It’s been a while since I last going involved in anything happening in my home city of Bristol. I could throw out dozens of excuses about being busy with life and such but actually I’ve been struggling a lot with anxiety and doing anything outside of my social comfort zone has just been too much. Still, with a renewed motivation for life when an invite came in to attend a vintage kilo sale run by
Bristol Textile Recyclers I was determined to attend, and I did. A couple of weekends ago with Mum at my side I headed in to the city to see what it was all about.
For a bit of background Bristol Textile Recyclers is a massive warehouse that diverts 20 tonnes of unwanted textiles from landfill sites each day (that’s a LOT of clothes!) They pick out the best pieces of vintage and high street garments to put to one side and once a month they open up to the public in one of their vintage kilo sales. What does a vintage kilo sale look like I hear you ask! Well, much like this…
The clothes and accessories are placed in large containers around the factory. Guests are encouraged to roll up their sleeves and get digging through, placing their finds in to a bag ready to be weighed up at the end- with scales dotted around so you can weigh as you go too. There is a £1 entry fee to get in which is nothing really- especially as you could easily spend half a day there going through the goods!
Clothing is priced at £6 per kilo (cash only) which drops down to £5 per kilo if you get 10kg or more. For a rough guide you could pretty much get a skirt, top and a scarf within one kilo so it really is excellent value. Mum and I had such a good time rummaging through and came away with quite a haul at the end of the two hours we spent there. I’ve photographed a couple of my favourite finds to show you but stay tuned for more popping up on the blog soon.
I’ve pretty much lived in the quilted jacket and vintage jumper since I got them home. I did grab some dressier pieces too which I’m hoping to wear over the party season as well as some great denim. It’s worth paying close attention as there are plenty of brands around if you can find your size…lots of Levis for example and I did grab a fabulous pair only to find I’d slightly underestimated just how small they were when I got home!
This was one of the best Saturdays I’ve had in a long while and I’m planning to go to at least one more sale this side of Christmas and plenty in the new year! Bristol people check out the website and facebook to find out more about upcoming events and let me know if you plan to attend, I’m all for broadening my social horizons and actually interacting with people for once- the next sale is on Saturday 5th November.
*Disclosure- Mum and I were guests of BTR and received free entry and a 5kg allowance each. 5kg is a LOT of clothes, we didn’t even manage it between us and came away with so much stuff! Opinions are honest and I will be attending future sales as a paying guest as it was just brilliant and an excellent chance to try something new and add something extra to my wardrobe- I’ve always loved vintage and this is such a bargainous and fun way to build up a collection.*
