Bargainista Fashionista

Lengha: Oxfam, 14-15 The Toll, Clarkston, Glasgow // Jewellery: Singhaar // Photography: Afzal of Impressions // Hair & Make-up: Kanval of Impressions // Venue: Pollok House, Glasgow

Fashion nowadays is all about vintage.  Vintage jewellery, vintage bags, vintage clothes...and for those who want something unique and beautiful, a vintage sari and Lengha are the new crazes hitting town.  Gone are the days when charity shops were seen as stuffy emporiums, nowadays you’re likely to bump into Alexa Chung or Kate Moss perusing the rails as the line between vintage boutiques and charity shops has become blurred with charity shops becoming part of mainstream fashion.

You only have to walk down Byres Road in Glasgow where you will see a vintage boutique next door to Oxfam. So why don’t charity shops seem to be as appealing to Asian fashionistas?  Charity shops have yet to trickle down into mainstream Asian fashion.  Why is this ladies?  Flick back up and have a look at the pictures, do they scream charity shop at you?  I think not!  A major appeal of the charity shop is that you will find unusual and rare finds filling the rails so you are guaranteed to have your individual style shine through and remain unique as no one else can happen to turn up in the same outfit.  What better way to strut your stuff or even to walk down that aisle than in a piece from Oxfam which you have customised yourself to reflect your own individuality and tastes? 

Salwar Kameez: Oxfam, 14-15 The Toll, Clarkston, Glasgow // Photography: Afzal of Impressions // Hair & Make-up: Kanval of Impressions // Venue: Pollok House, Glasgow

It is easy to take your unique dress to a dressmaker and have them alter the dress to the perfect size and fitting for you.  Or why not be creative and use the dress – or even just the fabric – and make your very own occasion wear to your own standards and taste.  Making the dress can be a unique and fun part of your wedding preparations, so why not get your friends round to help, and make it a fun girly night in?


Oxfam actually has one of the best collections of vintage clothes in the country, making it the perfect place to shop for something truly individual.  As well as being unique, these items have another hidden quality up their sleeve. The proceeds made from the sale of every item bought at Oxfam go towards funding programmes the organisation has in over 70 countries around the world to help people living in poverty.


So, while you are enjoying your special day, you can be safe in the knowledge that what you are wearing could be doing anything from protecting people from flooding in Bangladesh to helping girls get an education in India.  So your good tastes help a good cause!


If these pictures have whetted your appetite, or at least got you thinking outside the box, you can see the full range of occasion wear at the Oxfam shop in Clarkston at 14-15 The Toll, Clarkston, Glasgow.  For further details please telephone 0141 639 4931 and check out the website at www.oxfam.org.uk.


If you’re still not convinced to take at least just one look at their outfits, then cast your eye over the brief case studies below from Oxfam.  If they don’t convince you, nothing will!

Oxfam in Asia

Children washing their plates at an Oxfam water point in the Swat Valley, Pakistan.

Following fighting in the Swat valley of Pakistan in 2009, Oxfam launched an emergency response to provide support to around 360,000 displaced women, men and children in Mardan, Swabi, Haripur and Abbotabad district. We prioritised the provision of clean water, sanitation and shelter, especially in the host communities, small camps and schools. Our response involved distributing household items such as cooking pots to 40,000 families and we installed hand pumps to provide safe drinking water. We also provided construction material and technical support so that families can build their own latrines. Our ability to stockpile equipment and respond rapidly to emergencies, due in part to the income we raise through our shops alongside the generosity of our other donors.

Mrs N Rasidha aged 24, with her sewing machine given through an Oxfam livelihood grant at Sooriyeapuram IDP camp to the south of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

‘I was a seamstress for seven or eight years before the tsunami but my sewing machine was badly damaged by the tsunami waters. I heard that it was possible to get a grant through Sarvodaya (Oxfam local partner) to help start businesses again after the tsunami so I applied and was given a grant of 5000 rupees ($50) although Oxfam actually bought the machines in bulk so as to get a good discount. I have a lot of work now and initially there was a great need to make school uniforms for the children when they returned to school – most of these have been lost in the tsunami. UNICEF donated the material and Oxfam paid us about $1 for each uniform we made under a cash for work programme. Now I make mainly dresses – women bring me the material and I make it for them – it brings in money which we will be able to put toward rebuilding our house.’

For up-to-the-minute reports on the situation in Asia, please visit Ofamx's website www.oxfam.org.uk or contact Annie Lewis on 0141 285 8873 or send her an email.