Occasionally in a charity shop I will see someone’s life collection, and I will pause to nurse a couple of seconds of heartbreak that this is where it has ended up. Thimbles: I saw about sixty of those once, porcelain, in a wooden cabinet all divided into tiny squares, a home for each one. Each … Continue reading Collection
Once upon a time, when I lived in Dublin, I dreamed of owning a Donegal Tweed overcoat: tailored, to the knee, single breasted, with a 100-year guarantee (isn't that how long they last?). Specifically, the coat of my dreams was to come from Kevin and Howlin, a traditional outfitters on Nassau Street, down the side … Continue reading Jacket
His voice is the first thing I hear when I walk into the shop. “Mina.” He is calling to her down a book-lined corridor to the back room where volunteers are sorting through bags of donations. “Those shoes I bought here before Christmas – remember? The size thirteens? I nearly didn't take them. Haven’t they’ve turned out … Continue reading Glass Half Full
Three months into my self-imposed ban on clothes shopping and I’m sticking to it fairly well. I’ve slipped only once; last week when I bought four pairs of socks, but other than that, no temptations, inclinations or straying from the path of non-consumption. Yes, all was well, until my visit to London at the weekend … Continue reading Old Clothes
My Edinburgh Press 