Traid

I like doing a run of the charity shops in King Street just before I do my shift at a charity bookshop. So far, most of my clothes come from Traid. They’ve taken a lot of the pain out of clothes shopping.
I’m not a big label-​hunter, but don’t mind paying more if it’s decent quality. £12 for a pair of Miss Sixty jeans with the button missing though, no. But they dropped the price when I asked. Occasionally, shops like Gap will donate new end-​of-​line jeans, which again are more than a couple of quid, but still a bargain.
There’s lots of (cheaper) clothes from the usual suspects, Next, M&S, Top Shop, but also random stuff that people seem to have bought in Sweden or Japan. I’m less impressed with their men’s and vintage sections, though there’s the odd gem in the latter.
Traid seems to have clearout sales every couple of months when most items are priced at £3 one week, £2 the next. The shop becomes overcrowded with poorer quality clothes, so I avoid it ’til normality returns.

Traid should be a great shopit’s enormous and stuffed to bursting with stock. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite meet the standards set by other charity shops in Hammersmith, for several reasons.
The first problem is simply the price. As good as the cause might be, I’m not willing to pay £12 for a second-​hand sweater with a few pulled threads in it, even if it is a high-​end brand.
The second is that the hangers aren’t labelled with the size of the garments, and they don’t hang them in size order, but rather in vague colour blocks, meaning that you have to root around inside to figure out the size. Because the rails are so stuffed, this can be very difficult.
Thirdly, the staff are quite surly and are rarely actually behind the counter, so you have to wait around; and while charging for plastic bags is perfectly acceptable for a charity shop (and is appropriately environment-​friendly), I don’t think it helps to make customers feel guilty about paying that 10p.
And finally, I just don’t like the shop. It feels like a warehouse or a car boot sale. All in all, there are much more welcoming and pleasant places to buy second-​hand goods for worthwhile causes in and around Hammersmith, so I tend to steer clear.

I stopped into this little shop while I was strolling around Hammersmith, not expecting much. The cool music playing in the background created a funky browsing atmosphere. The bags near the door begged to be tried on my shoulder. While I awkwardly attempted to see myself in a small and awkwardly placed mirror, one of the girls behind the counter graciously pointed me toward the dressing-​room mirrors. (+3 points for conscientious and helpful service.)
I browsed around the clothing selection and found the more vintage stuff at the back (with some truly enviable pieces for sale at pretty reasonable prices perhaps due to the shop’s location outside of London proper). The middle of the store contained some more contemporary, though by no means mundane, stuff. Everything was well priced.
I was quite impressed with this charity shop, as it seemed filled with more funky and vintage items than it did with patterned jumpers from the wardrobes of those with questionable fashion sense.
I was moved to buy a cool faux snake-​skin bag.
About a month later I thought I was being mugged on High Holborn. It turns out the strap on the bag just broke.
That’s probably not Traid’s fault.
(P.S. As of the submission of this review, the Unilocal information states the store is in Covent Garden, but it is in Hammersmith, as evidenced by the the obvious W6 postcode.)

I am such a fan of Traid, initially because it was almost next door to where I used to live. Secondly, they arrange their clothes by colour, which I used to do as well (until I started doing it by style). It is such an easy place to browse and more often than not you will find some second hand clothes that you wonder ‘Why did they get rid of this?’ As they say ‘someone’s trash is someone else’s treasure’. Trousers, jackets, sweaters, skirts, dresses, bags, hats, shoes, shirts, t-​shirts, everything to wear and at good prices. When there is going to be a change in their stock they begin having massive sales were everything in the store is £4, then £3 and finally £1! O. k so most of the good stuff is already gone when that happens but if you really take your time you will find something.
Take a look at their re-​made label, they give second life to old garments by re-​designing them in really basic but effective ways. For instance, and old black sweater updated with some lace trimmings on the shoulders, for £25. Finally, Traid is a charity committed to divert waste from landfill and fund sustainable development projects in some of the poorest regions of the world. An excellent reason to shop here. Honestly.