Charity shopper shares 'secret hack' to bagging designer items after £500 steal

A woman has shared a handy trick that will help anyone, even those who are not well informed about designer brands, how to find them in a charity shop or car boot sale. It can be overwhelming when you walk into a charity shop and see rails and rails of mismatched clothes.

Many people are used to seeing dozens of the same item on rails in different sizes or neatly folded in piles in chain high street stores, and switching to the organised chaos of a charity shop can be a shock. There can be hundreds of different brands in just one charity shop, and it can be hard to know what is a good deal at a quick glance.

One charity shopper, who posts under the TikTok handle @hello_wednesday, has shared her "secret hack" to finding designer clothes while shopping. She decided to share after finding six pieces of designer clothing, two that were from brands she had never even heard of before, by using the trick.

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She said: "Here is one of my secret hacks for finding designer stuff in the charity shop. When you're looking through the racks, you're looking for the labels that are only stitched on at the top with two stitches.

"I didn't know this brand, it's Barbara Casasola, I spotted this with the two stitches and went next to look at the label and it's 100% silk.

"So I looked her up, this top retails new for about £500, and I got it for £3.99."

In the same trip the charity shopper found another top using the same hack and was astonished by how much the item was actually worth.

She said: "I saw this label, looked up Bimba Y Lola because I didn't know it and this t-shirt retails at around £100 and it cost me £2.95.

"Look for the labels where there are only two stitches in at the top and you might have a designer piece on your hands."

People thanked the charity shopper for the tip and said they would try it the next time they went.

One user said: "I’m always in charity shops, this is a fantastic hack. Thank you so much for sharing. The world needs more people like you as we are all struggling."

A second added: "Ohhh that’s great tip. I bring my daughter and she is very good at finding nice pieces. Thank you."

A third said: "Thank you for the tip."