Around the time my high school friends were spending their pocket money on Levi’s and Bata Bullets, I was scouring our town’s first ‘opportunity shop’ for old ladies’ cast-offs. There was an orange tweed blazer, a pleated camel skirt, and a pair of extremely nana-ish shoes (so nana, my actual nana had some just like it) that I took to with shoe paint and turned bright pink.
Desperation had started it. My wages from my weekend job at the local dairy didn’t stretch to store-bought jeans, so I was stuck with the perfectly serviceable but also uncool elastic-waist-denim-trouser scenario my mother whipped up on the Singer at home.
Immediately, my op-shop budget unleashed op-shop tastes. I couldn’t say if there was a rack of pre-loved jeans to rifle through – too distracted was I by polyester blouses with pussycat bows (wish I still had those) and Silverdale twinsets in pastel shades (same).
It gave me a sense of independence and power that, even with very little in my wallet, I could probably buy one thing that caught my eye. Low-risk spending meant I could also afford to experiment, make mistakes and donate the yellowed petticoat or felt hat back to the store if it turned out it wasn’t my thing.
This story is from the April 12, 2021 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
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This story is from the April 12, 2021 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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