I was cutting through Wellington Street on my way to Upper Queens Street yesterday when I stumbled…read moreacross Octopus's Garden. Belfast used to be a wash with Vintage stores but over the years these have slowly become extinct so it's always good to see a new one rise from the bottom of the ocean - much like an Octopus. Octopus's Garden has many strands or arms/tentacles (may as well continue down pun street). It sells vintage clothing for both males and females, old school vinyl and various other retro artifacts. The main thing I liked about Octopus Garden was that their was a varied choice - the rails were jam packed with everything from flannel shirts, band T's to leather jackets and potentially bum cheek exposing denim hot pants. The prices were reasonable too - you often find that vintage stores inflate the prices of their stock but it seems that Octopus Garden have made a concerted effort not to extort their clientele. I was only going in for a browse but I ended up walking out with a loud shirt that has already proved a controversial choice - but that's the beauty of buying vintage items - they always divide opinion and create a talking point. I recommend popping in here for a wee duke round - you never know you might come out with your (not everyone's) new favourite shirt.

If I was trapped in the Garden of The Octo I would never have a time of misery or boredom. This is…read morethe slickest place so far and I would tell anyone who visits this city that loves music and old clothes to begin their journey here. I love this place!

I'd never even heard of this place until I heard about it from a fellow Yelper, and while on a trip…read moreround town I spotted it and just had to pop in. It is so aptly named, as the moment I walked in my eye was drawn to pretty things at every turn. Furs, fabric, patterns and jewellery all fight to catch your eye, and they have a good range in all sorts from the conservative to the 'out there'. As it is vintage, you won't find loads of things in your size, but if you find something you love that fits, buy it before it's gone. You'll love it and even better no one else will be wearing it.

The Used Clothing Co buy old clothing and shoes for recycling. Basically, you bring them in your…read moreold clothes and shoes, they sort through them (to ensure that the items are in good enough condition and clean) They then weighed my bag, and gave me money based upon the weight. I'm not sure what they pay per kilo, but I had one large black bin liner full of clothes, and I got £4.55 I'm the sort of person who gets clothes all the time and easily get bored with them, so the clothes were fairly new and I would have been able to get a lot more for them if I'd listed them on eBay, but if you need stuff gone ASAP, it's a good option.

Raspberry Beret is a an attractively laid out vintage clothes shop where there is a choice of good…read morequality bags, scarves, gloves and jewellery at not too vast a price. The clothes range from 1920s pieces to 1970s and you would have a good chance of finding some pretty, upmarket evening wear which though not especially cheap should still be a good buy. The range of stock covered mainly summer and evening wear, probably to reflect the current summer season. There can be something very satisfying about vintage clothes, probably because they are well made items which have stood the test of time. Not much is here is less than 30 years old, apart from a few 1980s items to reflect current interests. As with all good vintage shops, Raspberry Beret is an excellent place to get something a bit different and I, who am not the keenest clothes shopper, am still mulling over the pretty things that I can remember seeing there.

One good thing about recession - it makes second hand cool again. In a time when everyone is…read morewatching the pennies, charity and vintage shops are making a killing. This store opened up in 2009 and seems to be doing very well. I love going in for a wee hoke about and while, like at most second hands, the results are varied, I've managed to find a few little pieces amongst the rails. It is predominately clothing, but there is the odd bit of furniture which tends to be beautifully crafted dressers or wardrobes - just what you need to hold all your beautiful vintage items, right? The staff are always very welcoming, the prices are right and there's always something new to find, rather than the same old stuff you see on the high street normally. Plus, it's run by the East Belfast Mission who do a lot of good work in the poorer parts of East Belfast, engaging with young people and homeless outreach, so everyone's a winner!

'Vintage, re:use, re:style, re:store'…read more I love the idea of this shop. I hate waste and I'm always one for restyling my own clothes. This isn't just another vintage shop, it's slightly better quality than the others. They do a great job with mannequins, I'm always impressed with their window dressing skills. The clothes in the shop front was the first thing I ever noticed about the place. It's always a really good job. So kudos to whoever sets this up. Inside the store it's always laid out brilliantly, some vintage shops are a bit like TK Maxx at the best of times, you need a good few hours to sort through the jumble until you find the gem you're after, but in Vintage they've got everything in order around the shop and you can immediately find some real gems. They sell (amongst a myriad of others) trousers, skirts, dresses, shoes, jackets, formal and casual wear. Anything and everything. Paradise! Even their furniture is for sale (so pretty too!) Like most vintage shops they don't offer refunds but do offer a credit note exchange. I find this particularly handy if you don't have the time to try items on. You're always going to find something you're after anyway.

Twice is Nice is my favourite newest discovery. I happened to stumble upon here on a lazy afternoon…read moreshopping with a friend. Now, to be fair, if I even so much sniff a second hand book I have sensors that flare and light up the room. I'm lassoed by an invisible rope that drags me toward it. I can't help but nosey around for a bargain. I was pleasantly surprised that there were actually some good books in here (note: some, most of them were rubbish) but this was juxtaposed alongside a funky range of second hand clothes, that were dirt cheap, probably the best prices I've seen in a shop. There's an array of teddies, ornaments, toys, shoes, a bike helmet (hopefully for a collector or decoration, but if anyone ever buys this I really hope they get a severe safety warning!) but just nosying round the memoirs of the past gives me a real sense of history and the charm of all these products being recycled makes me happy (I'm a tree hugging hippy, what else can I say?)

I'm a real book worm. I love a good book and can get through them like nobody's business. The only…read moreproblem now is that my house is coming down with them! Unless a book was particularly fantastic, I will only read it once, so for that reason, I don't like to spend an awful lot of money on them. I popped into Twice is Nice on the off chance, just to see if they had any books, as a lot of charity shops don't have a great range, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had lots! I found two books I hadn't got from a series of books I had been reading, and also picked up three good well known cookery books. Best of all, when I took them to the till, the whole lot only came to £6.75. I could easily have paid that for one of the books if I had bought it brand new!

Always great stock and plenty of new gifts too! As good as any non second hand shop and very…read morepopular..

I had never been in nor heard of this fabulous little shop until today…read more I took myself out on a stroll in the glamorous Lisburn Road (I don't remember it being that glamorous many years ago when I was crawling home in the early hours with half a kebab all over my beck and several drunken students singing the the best of Take That!) The housing in this area is expensive and this attracts a well to do lot to the area. With well to do ladies comes lovely expensive clothing that they want to sell. And so Deja Vu was born. The shop works by a client leaving in a high end piece of clothing, shoes or accessories and then the shop sells it for them for 50% of the price. There are loads of beautiful tops, dresses and skirts from really posh designers - gorgeous. It's like a second hand shop with a difference. They also stock mother of the bride/groom outfits that have only been worn once, originally cost hundreds, even thousands and are in perfect condition. I wish I had have had more time to browse but I didn't - the woman who runs this place is the best sales assistant I have come across yet - lovely to chat to, no pressure, takes time, points out bargains and really seems to want to help. I'm sitting here wanting to go back for another look about. Great!

The Lisburn Road can be pretty pricey and sometimes a little conservative for a fashion-savy lady,…read moreand for that reason alone thank goodness for Deja Vu. Selling pre-worn designer (and not so well known, ahem, designer) ladies clothes, this place is a treasure trove of joy, often with quite unusual and rare pieces, perfect for when you don't want to turn up to your posh do with someone else in the same frock! That's what I love about here- the individuality. Super reasonable pricing too for what you get. They do turn around a good lot of clothes here and as they are second hand they may not have a huge variety of sizes, so if you see something you like don't dwell on it, just buy or it will be gone!

I've shop in this store a couple of times each encounter from a volunteer or someone working at…read morethis place has been extremely rude extremely unthoughtful not to myself but also to other customers primarily people of another race they do not stand on what they believe It's supposed to be a charity for a Christian organization that donates to Africa how can you do that when you don't even like the people that you're receiving the donations for it makes no sense very ungodly to me .... They received donations to help people not make them feel less than or talk to them in a hurtful or disrespectful manner I will never spend another dime with this charity their actions show their beliefs

A small but well stocked second hand shop in Larne. Drop Inn is a registered charity which operates…read moreacross Northern Ireland. They provide 'International Humanitarian Aid in the service of Christ.' The shop relies on support and donations to reach over 17 different worldwide projects. I nipped in here to see what they had on offer and was greeted warmly by the staff who were in the middle of updating the shop front. On offer was the usual second hand wares; clothes, books, ornaments, records, videos etc. The shop sold some really pretty dresses and some gorgeous jeans for a great price. This shop also sells furniture (which it is in urgent need of so if you can help out with this contact the shop) The charity organise a number of different ministries world wide, their upcoming missions are; Czech Republic, India and Belarus/Ukraine. There is also an online Ebay store where you can help the charity in their ministries. I love these small, local businesses. The obviously support a good cause so any support is much appreciated. Why don't you Drop Inn sometime?