The secret part of the charity shop you're forgetting to check for unique buys – I found a perfect dress in mine for £2

The Sun

28-05-2025

EVERYONE knows to check the bags and shoes section in charity shops for some amazing bargains.
But there's a hidden section of thrift stores that people are forgetting to look in, and they're missing some incredible purchases.
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Even Els, who's a pro at stumbling across hidden gems, admitted that she's never looked in the fancy dress section before.
But she said in the video on her TikTok page that she's glad she did - as she ended up finding a one-of-a-kind, handmade gold dress for just £2.
"Today I learned to never skip the Halloween costumes section," she wrote over the top of the clip, which showed her coming across the stunning outfit.
The dress appeared to be leopard-print with gold detailing, with carefully encrusted gem cups and draped sections to make it even more flattering.
The bottom was also embroidered with sparkling gem flowers - and Els managed to get the dress for just four Canadian dollars, the equivalent of £2.
"Still in shock!" she captioned the video.
She added in response to one question: "There is no tag, it looks handmade & the dress is not for sale, I'm sorryyy!"
And the comments section was immediately filled with remarks from people stunned by her incredible purchase.
"Looks very Roberto Cavalli," one said.
"This is a professional belly dance costume, they cost hundreds of dollars!" another wrote.
We went hunting in the charity shop's 'rag house' and were stunned by our discoveries - we found a £80 bag & £600 shirt
As a third added: "I think this is ballroom Latin costume.
"Look them up. They are soooo expensive!"
"That and sunset pics at the beach would eatttt!" someone else suggested.
While others shared their own similar finds in charity shops and on secondhand apps and websites.
"Someone listed once listed a Emilio Pucci set as a clown Halloween set on Poshmark for $25," one wrote.
"It haunts me to this day someone got so lucky lol!"
Top charity shop tips for bagging a bargain
Ross Dutton has been a manager for Crisis's charity shops for four years and currently runs the charity's Finsbury Park shop in London.
Choose your area - As a rule of thumb, the posher the area, the better quality the clothes that are donated.
Don't hang around - If you see something you like, buy it, as it'll likely be gone when you come back
Look out for cut-off labels - Some of your favourite high street stores will have deals with local charity shops to donate stock that isn't sold during their own sales. Often part of the deal is that they need to cut the labels off the clothes.
Stay at home - While some charities have their own site, like Oxfam and Crisis. many also sell from dedicated eBay stores, such as British Heart Foundation and Scope. You won't get the range of bargains that you would get in a physical store, but if you're looking for something specific it may be worth checking online too.
"My fave dress was in the Halloween section," another added.
"It's technically a black bird costume, but it's just a black dress with a strapless off the shoulder black feathered neckline.
"I always check now!"
"I worked at the thrift and everything fun/fur/sparkly/leather/baddie went into Halloween cause they didn't think it would sell," a third revealed.
"Omg the shoessss too - there's so many good ones at Halloween!"
"Halloween season is truly thrifting heaven!" someone else said.
Els modelled the dress in another video, showing that it clung to her enviable figure and fit her like a glove.
"Belly dance costume dress! It was made for you!" one gushed.
"OHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDD!!! IT WAS EVEN BETTER THAN I IMAGINED!" another added.
"You're not wearing the dress, the dress is wearing you - stunning!" a third commented.
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