S04E08 Transcript: Bay Garnett on Secondhand Shopping

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Gemma Styles [00:00:01] Hello, I'm Gemma and welcome to another episode of Good Influence. This is the podcast where I welcome our guests to discuss their experiences, answer your questions and teach us something new. This week we're talking about second hand shopping, the rising popularity of pre-owned clothing. How the language you use to describe it affects our habits and the importance of bringing together fashion and sustainable practices. So joining me this week is Bay Garnett, known in the fashion industry as the queen of Thrift Bay is a fashion stylist, author and creative director, a pioneer in bringing vintage and second-hand pieces to high end fashion shoots. She's worked as a fashion editor in publications including British Vogue and The Evening Standard and is now also the senior independent fashion advisor for Oxfam, a vocal supporter of sustainability.

Bay Garnett [00:00:53] Things really only change when people want to. You know, you can't tell people to buy second-hand because it's worthy. People will buy second-hand because it's cool and it's a choice.

Gemma Styles [00:01:07] So first of all, could I get you to kind of tell us a bit about your background in fashion in general? First of all.

Bay Garnett [00:01:17] Yeah, I mean, putting it really did not show up, which is. I worked on a fanzine about second-hand clothes about. I start well, I started working on it was founded by my really good friend who love second hand. And then I started working with her in 96 and really scary long time ago. And then I went to New York, a job, an office, which I did really badly, but in the weekends and in my lunch break, I would go to three stores in New York City, and they were amazing back then. And then I did Cheap Date was the name of the magazine. I edited co-edited editions there, and it was really a celebration of Second-hand and sort of interviewing great people. So it was more than literally just second-hand. It was kind of trying to tap into it was trying to be very different from fashion magazines, which felt very kind of. Exclusive. And unless you were in them, you were out there and they sort of pretended to be inviting. But they it was an antidote to that culture. So is about kind of inclusivity, a word which wasn't used then, actually. But it was. It was. Come on, let's have fun. And so interviews with, like, this amazing trans woman called Jane County, who was that could go how superstar and kind of finding all these really interesting people and doing interviews with them and doing things and stuff. So that's how I started. And then I did a series of fake campaigns using charity shop clothes. So each summer Rome became Salvation Army and Cartier became Cast-off and Bulgari became borrowed and Burberry became, I can't remember, but I basically and two columns to show Alex they look like campaigns. You did a double take, but they switched those but in the same font. So Dior what was the I can't remember all of them now, but they were good. And Alexandra Shulman saw them vote and said, Would it be an editor, fashion editor? And I was like, Oh my God, I'd never done a fashion shoot in my life. And so then I said, Well, can I do a shoot with my second hand clothes? Exciting even article in new fashion. I had never done a shoot. And she said, okay, well, we're doing a music issue and Kate Moss is on the cover, upping as Ziggy Stardust. And so me and a really good friend of mine, a woman called Anita Pallenberg, she was incredibly stylish and she was with Brian Jones and then Keith Richards for a long time. And she was she's kind of seen as kind of big influence of the Rolling Stones because she was very clever and very stylish. But we did it together because we both fisting together and Kate Moss, Kate Moss in a second hand clothes. And it became kind of quite a famous shoot. That's how I started. I was lucky. I never I would have been a terrible assistant. I would have been a terrible fashion assistant, literally the worst in the world. And I don't say that in a prideful way, because I think it's a brilliant, I think to be organised and to take care of someone else's things is a brilliant process of learning. So I've always playing catch up with that part of myself. Does that make sense?

Gemma Styles [00:04:26] Yeah, it definitely does. I mean, it's, it's, it's really interesting to kind of hear the story kind of told in that way, a kind of in the way that at the beginning what you were doing was kind of purposefully the opposite of what these massive fashion magazines were doing. And then and you ended up working for Vogue, you know, that you all the stuff you were completely the opposite of trying to do. You managed to kind of bring it in-house to those places.

Bay Garnett [00:04:56] You know, some might call me a hypocrite. And if someone did call me a hypocrite once and I'm like, I, I didn't care. And I didn't I couldn't. What do I care? And so, yeah, I mean, there is and I, I have to say that probably was a bit hypocritical. That is a way of looking at it in that thing of like actually ultimately Vogue or Studies magazines have been rejected them. Ultimately maybe they are, you know, extremely seductive. But I did I do think that, you know, I did do the first charity shop shoot in Vogue. Mm hmm. You know, and I say that I didn't see it as a badge of honour, but I did go in there doing my thing. Yeah. And I always put second-hand clothes in my shoes. Always. And so I. I did sort of stay true to myself within that.

Gemma Styles [00:05:48] I mean, I think you absolutely come without a badge of honour. That's a very cool thing. And I think, as you know, things are things have changed so much. And, you know, even if you take, you know, the past five years, let's say, I feel like the conversations around kind of second hand clothing have gone a lot more mainstream.

Bay Garnett [00:06:06] Yes.

Gemma Styles [00:06:07] But you've been doing that kind of right since the beginning of this part of your career. What was your motivation in second hand shopping? Kind of right from the beginning back then, because I feel like now we talk a lot about sustainability, but was that always where it was at for you?

Bay Garnett [00:06:24] It wasn't sustainability in the way that we look at sustainability now, where it's very much linked to climate change. But it was a true to form of sustainability in terms of globalisation. I loved the political thing. The second act, there's a political thing, a political spirit, which is that there is something anarchic about it. You're going off grid, you're not feeding the system with news. And I like that. I like that punky spirit to it I did. That was always something that I loved, that thing that's like, I'll do it my way. And I think that Gen Z and people do it by second hand. Now, I think that a lot of they love that thing. It's empowering you, taking your own, you know, control of your style. And the other thing I like, so that was a moral kind of that was that's not really a driving factor to go as an active shopping choice. But I loved that element of it. I did. I always loved that. It was like going off grid is how I look at it. But I also loved it as a style choice. I didn't understand. I genuinely didn't understand why you would want to wear the same thing as everybody else when you could find the original. And also, I sound like I sound like a terrible person saying this, but I'm just being honest. I was always way ahead of the trends. I have a year later because I was just finding over new ideas and remember, we're talking about but we're talking about the late nineties now. So, you know, it was when trends were kind of slower. So I would do the same thing or I would do the Ralph Lauren thing and then I would do that editor thing and then I'd do the sound around cassettes. And so it wasn't that I was being brilliant by predicting trends or being on the forefront of it, it was just that I was finding those ideas from the source. So fashion is, you know, it would kind of do the same thing, but maybe a bit after or a bit differently. But if you you're for me, it was a style choice.

Gemma Styles [00:08:20] Do you think that kind of is part of a thrifting and shopping second-hand kind of in its nature? Because I mean, as we see now, I mean, I we've spoken on your podcast previously, but I don't count myself as a fashion person, quote unquote, because there's so much that I don't understand about it and so much context and history that I won't go to. However, even, you know, as a shopper and a consumer, I know that there is a very sort of cyclical nature to fashion and the things from previous decades will come back up again. Do you think kind of in that way there's something sort of inherently fashionable about shopping second-hand and finding those? Do you do you equate shopping kind of thrifting and vintage with being the same thing, or are they quite different in your mind?

Bay Garnett [00:09:07] I think they always were a bit different, but now I think those lines, they used to be quite different when it was less mainstream and also before there were sites. I remember I was doing it before I remember it, it was new and it was at Walshaw, you know, So I was doing it from the shops. So a lot of the shops were thrift stores because there weren't that many second-hand shops around. So I kind of started when that was just that was just what was on the sale, you know, And then the, the vintage thing, I used to turn my nose up because I'd be like, I'll find it from the toy store. See that? But I don't do that. I don't feel like that anymore. I feel like it's all kind of this huge open market. And in terms of it being fashion, I mean, you know, I mean, it's so fashionable now because so many young people are doing it, But God, I sound so old. So many young people do. But, you know, I think that it's I think it's pretty it's become, you know, things only and you kind of said this before in my podcast, which is things really only change when people want to, You know, you can't tell people to buy second-hand because it's worthy. People will buy second-hand because it's cool and it's a choice. And that's happened now. Second has cool and it's factors like. Climate change, but it's also the reason that I did it. It's making my way. I'm going to be influenced by the nineties and I'm going to find the piece from the nineties.

Gemma Styles [00:10:37] Yeah, La FA and I feel it has got that kind of like youth lad, quite sort of typically teenage kind of rebellious thing to it as well. Right. Which I think you know, is it, you can't look past how impactful that is in kind of all of these new trends that come through. People do want to do stuff because it's cool. I mean, do you think in that way, the way that we talk about second, I mean, I very often most often will use the phrase kind of second hand shopping. Like that's just kind of how I think the but I know that where we've had a lot of this sort of rebrand around shopping second hand, sometimes people favour other kinds of phrases like they'll talk about shopping like pre-loved clothes or like pre-owned clothes and kind of are quite selective about about the language that they're using to describe them. Do you think that's a big part of kind of. Rebranding, shopping, second hand in the court of public opinion or.

Bay Garnett [00:11:37] I think that's a really good question, because pre-loved is a word that is quite foreign to me. It's quite alien to Pre-loved. To me, it's quite kind of.

Gemma Styles [00:11:46] It doesn't come naturally to me. It doesn't roll off the tongue to me.

Bay Garnett [00:11:49] No, Pre-loved It's a bit like, well, maybe they.

Gemma Styles [00:11:51] Didn't love it.

Bay Garnett [00:11:53] I can't, you know, it's a bit like someone has to now. It's just I like the term that you use, which is second-hand. But to me, something like a PRE-LOVED. And if active commerce is something that is a word, this is a kind of a corporate watch which is set out to be more political. And that's fine. It's however you want to package, it's fine. I like me like you. I'm like, it's second.

Gemma Styles [00:12:17] Hand and I'm okay with that, you.

Bay Garnett [00:12:18] Know, or vintage is. Yeah, me too. Also, vintage now is quite you know, that thing of I used to be quite snobby about using that because I used to feel like, you know, swift or second hand. It was, I was kind of on the defensive about it. But now I feel like vintage. It's just means old. Yeah. And I like that word now too, cause I didn't before when it was more kind of a separate thing. Yeah, it was the posh and second-hand. Now it's more generic.

Gemma Styles [00:12:46] That is the thing, isn't it? Is kind of that. Kind of how we look and judge different things that we're shopping for. So before maybe it would have been more. Vintage versus thrift is a Now, I think what we're kind of seeing maybe a different version of that conversation is. Sort of the fast fashion versus any other kinds of, you know, clothing. That's obviously more commonly a commentary on quality. How do you feel that fast fashion has impacted the kind of second hand landscape in your experience?

Bay Garnett [00:13:33] Well, I think that's another good question, and it makes me think immediately of Cheap Date, the fanzine that I worked on, which was an anecdote to the culture of the exclusivity of. Fashion and fashion magazines and how they made one feel, which was ultimately excluded. And I think that a lot of things come out of something as an antidote, as a reaction. You know, that's how things change and things move forward and progress. And I think exactly that. I think that second hand, the love of second hand now has come about as an antidote, as a reaction to the saturation of fast fashion. And it's kind of like people's way. And again, I say young people are kind of really old person, but people younger than me, Gen Z or Gen X, I can't remember which one, but you know, they're doing that. And I think that that is a reaction to fast fashion because it's kind of the polar opposites. Like I'm an it's almost like a tribal thing. So I'm in this tribe. I'm not in that tribe. I'm in this tribe. Second-hand sustainable. I'm not in the fast fashion tribe. It's a very is a good way to make your mark in terms of like and and it is a kind of form of activism and it is a lot has to do with climate change, but it's also to do with, you know, where you sit.

Gemma Styles [00:14:59] Yeah. I mean, I always find this. An interesting conversation talking about second-hand and kind of charity shops and that kind of thing because. Fast. Fashion has undeniably had a big impact on the quality of a lot of the clothes that are being donated to these places. And I'm interested to hear what you think about it, because I think there's always been and probably always will be, kind of more revelry and kind of more respect that's paid to designer clothes. So if you think about, you know, vintage shopping or anything, even if somebody has an item of designer, you know, clothing or accessories or whatever else. And they don't want anymore. I feel like the idea of throwing away has always been kind of alien because, you know, you would you would sell it or you would donate it. And it's kind of the value that we place onto those pieces of designer clothing, which I understand. In a way, partly because, you know, if you paid more for it, it kind of in your mind, you can understand why like that connection might be there. But I feel like now. Where we're maybe trying to at least start to understand. The value in all pieces of clothing. And we're trying to prevent, you know, all clothing from going to a landfill where there's no need for it to do that because, you know, you've got way more experience in kind of navigating all of these sorts of things. Do you think there has been a shift in how we pay respect to clothes in general, and how is that kind of showing up? How are the clothes that we're finding in charity shops changing because of that?

Bay Garnett [00:16:59] Well, I think that, you know, a lot of people say now that there are way more hard street clothes and they're all, you know, in charity shops, they're all, you know. Ten years ago, 15, 20 years ago. There just wasn't the culture that there was now for high street fast fashion. It kind of, as far as I know, it didn't exist in nearly the same way. So it has really changed that. And that's a shame. You know, it's a shame because it's it's you know, sometimes it makes me less inclined to go into a charity shop because I'll kind of scan it and I'll be like, I just know I can see that it's just a little shit and that, you know, it's just like. It's just. You know, it's just stuff I don't want, you know, but. But within that there's always. That is true. But within that there's always great things to be found. And I do still really believe that. Always. I always find stuff in charity shops. Always. Always, always. I mean, I kind of go now to like, areas that I feel like I'm going to have a better chance of finding a great band shop or great cashmere sweater. You know, I'm going to go to areas where I. Oh, I know them already. Well, the ones that I go to, I know where to go at the seventies, like a great denim shirt or something. So I think it's I'm lucky in that I kind of know my spots.

Gemma Styles [00:18:26] Sure.

Bay Garnett [00:18:28] And so I know my spots and I just I just ignore that all those kind of more generic pieces that I just. Yeah.

Gemma Styles [00:18:37] Are you still really sort of habitually tied into thrifting and kind of charity shopping in store or have you stepped much into, you know, like, I mean, you mentioned the advent of eBay back in the day, but now there's so many kind of like depop vintage, like all of these different places. Do you spend much time on those? Are you a hardcore kind of in-store second-hand shopper?

Bay Garnett [00:19:00] I think those things are great. If I'm looking for something, then I'll I'll use it. And you know, my family, my husband loves eBay and it's great to be able to look for something and, you know, to find that me, it was that it was the thrift stores that I loved. And that was where how I grew up. It's that we talked about when you fall in love with a decade and it kind of resonates with you and it stays with you. You know, I was crystals were like my kind of awakening as a creative writing. But that one sound pretentious, you know, I've been so lucky because I've just thought of really like a real source of whisky. I'd say gift is just so pretentious, but it can be pretty something, especially in my life, you know, they really have. And so I'm a, you know, is the is the shots. Yeah. You know, it's the because that's what I've always done. So even with the high street in Derrida, for me it was about that. It was about physicality. I love the music, I love the feelings in them. Sometimes, you know, I go to salvation, I'm in New York and you have these trolleys with this crazy furniture and like Benny King on the radio. And I just and then, you know, you go somewhere like Barneys or somewhere really portioned. You know, two such different experiences. But I kind of always just I just preferred being in those more like kind of on the fringes or like, I don't know, I just preferred I like I felt comfortable being in those spaces as well. I mean, I'd love.

Gemma Styles [00:20:32] To then ask you about those. Such a great example of kind of, you know, talk about bodies as in, you know, kind of a big what I think of as, you know, like a like a polished, like department store kind of vibe I'd love to talk to you about. Oxfam. I'm working with them, especially because you have done, you know, opened an Oxfam store in Selfridges, which I think is so interesting based on what you just said about, you know, like bringing that kind of vibe into the more, you know, what we think of as a kind of like, polished designer shopping experience. Like talk to me a bit about and.

Bay Garnett [00:21:07] Gemma, I think I also need to say like I love a spanking, brassy, shiny new store as much as anyone else. Like, you know, think I don't want to come across, you know, it just I do. Yes, it my idea of Selfridges was exactly that. What you took. It was exactly that. It was pairing up this kind of this idea of shifting context. Because so often, you know, you see something and it looks a bit or a bit more. And then I think when I get it home and I put it with that. So it's always about music and imagination and shifting context. So I thought, wouldn't it be great to have an Oxfam shop with all the same Oxfam prices, but have it? It is not in like the kind of quintessential luxury store and then to to decorate it as if it's a superstore and then to have it next to Prada. So it's not surprise to me. Yeah. And it was an amazing experience because when you looked at it, I did it like, say the green was like green velvet and then the gold, the Oxfam was in gold and I had gold studs and like white chairs with flowers in the same. It looked as if you were going to the next door and it was amazing. And then you know something and she was £3,000 and something in Oxfam was £35. And I mean, I'll say it did, you know, I mean, I'll say it like a lot of the stuff I did the edit, so the edit key, so it wasn't random stuff. Like I knew exactly what was in that shop. So but it could have been a barber jacket or it could have been a bike, a jacket, or it could have been a 75 it dress, but it also could have been hanging on the wall of any of any of those other concessions. And that was the point just to say also as well about that. So it was just it was really about shifting perception. It was about naturally shifting perception. It's like people would say to me, but how can that be £4? This woman was really distrustful of me because she came with all these bags She was and, you know, she was like doing the rounds, obviously absolutely loaded. And she saw this scarf on the mannequin. It was a beautiful silk scarf. And she was like, you know, how much is it? And I said, It's £6. And she was really like, it was really weird, Like she was going to chow because that was not possible in the context that she was in. It's not possible. And I was like, No, it really is. I tried to explain to her, but this is a bit of a project, you know? And then it was really sweet. She was like, Oh, I love it's even more like that. It was really, Yeah, But I'm really sorry. I digress, but I just wanted to clarify that, that it was really about and this will see the Oxfam shop was nearly four years ago now, so that was also a little bit before, like all the Gen-z were doing it. It was maybe a year before. So yeah, still one second. That was a bit like.

Gemma Styles [00:24:08] Yeah, so kind of you being able to edit and kind of kind of pick out, you know, the kind of stuff that you can find and sort of take away maybe because maybe I feel like the barriers to entry for some people is kind of thinking, well, I wouldn't I wouldn't really know where to start or what to look for, kind of walking into a charity shop. Have you got any kind of baseline tips? So like if there's someone listening to this who's never shopped in a charity shop or a thrift store before and it kind of feels a bit overwhelmed by it and doesn't know where to start, what would your kind of beginner's tips be?

Bay Garnett [00:24:43] I would say, you know, go when you feel like it. Good to go with something in mind. It's really good to kind of have some form of engagement eye candy project you're doing, like connect with it. If you're going to a charity shop or touch store a vintage shop and you know you're a bit disconnected. So go in. And I go in and I'm like, Oh, I'd love to find an oversized cashmere sweater with maybe some slacks or something like that. I go in with something in mind. So I think that's really important, right? You might not find that thin. I mean, you might. I did. But it's interesting karma. You know, you go in with, like, good thrifting, like witchy vibes, and some of the properties show itself to you might. There was a comic that. Do you believe that actually sometimes like being in charge, you show up and I'm like, Show yourself. I feel like something like that. And then it kind of goes where I never have. And so I think having some kind of faith with it, I do believe that. And I also think that, you know, you know, like I'm really, you know, go with a bit of a kind of exactly an obsession. So I always had the menswear, you know, look, just really look to stitch if you do it quickly. But just, you know, is it the print? Is it you know, you know what you love and just something will show itself to you. So I'm sorry, I don't have any really practical things, but it's just it's okay. Go in with a kind of, like, a witchy, fun spirit. That's that's the best advice I go for, because, you know, you have to just be that because you want to be that. But go in with good vibes and and a sense of purpose.

Gemma Styles [00:26:13] Sounds to me sort of like shopping more on instinct as well, which I think can be a bit different for people. So if you're only used to maybe going into like high street shops and everything is very, very curated and presented to you on the trends and they're kind of telling you what you should be wanting in the first place. Whereas the charity shops like the exact opposite of and there's everything, there's so many different styles and it's not all based on a trend or kind of like pushed at you. So you really have to go in and figure out. What is calling out to you rather than having it shoved in your face?

Bay Garnett [00:26:54] I think that's I think that's a great point. And I think that's very true. And that's why it's good to go with the sense of purpose, because otherwise it can just feel like there's nothing here or I don't know or, you know, you kind of could lose your confidence factually. And I don't think one goes into a trap. The advice I wouldn't get this. I just try something completely different. You know, I don't do that. I go to charity shops to find the stuff that I love that I would find. Yeah, much higher price. So I'd love to I'd rather find it at the source. I'd rather find the original.

Gemma Styles [00:27:29] Yeah.

Bay Garnett [00:27:30] But I think you have to sort of sometimes people think is charity shops, they have to sort of be a more zany version of themselves so, you know, dress up and not, you know, to remain true to yourself.

Gemma Styles [00:27:44] Yeah. It's not like it doesn't have to be costume shopping.

Bay Garnett [00:27:47] It's like, I don't know.

Gemma Styles [00:27:49] It's just finding what you actually want to wear.

Bay Garnett [00:27:52] Need a fancy dress outfit? Yeah, You might get you know, it's spend time every week.

Gemma Styles [00:28:01] My guest and I will be answering your questions on the first one comes in from Elsa, who asks, How do we learn to detach ourselves from others, from fashion, to create or find our own style?

Bay Garnett [00:28:14] Well, I think that's a really good question. I did that. I did that. And I tell you how I did it. I did it by watching movies and by buying into like, singing style. I always love Debbie Harry. So when I see like royalty, I think, well, that's quite Debbie Harry and kind of really made me and I, you know, pictures the Marianne Faithfull from the sixties. Look at Anita Pallenberg. Look at Keith Richards. Look, Let's look at pictures. I know that sounds really Look at Jane Birkin. Look. People will contemporary but go outside of what you're being told the trends are and go like, you know what? I like that. And if you look at pictures and look at movies and get your kind of inspiration from look at pictures of Kate Moss from 2003 or, you know, whatever it is, but that's how you find your own source. And it's really freeing because you kind of get inspired by all these different things that have nothing to do with what you're being told to look at now. Mhm.

Gemma Styles [00:29:23] Yeah. That's like I mean because we've talked before on your podcast about kind of finding out you, you know, for a while I find it quite difficult to kind of like look at people as sort of style icons as it were. But I think the whole, the thing of what you're saying about kind of trying to detach from. The trend. I think finding that confidence to be like, I like that or I don't like that. Like I remember even when I mean, I don't shop on the high street now at all, but when I did used to do that, there were certain I know that I reached a certain point in my mind because that there would be certain seasons where I would walk into a shop or walk into, you know, a couple of shops on the high street. And I'd go, okay, I'm not going to be shopping this season. This isn't the season for me. The things that are on trend I don't like and don't want to wear, I don't want to drop in what their season is doing. Therefore I'm just going to opt out of it. And I think that's kind of. A big part of it, whether you're shopping, you know, second hand or not, I think finding. But for me, obviously there's only one personal experience. But I think feeling like you've found your kind of style for me was a lot about looking at stuff and going, I don't want to wear that and kind of having the confidence to go, That's not for me.

Bay Garnett [00:30:38] I think that's a really, really good point. I will say this as well, and that trends and not this holy grail of some other for saying this is it's it's a form of marketing. And so with this idea of being that trends, trends, you can also treat it with a bit of cynicism. So I would really say just don't buy into them because, you know, what was trendy this year will be trendy next year and just so much cooler and easier. Just do not do the trends. Forget it. Just like don't just wear an oversized sweater and a great pair of jeans. You know, just revel in the simplicity of life. You know what I mean? All of clothes. It could be so simple and independent, but you're not making any effort. And I just, you know, I just I want to implore you to just enjoy them, you know, take out any of those feelings that you have to follow trends because it's just not true.

Gemma Styles [00:31:32] Yeah, I think yeah, it's it's the whole thing of questioning it, at least. So I know, like, people will often talk about when you're buying something, kind of saying, Sorry, I've completely taken those off topic now, but you'll look at kind of when you're going to buy something and try and think, Well, I want to wear this in a year's time, but I think that can sometimes be quite a hard question because you don't know what's going to happen in the future. But I think looking at something and saying, would I have wanted to wear this last year? Is sometimes an easier way of kind of doing that QUESTION You know, is is it just because it's trendy? Because sometimes stuff that is, you know, trendy in the moment will actually be your style. And sometimes it won't, but it's kind of, yeah, trying to figure out.

Bay Garnett [00:32:13] I think that is very true. And I also think, I mean, the things I iPads, I wear the same things and 20 years ago. And so I would say to anyone, the classics, I know what I like. Denim shots, cashmere sweater. I also think that, yeah, you know what you love. And and so when I wear something, it wouldn't occur to me that I might not wear it in a year because it's just what I like. I think that comes acceptance as well. But I think your point about knowing what you don't like, which is also kind of wonderfully sort of, you know. Confidence boosting In a way, this isn't for me. You know, this is kind of really not. I mean.

Gemma Styles [00:32:51] This stuff is definitely easier.

Bay Garnett [00:32:52] Yeah, exactly.

Gemma Styles [00:32:53] I still can't sit there and go, okay, this is my style and this is exactly what I like. But I can look at individual things and go, Oh, I don't like that. It's maybe a bit more negative.

Bay Garnett [00:33:02] But that's, that's the no, because that's who dressing is all about. And when you're doing a fashion shoot as a fashion editor, you pay. It's about what you're not putting in. You know, you're putting you're not putting in thousands of pieces to the everyone that you are putting in. So by editing, that's the same as choosing. Okay.

Gemma Styles [00:33:20] Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I like that way of looking at it. Next question from a lesser Who says, When does Thrifting cross a line by taking great clothes that are cheap away from those who need them. I love Thrifting but feel bad if I take away those clothes from people who need them more than me.

Bay Garnett [00:33:39] Good question. Good point. What I would say to that is, is that if you're going to charity shops and well, I can speak for Oxfam, you know, if you're spending money on Oxfam, the money that you're spending that money will then go towards, you know, life saving work on the ground for Jaguar to help people most affected by climate change or, you know, going to D.C. to help, you know, help people affected by the earthquake. So actually, you know, by spending money, you're doing a really powerful thing.

Gemma Styles [00:34:07] Mm hmm.

Bay Garnett [00:34:08] In many charity shops. So that's the first thing. And the other thing I'd say is, is that I think that's an incredibly considerate thing to think, but I don't think you need to, because I think that there are lots and lots of second-hand clothes. And I think that, you know, that people are always donating. And I don't think that there's a problem with shortage.

Gemma Styles [00:34:31] Mm hmm.

Bay Garnett [00:34:32] So I think you should just enjoy it. But you're obviously very conscientious person. But I think that you don't I think in this instance, it's money well spent in a good place.

Gemma Styles [00:34:43] Yeah, I think that's a really good point. This is a conversation I've kind of seen floating around a lot, actually, about kind of. Yet, as in second-hand clothing and kind of thrift store clothing being like a commodity. That's. Becoming more scarce or kind of we're taking away from people. And I think actually the quantity of things that are, you know, being donated. Is massive, and I think that's maybe something people don't always realise. And also that is such a good point that you made that when people hear the word, you know, it kind of donated clothes to the charity shop, they think it's the clothes that are the commodity and it kind of isn't. It's when it's a charity shop, you know, depending on the charity that it is, it's the money that you spend on the clothes that the charity shops need.

Bay Garnett [00:35:39] Which is incredible.

Gemma Styles [00:35:40] I think.

Bay Garnett [00:35:40] Yeah. And that money that goes towards it's in your literally it's like incredibly important work. The other thing I'll say is as well is that remember that bike buying said by buying second-hand you're also subscribing to much less it. It's not it's not sustainable, but it's a much more sustainable. It's not entirely sustainable, but it's a much more sustainable way to shop and you're reducing carbon your carbon footprint. So it's only it's only a better way to shop.

Gemma Styles [00:36:08] Yeah. The one thing I will say, yeah, that I think is is more valid in this kind of conversation is I've definitely seen people talking about because, you know, we talk about second-hand and it's important to make sure at some point in this episode I remembered that it can be more difficult for people in different bodies. So Plus-size people, for example, will find it more difficult to shop Second-hand Therefore, I think the exception to that rule of, you know, the idea of. Shopping in thrift shops. And taking away clothes from people. I think the important thing is to not buy clothes that are way bigger than you need them to be. To that, you know, with the idea to then kind of chop them up and make them something smaller for your size, then if you don't need to necessarily be buying the larger sizes in thrift shops or charity shops, then maybe don't leave those for people who are, you know, trying to shop more sustainably, but actually do have an issue with that being more of a scarce resource. That's the only note I got.

Bay Garnett [00:37:12] Yeah, I think that's very true. I mean, there is that there is a shortage of place for large size clothes is there is people say that I can't I can't deny it. You know there is it's harder to find plus sizes in charge you shop second for sure and also the 1970s possible when was tiny you know you could possibly get anything past the eighties. So. I mean literally I mean if I get a shot or something and it says it's a size 12, I mean, I niche, I can hardly get my fingers through. I mean, it's tight. The sizing is completely out and the clothes with tiny and it will happen to every one of your body. Shapes have changed so much.

Gemma Styles [00:37:53] Yeah, we've all changed. Society's changed. Yeah.

Bay Garnett [00:37:56] Yeah, exactly. Everyone eats differently. But the seventies, they were tiny.

Gemma Styles [00:38:02] Okay, let's finish up with a question from Maya, who says, I love Thrifting, as you always find unique and not very expensive pieces. But in the last few months, I often found myself buying some items because I didn't think I would find something similar for that cheap price again. After wearing it a few times, I noticed that I didn't really love the item as much as I thought I did. Do you have any advice on how to be sure that you really like the item for its look and not because it's a bargain?

Bay Garnett [00:38:34] Yeah, I'm less seduced by the bargain and I only get stuff for the look. And then obviously I look at the price, obviously. And if it's kind of really expensive, then depending on how much I love it. But I never look at the price first. Mm hmm. I have to love it to sort of inspect it for its price. Yeah. And the. How does that make sense? I mean, obviously, I'll pick up something interesting on my car. I'd never wear that. Or, I mean, it's interesting looking at clothing, but. But sorry to answer your question. You know, I'm I'm I'm someone if something's really expensive, I will. I won't. And I can't afford it. I won't buy it. Mm hmm. But to me, it's style first and then, like, getting my head around the price or not very much so. So my advice would be just cut the money out. So I didn't think about the money. Go in imagining that everything's the same price and then take it from there. So just go. Just just go with it in terms of what you love, what you need, you know those things. Yeah.

Gemma Styles [00:39:31] That's very good advice, I think. Yeah. So don't even get to the stage of checking the price target unless you've decided you love it already. I mean, I. I love a bargain. I would definitely be the kind of person to get seduced by a bargain. But I guess equally, then, if you've. If you've accidentally already seen the price tag and realise it's a real bargain, kind of the thrill.

Bay Garnett [00:39:52] For you.

Gemma Styles [00:39:52] Maybe then maybe the thrill is in finding it. So maybe then what you could do in that situation would be, you know, if it's on a resale site, for example, like send it around to a friend who you think might like it and just, you know, be aware that you've had the thrill of realising that you've done something good and found this cool thing and kind of you've got the thrill of the chase, but then yeah, then go back to realising if you actually need to know exactly.

Bay Garnett [00:40:16] Yeah. That there is something brilliant about jogging. I mean who doesn't the and is the best.

Gemma Styles [00:40:22] If you want to know about opportunities to send in questions for upcoming guests, then follow us on Instagram or Twitter at good influence guests or you can email the podcast at Good Influence Pod at gmail.com. Before you go, I have three things I ask every guest on, so could you please recommend something to read, something to listen to and something to watch?

Bay Garnett [00:40:43] Something to read Cards. I mean, I love a novel like the next person I've read a lot. It's my kind of, you know, I can lie down when I do it, which I love. And I. I do. And I just, you know, it's nothing if it's time out screens, it's time out of everything. So, I mean, I've got so many favourite books, but one of them, I would say the brilliant, true crime gripping, brilliant book is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. It's a short book and it's just right. I don't know why Truman Capote's In Cold Blood comes to mind, but it just does. I would also there's a brilliant book if You Into Close is a book. About Marie Antoinette. It's like reading the best novels, but you're reading about the science, clothes and the scandal and the court, and you just can't get enough of it. So I think it's beyond salvation. It's it's called Marie Antoinette. And I would really recommend that it's on put down a bow and you sort of learn so much so to read it. Different books I've read about Anne Marie Antoinette and then this murder case in America In Cold Blood. Great.

Gemma Styles [00:41:55] We love about of of balance there. So that's great. Okay. Well, next. How about listen to God?

Bay Garnett [00:42:04] I mean, I'm obsessed with everything from the Rolling Stones to Oh, my God. I mean, my playlist. I actually listened to a lot of classical music. So Bach, I mean, as it was by Harry Styles, I'm it's my favourite song. And it's I mean, I, you know, I just, I my two tracks, my daughter introduced me to it. So I love that in the car And then I love and I go to so much Elvis too. I listen to Graceland the other day by Paul Simon, which was an album my mum played in the eighties. She's genius, you know? So I love dipping into albums. Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA, so I love dipping into those. John Denver Country Roads Take me I'm I love there's so much I love and I dip into it and I'm like this is the best. So I'm a real like, I don't know, I'm sorry. I love so much. Music is really important to me. Like most people write music so important to them.

Gemma Styles [00:43:04] Last thing then is something to watch. Recommendation.

Bay Garnett [00:43:07] You know, for anyone out there wanting to like, think about like cool clothes and inspiration and light hearted, I would really recommend that you watch the John Hughes movies, you know, my favourite being Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink with Molly Ringwald, The Breakfast Club. Like dip in to that kind of 18 world. It's so great. It's just like and the clothes are great and it's fun. It's just great movies. And for anyone who hasn't seen them. Just watch some John Hughes movies about teens in America. American in 1980s taught me.

Gemma Styles [00:43:51] Thank you for listening and thank you both for joining me. If you enjoyed the episode, I would love you to subscribe on whichever platform you're using. And if you're feeling generous, leave a rating under review as well. See you next week.