Hi everyone, we are Charlotte (the Titch) and Emma (the Giant). We live in Manchester and run our own blog ‘The Giant, The Titch and The Wardrobe’. We both absolutely adore shopping at charity shops and Barnardo’s is definitely a favourite, so we can’t wait to start writing more for Barnardo’s and showing off our best buys.

Charity shop-shopping for us has always, on the whole, been about blouses, bold prints and big jumpers which we can team with jeans and boots. However, recently we have been allowing more formal items to catch our eyes. For drinks over Christmas and New Year we decided to set ourselves a challenge and wear items bought in our local Barnardo’s.

Charlotte: I found this black beaded top in the Barnardo’s store on Piccadilly Approach in Manchester. I originally wore it untucked with a vest underneath but Emma encouraged me to be daring and tuck it into my skirt with a crop top – and I must admit it looked much better! It was fun mixing something with a very 1920’s feel with a modern wrap skirt I bought new a few weeks ago. I’ll definitely be going back to Barnardo’s for my party outfits – you can’t complain for a top at £4.99 can you?

Emma: This Baroque print T-shirt is an old school Debenhams Classic which I discovered in the Buckshaw Village branch for only £3.99! I was drawn to the silky fabric and rich (almost festive) print and thought it would make a great staple for this time of year.  I recently bought this leather, tasselled skirt and wanted to stick to a simple shape and neutral colours on the top half to avoid too much going on, so dressing up this tee made for a simple yet effective outfit.  The addition of a statement necklace, a red lip, sparkly socks and heeled boots was an easy peasy quick change to take me from Christmas shopping to Christmas party!

That’s all from us for now but we wish you all a very happy new year and can’t wait to scour our local Barnardo’s stores for more amazing items for future blogs in 2016!