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April 02, 2006
Oxfam Chic
I think it says a lot about my finances that yesterday I stood staring longingly through the window of Oxfam. I couldn’t bring myself to enter you see because the other day I pulled a rather appealing pair of black trousers off the rail only to discover that I couldn’t afford them.
In Oxfam.
Back in the eighties if you wanted to make it through school with your credibility still intact then there were two things you would never admit, the first was that you watched Blue Peter and the second was that your mum picked you up a nice cheap coat from Oxfam. And then Thatcher got the boot, I made it to the 6th form and suddenly not only were you supposed to shop in Oxfam, but you had to purchase the most hideous granny dress you could find, lob off the top bit, turn up the hem and pair it with a velvet jacket, thick black tights and Doc Martens. Personally I preferred to buy the tights brand new but coming to think of it maybe that’s where I went wrong because despite all that I was STILL not allowed near the tape player in the common room.
Sometime after that Oxfam had to change its tactics because a whole new breed of shops sprung up where you would be charged a small fortune for brand new clothes that just looked like they’d been sitting in a bin bag in the back room for 6 months, but don’t get me started on that.
So what happened to Oxfam? I thought catching the scent of Ecover Floor Clearer as a comfortable well dressed family opened the door and headed straight for the Suma Organic Free Trade Breakfast Cereal in the food section. You were just the sort of kids who would take the piss out of my Oxfam coat all those years ago. (And while I’m on the subject Blue Peter presenters are not meant to be young, trendy and on the ball, back in the day, its square-ness was its appeal. You never saw Simon Groom sporting a fake tan now did you?)
Sadly, but with an awareness that it was probably a good thing that Oxfam has many new customers richer than me, I bowed my head and walked on by.
By the time I reached Oxfam Books however, my willpower was totally and utterly shattered, but that is another story.
Posted by purple elephant at April 2, 2006 10:52 PM