. It’s not perfect, but it’s wearable once more.

The sequins are also recycled – they’re from an old top of my mum’s that was unwearable after the elastic stopped working.

This isn’t the only item I’ve bought in two different colours, but it is the only one where I bought the first new and the second from a charity shop. In every other case, I bought both items from a charity shop, but never at the same time.

Have you ever bought the same thing twice? I love that I can find items I loved again in charity shops!