Opshopologist of the week - Mercedes

Skilled martial artist, expert opshopper. Is there anything this girl can't do?

When I go op shopping I buy the kind of clothes that  are comfortable and that I can muti wear ie to work, casual and dress up. I like them to be as natural as possible, though sometimes the grooviest clothes are the most synthetic and I will buy these - they are recycled after all. 


My first fashion memory involved..oh god I think it was the 80's and everything was fluorescent - I had big round florescent earrings and sunglasses which had paint speckled lenses - Yuk!! Boy George and Marilyn were big at the time. I also remember sewing clothes for my Barbie doll.
I like to go op shopping when I am feeling happy. 


I would describe shopping for recycled fashion as fun, inventive, creative, inspiring and sometimes a BIG MISTAKE - when you see something that you like in the shop or on e-bay, get it home and realise it does not match anything else you have!! Oops oh well it can be solved by more op shopping and I can easily pass it on to a friend. It is environmentally sound 

My favourite op shops are... on Anne St,  Brunswick St, West End, Blackwood St, Mitchelton, in Paddington and Redhill. In Melbourne I love the ones in St Kilda and Windsor. Also the OP shops that are in little country towns.

My fashion heroes are Dogstar Clothing, a very groovy Brisbane fashion designer. I also admire people who wear what they want to wear as opposed to what the media dictates them to wear. Of course there is the upcoming fashion designer I found Lucy created by Lucy Tranter.


When I wear my favourite recycled fashion finds I feel...Old and used. No really I feel proud that I have save something from being added to our waste pile, I feel frugal and ironically my partner tells me it keeps me young.


When I'm not op shopping you can find me shopping on e-bay (the next best thing to Op shops), being a mum and hanging out with my family, listening to music, dancing, walking, working, doing Aikido and catching up with friends

More then 50% of my wardrobe has either been passed on to me, or I have purchased second hand via e-bay or Op shops. I feel strongly about the waste that fashion can create, things come into fashion and then suddenly out of fashion so quickly that we can easily be purchasing new items every week to stay in fashion. I would rather put my efforts into giving things a new life again and again. It is also a way of expressing who I am as an individual.
The things that I do buy new usually last me a looong time.