Eleanor Claudie

Picture this: returning from a holiday with my best friends after just finishing A-Levels, tanned, cultured and then stumbling on this beauty of a dress for £2 in my local charity shop. I had hit the jackpot. It was adorned on every trip that summer (oh to reminisce the last summer before the pandemic). I think that’s what this dress, and ultimately what fashion, symbolises: relative freedom. It’s even more special now that the charity shop I bought it from no longer exists.

Since 2019, this dress has been through many, many life events. From meeting my mum’s university friends for the first time to loaning it to friends at university for summer gatherings. It’s a treasured piece and one that embodies just how sentimental (and shareable) fashion can be. It also says something about searching for those charity shop gems.