Vinnies

This place is an American goodwill gone chic. No goodwill/​charity shop should be over charging as much as this one is. They never have sales or marked down items and plan to pay more then you would at other vinnie’s charity shops because of the trendy area of newtown. I once found a good lonely planet book on Amsterdam here for about 3 AUD which is much cheaper then even a used bookstore so that was a good find. I also once found a pair of billabong shorts for 5 AUD, also a steal. So if you actually know what you’re looking for you can find a great deal of good stuff in here, you may just not want to pay what they are asking for it.

The Vinnies in Newtown is obviously well aware of the suburb’s appreciation of second hand and vintage clothing. I say this because not only is this Vinnies store’s clothing section considerably large, but the prices of the clothes are considerably higher. This is a good thing for Newtown’s Recycled Clothing stores, as it makes their otherwise pricey second hand clothes seem reasonable in comparison. For instance, I know that I would certainly prefer to buy a $ 29 skirt that has been redesigned to fit me perfectly from Bön Doi than buy a $ 20 skirt that I would have to tailor myself from Vinnies.
One thing that Newtown Vinnes does do well though is its book selection. Again, Newtown is replete with second hand book stores that sell second hand books in reasonable nick at reasonable prices, and in reasonably nice stores. Whilst Newtown Vinnies might not have the ambience of some of Newtown’s second hand book stores, and nor does it have a very good filing system (or indeed any system at all, it appears), but it combats this with rock, rock, rock bottom prices well below its competitors.

I always expect Vinnies in Newtown to be already pillaged by the hordes of op-​shoppers that come especially to Newtown for the shabby chic. But I am always surprised, because there is always loads of cool stuff in there, if you have the capacity and heart to sift through.
It’s open relatively late so if you have nothing to do after a dinner out and need some amusement, then go and find something shiny and spandex from another decade in Vinnies and get a giggle from your mates.
I found an awesome beaded necklace here that people comment on… I don’t tell them it was from Vinnies! Okay, actually I do after a while because I think it’s pretty cool. When I’m in there I often think, okay, when I need a particular item of clothing for a particular one use occasion I am going to come here and find it for next to nix. Somehow I always forget though. Anyway, if you are on a budget, then get to vinnies to get some rad clothes and support a charity.

Somewhere out there, a stout and rectangular man is having the time of his life in a vintage store. Roaming the streets in secondhand Armani and crisp trousers, the ladies he encounters regard him highly. And he does it all on a budget. This must be the case, because every time I vist Vinnies (usually as a tag-​along), I decide to look at the men’s wear. And I find something actually quite nice. So I try it on and discover I could use the blazer as a makeshift tent on an attempt to reach the summit of Everest.
So there has to be someone out there getting the better of this phenomena. It is a heartbreaker — that remark about Armani isn’t fiction. I actually found a really beautiful double breasted Armani suit in charcoal with light blue checks. All I needed to do was be a cube and I could have worn it effortlessly. Tall and skinny dudes, listen up: you probably shouldn’t bother with Vinnies. There’s either nothing for you or another skinny guy who is much faster than you grabbing up all the clothes out there. Better to stick to the record crates and unearth some vintage Rodgers And Hammerstein LPs.

A charity-​shop paradise. Absolutely brimming with second-​hand clothes, shoes and books that you’d actually want to buy. I suppose its Newtown location helps a lot in this respect — there are loads of designer labels and interesting items just waiting to be uncovered. The money you spend also goes to charity; there’s no further justification needed for shopping here.