Bargain fashion buys for the savvy student

Struggling to afford Topshop tights? Chloe Kingscote explains how to grab a bargain, no matter where you live

It only takes one walk down the parade to realise that Leamington Spa is far from easy on the student wallet. Amongst the Cath Kidstons and Joules of the world, there’s not much opportunity on the high street to “pinch the penny”. So there’s only one final hope left for us avid shoppers; the return of vintage and the charity shop.

That’s not to say that it comes at no price at all; one has to either brave the train to Birmingham in search of ‘real’ vintage shops, or prepare to wash everything they buy with copious amounts of Daz to remove that delightful miscellaneous musty smell. However, this is but a small price to pay when the price of your purchase is even smaller.

there’s only one final hope left for us avid shoppers; the return of vintage and the charity shop.

Before I start my spiel there’s one thing you should bear in mind; don’t hold out much hope for buying clothes in the charity shops in Leamington. There may be the occasional one-off steal, but, other than that, you’ll be left disappointed (unless knee-length tweed skirts and sweater vests are your thing). Leamington itself has a surprising abundance of charity shops, the majority of which are located on and around Regent Street and Warwick Street.

Photo: Linda Nagy For Vintage & Upcycling Society / Model: Angela Gui / Dress: Modcloth / Shoes: Chloe / Sunglasses: Miu Miu

These are the shops where you’ll find antique glass trifle bowls for £3.50 (very handy as a makeshift fruit bowl), and old school LPs for less than a fiver. It may sound like odds and ends, but if you set out with a definitive shopping list and a bit of imagination, you’re almost guaranteed to come home with something.

What’s more, if you’re a student with a heavy, reading-based course (or just love the look of a full bookshelf), I’d really recommend the Oxfam on Regent Street. It sells a diverse range of books – both academic and non academic – and even has a literature section for all of your classics. I tend to find that due to the high population of students, you’re likely to come across a few books you’ll need for your course, even if it’s an academic text book, and they often sell beautiful box sets and the all-important Penguin Classic.

The one glimmer of hope for clothes in Leamington involves venturing into the deep deep South (well, the railway bridge), to what can only be known as ‘student territory’. LOOT is one of your typical not-so-vintage shops: that is, the clothes are beautiful, but the prices, unfortunately, aren’t.

You’re certainly not going to be paying the price that the British Heart Foundation or Cancer Research will ask for, but the condition of the clothes is considerably better, and you’re not going to come home with a pair of gingham culottes. It may not differ much in price from high street shops, but who can resist feeling like Chloe Sevigny in Kids every now and again? There’s also the rather rare but equally wonderful ‘Affordable Vintage Fair’, which takes place in The Assembly and has more than 30 stalls. Get saving kids, they’re coming to town on October 25!

LOOT is one of your typical not-so-vintage shops: that is, the clothes are beautiful, but the prices, unfortunately, aren’t.

Now freshers, don’t think I’ve forgotten you. I know that Leamington is only a 20-minute bus journey away, but you’re probably nice and cosily tucked into your campus bubble by now. If you can’t tear yourself away from your bed, there’s always the wonderful world of online shopping! Aside from your obvious eBay (I’m not going to bore you with that, we all know how it works), there’s a bunch of places you can go for all your cheap-and-cheerful needs. ASOS marketplace is, in effect, an upscale version of eBay. Bear in mind that if you shop by boutique it’s much more worth your while; you’re actually getting what you’d get in a vintage shop, just whilst in your PJ’s! Etsy is great for anything handmade and a little bit different, it’s not necessarily vintage but you get some really cheap one off items, especially pretty things that you definitely don’t need but can’t resist.

All this stuff is great and right at your fingertips, but you can’t avoid the cost. If you want my honest opinion, the best way to get something with a real vintage or retro feel (or just cheap stuff for that matter) is to do it yourself. Tie-dying is ridiculously easy and actually a lot of fun (sorry about that, Sherbourne accommodation services, now you know what the blue stain in the kitchen is), and it takes a matter of minutes to embroider a pattern on a jumper.

You can get material for around £4 per metre at Ikea, or there’s the Leamington haberdashery. If you’re super-keen, then get a sewing book – they normally have embroidery patterns in the back – or if you’re too lazy for that, a cheap sewing machine is only around £40. Sewing machines are a real longterm investment, and who knows, you may become the Mary Berry of the sewing world by the time you hit your seventies!