Six IMAGE staffers on their very best pre-loved purchase

Lauren Heskin, Editor, IMAGE Magazine

My very best second-hand find was a mint-condition, calf-length Max Mara camel coat for €85 for my Mom a few Christmasses ago. She has always been a quality rather than quantity buyer (a restraint I greatly admire and did not inherit).

When I was very small she picked up a Max Mara coat for next to nothing in a massive London warehouse sale and lived in it for over two decades. It fit her style perfectly, was incredibly warm and windproof and looked like it was fresh out of the packaging until the very end. She eventually had to retire it when the lining began to come away and then spent another decade looking to replace it. She found similar styles but they never really lived up to the original.

Cue me wandering around a charity shop in Dun Laoghaire one November. When I pulled it out, saw the shape, the colour, the softness and then the label! I nearly lost my life. I remember immediately putting it on in case the two other women in the shop – who were rummaging through boxes of books – grabbed it off me and ran out. Eventually, I gathered myself enough to pay for it and it was the best gift I’ve ever given.

Megan Burns, Editor, IMAGE Interiors

Inspired by my grandmother, who has found countless high-end pieces in charity shops over the years, I recently came across a long leather skirt in a local charity shop that was just too good to pass up. As it was ankle length, the sheer amount of leather it was made of should have cost hundreds of euros alone. The brand was one I’m unaware of, but it had its original tags, which looked at least a few decades old and listed its original price at over £200 (so perhaps it predates the euro?).

The only issue was that it was too big for me, but a quick trip to Alteration Centre just off Grafton Street quickly fixed that issue. I wasn’t sure whether they’d be able to work with the leather, but you would never know it had been altered.

Marlene Wessels, Art Director

We have a little second hand shop at the bottom of our road, it is small, and does not have much in it, but it changes daily and I love to drop in on our walks and have a little mooch around. Every so often you might stumble across something really special. One of my favourite finds are these two little antique oil lamps that look perfect on our fireplace, but also add a lovely, warm glow to a dinner table.