As a fashion-obsessed girl from the age of around 10, I’ve always loved buying new clothes and being able to express my personal style through the things I buy. I think in particular it is the thrill of buying the thing itself that brought me the most joy, the ability to pick out what I wanted and be able to walk out the store with it clutched in my hands. Over time this grew into more than a treat and became a regular ‘need’, ultimately leading to me spending hundreds of pounds each month on clothes just for the sake of having something new. I was buying fast fashion (mainly from ASOS online) and it wasn’t making me happy. I didn’t look how the models looked on screen and I wasn’t finding opportunities to wear the pieces I bought, most of the time they ended up hanging in my wardrobe, unworn.

As I’ve educated myself on the consequences of fast fashion and the people behind each garment, I’ve realised that I do not have the right to consume at that rate anymore. It’s not fair that I can order as much as I want online and someone else has to pay the price for it by working for hardly any money and in terrible conditions. This is why for the past year or so I have only been shopping at second hand stores, clothes swaps, kilo sales or from ethical and vegan brands. I’ve tried to slow down with my approach to fashion and I’ve still managed to keep my style and I never have “nothing to wear”.

A lot of YouTubers make videos about fashion ‘hauls’ they’ve done, buying several items of clothing at once and trying them on in front of the camera, often saying they don’t actually like the piece and planned to return it later or just not wear it. This makes me sad, the idea that these people are more concerned with getting as many views on their videos than they are about the clothes they’re buying. However, I had heard about ‘Haulternatives’ from the Fashion Revolution website earlier this year and it’s been at the back of my mind as an idea for something I could try. Well, I finally got around to it and I think it’s such a great idea, I hope more influencers will promote the concept so we can move away from celebrating fast fashion and slow things down a bit.

For my Haulternative, I opted for the buying second-hand method, there are several different ways you can do one and this is hopefully the first of many I will do as I want to try out the different types too! For more information about the different types of Haulternatives you could try, check out the Fashion Revolution website.

I visited a St Peters Hospice in Bristol and spent £28.99 on 5 items (another great advantage of shopping secondhand - more value for your money!) It was such a great feeling walking around and looking through the racks of options, knowing that everything was so affordable and my money would be going to a good cause. I tend to opt for the St Peter's Hospice and Cancer Research charity shops as it's a cause close to my heart, plus they usually have really good quality clothes in there and friendly staff :)

I'm really happy with my purchases and wanted to share the items I bought so you could see how cheap and rewarding a secondhand haul can be! I got all these pieces for the price of one jacket from Zara, and I saved these items from landfill so helped keep them in a circular system. Here’s a breakdown of what I bought…

A 100% cotton sweater from Mango in a loose knit material with nice dropped shoulders and thick hems/cuff/neckline. I was looking for something just like this when I went in so I couldn’t believe my luck that I found this as most of the other sweaters were made of wool…

A lightweight khaki bomber jacket from H+M - looking forward to wearing this in Spring :)

Loved this strappy black top from Atmosphere with the white writing and symbols on, I think I’ll save this for Summer but wear it for yoga until then…

Couldn’t believe my luck with this one! A blazer with lining from Topshop (Tall collection - even better!) with some padding in the shoulders and a nice tailored design. Perfect for interviews or formal occasions, but I’m thinking I can style this with some dark jeans and turn it into a more casual look.

This was my random purchase - I don't usually buy anything cropped (anymore!) but this sweater was just calling my name and love the font used for the slogan. Might see if this can be worn with a black vest underneath so I can wear it soon, too cold to not layer up right now!

So there you have it, five items of clothing for only £28.99, a bargain haulternative from Grandermarnier ;)