Shopping secrets from the blogosphere

Each week, we'll be speaking to a blogger to get their best-kept shopping secrets from across the globe. Starting off the series is: Name: Kristabel, 23 Blogs at: iwantyoutoknow.co.uk , since 2008 What my blog is about: Fashion, shopping, art exhibitions, bargain hunting. I'm based between London and Nottingham, by way of Brooklyn, New York. Tweeting at: twitter.com/fashionknitsta Trinity Hospice, Streatham, London Streatham High Road and Streatham Hill trinityhospice.org.uk If you're aiming to work your way across the charity shops of south London, here are two great places to start. The shops have standard low prices for skirts, blouses and dresses as well as a reasonably priced 'designer' rail. My ultimate find was a £4 rust-coloured silk shirt (pictured above), virtually identical to a style I'd seen in Topshop the week before. East End Thrift Store, Whitechapel, London Unit 1A Assembly Passage, E1 4UT theeastendthriftstore.com It's worth wandering past the typical vintage fare around Brick Lane to this place, where the prices are lower and the choice is vast. I came here when it first opened a few years ago and found exactly what I had in mind, a fitted grey tweed blazer, which hardly ever happens. Vintage Warehouse, Nottingham 82-84 Lower Parliament Street (main entrance on Cranbrook Street), Nottingham, NG1 1EH When confronted with piles of clothing loaded on to wooden pallets, you might be put off a bit of rummaging. Despite the chaos, the sense of achievement when finding a gem is second to none. Prices appear to be made up on the spot, which meant I scored a yellow button-detail skirt for a fiver. Birds Dress Agency, Brockley, London 253 Malpas Road, SE4 1BH Although Birds is unassuming at first glance, with darkened windows, once you step inside you'll find vintage YSL jackets and nearly new Fendi handbags for a fraction of the retail price. The shop is full to the brim. It's not necessarily bargain basement, but if you save a bit before you go, you're bound to end up with something wonderful. The Urban Jungle Vintage Warehouse, Brooklyn, New York 118 Knickerbocker Avenue, East Williamsburg, NY 11237 urbanjunglevintage.wordpress.com Tucked away in Bushwick, this large jungle-like space houses some of the craziest vintage pieces ever created. Since prices are so cheap, you can afford to take a few risks and walk away with something unexpected (or even a future Halloween costume). I bought a lovely floral maxiskirt here for $7. • Want to be featured? Email [email protected] , and feel free to add your own secret shopping haunts below.