Happy Second Hand September!
Started in 2019, Second Hand September encourages shoppers to buy second hand for the whole of September.
Over here at R&R HQ we love a pre-loved item. My idea of a good day is rummaging through our local charity shops and when we have some extra time - heading over to the amazing Pear Mill Vintage Emporium.
So to celebrate we've rounded up our favourite places to get second hand goodies - both online and in person.
I'll start by telling you about my best ever Beyond Retro find... a £12 vintage long Pendleton wool coat. £12!!! We've spent many a happy hour browsing the BR website - it's a bit like an online charity shop in that you have to have a good rummage but I can speak highly of the quality. Everything we've had has been just as described and you can readily find Pendleton, Eddie Bauer and LL Bean. It's a great place for vintage raincoats and flannels. And a top tip - they have a relatively regular 'Garage Sale' where prices drop to around £7 for jeans and £12 for coats.
2. Depop and ASOS marketplace
I'm putting the most obvious ones together - not always the cheapest but I love Depop for vintage sweatshirts and the more you 'like' or save things on Depop, the better the recommendations. When I check the app now, the recommended section is *chefs kiss*. I also love ASOS marketplace for quirky vintage camping sweatshirts and tees.
If you live in the North West and haven't yet visited... you need to! It's a big floor in an old mill STUFFED full of vintage homewares and clothing. You can spend hours in there, plus there's a decent cafe with delicious cake (and free parking!). The pricing is somewhere between a charity shop and a vintage store - I've had a vintage moto satin bomber for £30 and lots of vintage props for R&R Co photos. Also if like me you're into sewing - there's a few vintage fabric stalls with very reasonable prices for remnants, buttons, patterns and all those types of goodies!
4. Outdoor Gear Exchange UK (and other Facebook groups!)
We're part of the private Outdoor Gear Exchange facebook group but anyone can request to join. So much stuff is posted daily but if you're on the look out for a specific bit of kit, a van (!) or generally just looking to add to your outdoor gear - it's definitely a good group to join. There'll be loads of similar groups out there so definitely worth a search on Facebook.
So technically not a place to get second hand goodies, but even better than replacing your kit is repairing it. I can highly recommend learning to sew for those small repairs that can be done with a needle and thread but there are repair cafes popping up all over the country for those that might need a more experienced hand.
And an additional note from us...
It would be hypocritical of us to say we love the outdoors and not think about how as a brand we can lessen our impact on the environment. We've ensured our candles are vegan and cruelty free, plus they come in a re-useable tin. Our t-shirts are vegan, certified fair-wear and are printed with soil friendly water-based inks. It's a bit of a contradiction to love the outdoors and continue to create 'new' products, so we're absolutely looking at ways to introduce more preloved elements.
We're starting by launching Rise & Roam Reworked. We've been working on this since we launched last year and have lots more to come (including human goodies!), but for now we've created a line of dog bandanas made from preloved fabric.
You can shop the first of our reworked bandanas here and here. And do sign up for our newsletter and follow us on socials to be the first to hear when we launch our human goodies!