Jewellery & Fashion

Author: Drew

  • What to do with unwanted clothes?

    Us Brits spend a fortune on clothes every year and many of us buy clothes that we never even get to wear. A recent survey showed that nearly a third of us own clothes that still have the tags on and have never been worn, hanging in our wardrobes.

    It may be that you decide to have a massive clear out and have bags and bags of unwanted clothes. You have a number of options available to you as to what to do with the clothes.

    • Charity shop – many people donate clothes to charity shops to allow them to be resold. Some people are worried about donating expensive items to charity shops as they fear they may under-price them substantially.
    • Sell them yourself – if you have the time, you may try selling the clothes yourself on a site such as Ebay or Facebook
    • Clothes bin – often people will send the majority of clothing to a charity shop or sell it online, but then they are left with the damaged or stained clothing. This can be put in a clothing bin or some charities will take them in as rags.

     

  • Recycling old jewellery

    If you are looking of ways to reuse your old jewellery then look no further. Many of us have a necklace that the chain has snapped or a few odd earrings that have been in our jewellery box for years. Often people just throw these in the bin when they are having a good sort out, but old jewellery can be reused again to make new.

    If you are a bit crafty then you may want to try this yourself by buying some cheap chains or earing hooks and seeing what you can design. If not, then why not sell them as a job lot of spare jewels for others to recycle. You can even use them on cards, often jewellery pieces make lovely card decorations and can save you a fortune on buying them in the shops.

    If you have quite a few odd pieces that you do not want to get rid of then you could make a charm bracelet, allowing you to still wear them.

  • Custom made jewellery

    If you are looking for a unique, special gift to give a loved one then why not opt for a piece of custom made jewellery. There is something quite personal about designing a piece of jewellery, whether it be a ring, bracelet, set of earrings or necklace for someone. You can incorporate all the images you have in to one beautiful piece crafted out a material you know they will love.

    If you are stuck for ideas, then why not pop along and see a jewellery designer. If you discus with them ideas you have an even show them images of jewellery you like you can often come up with the perfect design between the two of you.

    Some people even use old pieces of jewellery and put them together to make one unique piece that also have memories attached to it.

    Customer jewellery does not have to be expensive as you can often give the designer your budget and they will design something to fit within it.

     

  • Trying out new shops

    For years I was convinced that there were only a select few shops that I really seemed to find outfits that not only fitted well but that I liked. Whenever I went shopping I would walk past a large number or retailers telling myself that I knew where I needed to shop and convinced that there was no point looking anywhere else.

    Recently I started to experiment with clothing from other stores and was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a number of places that previously I wouldn’t visit that seemed to have clothing suitable for me. I also had to understand that clothing shops vary their sizing drastically and rather than being adamant that I was one particular size, trying on a number of sizes until I found the one that fitted best. Since my discovery I have started to enjoy shopping for clothes again and found that as with anything, clothing stores do change over time and sometimes it is worth revisiting ones we had previously written off.

     

  • What is your jewellery worth?

    Having jewellery valued can be a challenge as you not only have to find a place that is able to give you a price and that is willing to buy it but also one that you can trust. Never sell jewellery to the first person that makes you an offer without getting a second opinion or finding out roughly how much it is worth.

    Silver and gold prices vary day by day, so a price you are offered one day could go up or down within a few days, and can make a big difference to the price you are offered. Rings are often bought and then sold on again when relationships breakdown. Engagement rings can cost thousands of pounds new but then if you come to sell it, you may only be offered a few hundred or even less. This is because many gold or silver buyers will only pay the scrap value for the ring and will not pay anything for any diamonds or other precious stones that are within the ring. If you want to sell the ring as it is and not for scrap then you are best to try and sell if privately or take it in to a jeweller’s that sells second hand items.