This is one of the best charity shops on the city! It's great! It's like a jumble sale, but with…read morethings you would actually want. On the summer days, like today, they put boxes and racks of stock outside the front of the shop; making it feel like a garage sale. I challenge anyone to walk past on a day like today and not be forced to stop and have a look at the piles of stuff. It's a large charity shop as far as they go, with a huge variety of bits & pieces, like cameras and electronic goods to clothes, furniture and books. I already found a great old cannon camera I'm thinking about going back for tomorrow. The staff I met were all very young and will help you look for things that you can't find on the shop floor. They will also go and check the mountains of donations in the back room for you as well.

This particular charity shop intrigued me on my first ever walk down Cotham Hill and still draws me…read moreinside no matter how many times I walk past determined not to go in...again! The shop has the most colourful display window I have ever seen and a mountain of cuddly toys at the front of the shop ensures that mothers will be dragged in by their children. Most charity shops have racks of clothes to browse but this charity shop makes the whole process so much easier. The shop is divided into colours -an orange rack, a green rack, a yellow rack etc. Shirts, trousers, skirts and dresses of the same colour are held together which is extremely useful, especially if looking for a particular colour for fancy dress or for a top to match your new shoes. I definitely recommend this brilliant rainbow shop!

absolutely love this shop, they have such good prices & are so friendly, really love the vibes in…read morethere & the music is good, recommend a lot definitely worth going to!

From the owner: Vintage Clothing, Retro Clothingread more

Walking through the doors of shop is like literally taking a step back in time. Everything from the…read morefurniture to the shop assistants look as though they've come from the swinging sixties. This is a little slice of retro happiness on the Christmas Steps. They stock everything from home ware to jewellery making it a vintage girl's paradise. Not only is Shop one of the best shops that Bristol has to offer, but they also hold gig and film nights where they'll serve you hot buttered pop corn and cups of tea. Keep an eye on the website for an event that takes your fancy and then try it out for yourself.

A lot of shops have come and gone on Christmas Steps, but this little vintage shop has kept its…read morechirpy little doors open. Focusing on modern vintage ('70s to '90s with a few nods to '50s and '60s) the first room has carefully displayed homeware and little nick-nacks. Owners Jayne and Brett are always there with a 'hello' - they always look so damn happy! - and the lounge music will usher you in smoothly to the back room. Here you will find some good retro clothes, particularly nice are the accessories and brooches available. TOP TIP: Pick up a 'shop-fir-mation' from the bowl at the back, a pick-me-up fortune cookie message in SHOP's unique style.

Next to the Oxfam store on the High street, this British Heart Foundation store cannot compete with…read morethe quality and range of books that Oxfam offers, but it does have some more DVDs and brick-a-brack items. There is also a selection of clothes, but none of them on offer are particulary to my taste! The British Heart Foundation is a registered charity who raise money for much needed research and treatments and vital support for people living with a heart condition. What is nice about charity shops like this is that you can have quite alot of fun looking through the random items that they stock in this store.

Right next to organique, if you buy some food from their, and then some clothes from this St Peters…read moreHospice Shop, I can garuantee you will have that feel good feeling in side, and you will feel happy that you are doing your bit! Not only for the environment but also for charity! Being the largest charity retailer in Bristol you wont find many places without a St Peters Hospice, but they are all of differing qualities and standards, this particular one is surprisingly big and has some great stuff inside, and always a warm smile will greet you upon stepping inside.

ST Peter's Hospice Charity Shop's are located all accross Bristol. They are the largest network of…read moreCharity shop's in the Bristol Region and you will probabley have stumbled accross quite a few during your travels around the City. This St Peter's Hospice is slightly larger than some of the others I have seen, so purley on that fact it has quite a good selection of brick-a-brack goods. Also if you are good at seeking out items of clothing that look drab on the shelf but as soon as you put it in an outfit it somehow becomes amazing then you might just thrive in this charity shop!

It's all for char-i-dee dahlings! Homeless people of Bristol are given worthwhile jobs here (and an…read moreensuite room)- restoring second-hand furniture and then selling them on from the shop- helping them get a foot on the shaky ladder of housing & employment. I took a few odds and ends - to take pride of place in someone else's living room, and returned with a newly sanded coffee table for just a few pounds. Unlike the soul-draining limbo world of Ikea, here you feel ethically good about shopping and get to see real daylight at the same time!

This second hand shop over in St Philips is a really good find. From sofas to bedside cabinets…read morethey have a full range of furniture in varying conditions. Granted, some of the stuff isn't particularly great, but some items are surprisingly good quality for the same cheap price as the rest of their stock. There's a few friendly staff who work there who will try to dig something out for you if you let them know what you want, and there's also a small potential for bartering - always worth a try! I managed to pick up a couple of cool prints to put on the walls in my new flat when we came, and my flatmate got hold a good chest of drawers for under £20. Definitely worth a look in if you're furnishing on a budget.

Uncle Sam's has been here for as long as I can remember, and I do quite like it, but despite saying…read morethat, I haven't actually bought anything from here. It is a fairly small shop, a beacon to vintage lovers on Park Street. They sell records, leather wallets, jackets, 80s dresses, cut off levis.. anything vintage that pops in your head, they do have it here. You do have to dig abit to find things though, which just adds to the fun. This is somewhere I always pop by to have a browse, always expecting to find something awesome, but never really do. Maybe that is because the prices are quite steep; rising with the rise of the love of vintage fashion these days.

From the outside it looks as though Uncle Sam's is going to be the best offering that Park Street…read morehas. A classic American vintage sign, a window full of Levis and checked flannel shirts, but it's best not to judge a book by its cover. (Or a vintage clothes store by its window!) I love a bit of a rummage through piles of retro clothing, but the interesting finds here are so few are far between that it doesn't make your wait worth-while. On the whole, I find that men do better here than women with some fantastic leather jackets and belts to be had. Just be prepared to pay a hefty price for some of the better pieces. It's worth a look for die-hard vintage clothes fans, but personally I prefer to save my pennies and go rooting around Bristol's fabulous charity shops. Cheaper, with added feel good factor!

Situated just two seconds away from another Oxfam shop, this particular branch specialises in…read morefashion and bric-a-brac. With plenty of charity shops to choose from in Clifton Village there's a lot of competition, and this Oxfam fairs well. They tend to get a lot of student donations, so the quality and make of the clothes varies wildly, but I've managed to bag a bargain quite a few times here. It's slightly off the beaten track but definitely worth a visit if you're doing the charity shop rounds.

Oxfam is not my usual charity shop of choice, unless it comes to books, because Oxfam bookshops are…read morejust, well, quite frankley, I just can't find the words.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................AWESOME! So when popping into this one I was a little down hearted as it's the books I usually head to, but I gave it a good slice of my attention, saw it has potential, picked up a cranberry bar (you know, those very tasty fair trade ones they have, has to be one of my favourite snakcs) and thought to myself, you've given me enough (in regard to my shopping experience) i'll be back to visit here again.

If you delight in fabric and textiles, you'd be foolish not to visit The Nylon Shop. One of…read moreBedminster's gems, this place is a guaranteed dream come true for anyone who enjoys getting wacky with a needle and thread. Boasting a host of diverse fabrics, including drapes of all colours of the rainbow to scarves, patches, dresses, scraps, reels of cotton and much more, The Nylon Shop is a great place to go for fancy dress ideas. I bought a sassy little number from here, which I refer to as my cow outfit (hoping I don't resemble too much of a heifer in it though): a white, fluffy ensemble with black spots dotted across it, this bizarre little costume saved me from trite fancy dress last halloween - and it was only a fiver! If you're looking for fabric you never envisaged in your wildest dreams, this is your shop...