Huge store, great for denim and workwear. Lots of unusual stuff. Decent prices. Easily my favourite…read morevintage shop.

The genie must have listened to one of my wishes because Beyond Retro have finally opened a store…read morein Brighton! It's not just a tiny two up, two down on Sydney Street either, it's a huge, L-shaped building on Vine Street. Today being Halloween, I walked in to find the foyer piled high with amazing fancy dress costumes, wigs and masks. It was walking around the corner and seeing the racks of retro skirts, shirts, blouses, jumpers, jackets, coats and yup - cowboy boots - that made my heart truly skip a beat though. There was no boots in my size but the good news is, they are open 7 days a week and get new stock in every single day. Hallelujah. The staff are lovely too and whilst I was there they played 'Jolene' AND 'I Want Candy.' Oh and the stock is reasonably priced too, guaranteeing I'll go back in about, erm, 24 hours!

Cute and quaint little shop this located on Preston Road selling an array of new and second hand…read moreclothes and accessories. Owner Jacquelina describes her merchandise as 'alternative clothing' which I think is great compared to all the awful Top Shop and Gap rubbish. If you're looking for something completely original then this is the place to head to. They also sell wigs, top-hats and a good deal of gothic and retro wear and claim that making made-to-measure corsets are their speciality!

I discovered this little gem in Seven Dials in Brighton a few months ago and I have been hooked…read moreever since. Great coffee, amazing grilled cheese sandwiches and a fabulously curated collection of antiques and quality vintage clothing. If you find yourself in Brighton be sure to check them out, (especially the buffalo chicken grilled cheese sandwich!)

Starfish might be half the size of other vintage stores like Dirty Harry and whisper it, American…read moreRetro, but it's still well worth checking out next time you're in the Lanes. They have a cool fridge in the window, great music on the stereo and racks of clothes from the 50s to the present. I know vintage is supposed to indicate decades of wear and tear but hey, you can't make people carry on wearing flares when everyone else is wearing drainpipes! As a result, you can find lots of flares and checked shirts in Starfish alongside old Levis, leather jackets, skirts, dresses and distinctive coats. The clothes smell fresher than in other vintage and charity shops in the city and the staff are usually pretty friendly. I'm just waiting for an original Johnny Cash tee to come in...

Dresses and jumpers and jackets, OH MY! Starfish is tiny and a bit pricey, but nevertheless, I…read morecan't help loving everything about the place, from the cute name to the Coca-cola fridge in the window. Even the dressing room fills me with joy as I bundle into the impossibly small space and basically wrap the curtain around myself. An experience that would irritate the hell out of me elsewhere somehow makes me chuckle in this shop. How? And why do I rave so? I don't know, it's just a really satisfying little shop that makes good use of space, displays its merchandise well and never fails to have a cool pair of shades or earrings waiting for me at the counter! On top of this, they have a really great selection of vintage dresses in all shapes, sizes and styles, from strappy sun dresses to 80's prom dresses, whatever you need, you'll probably find it (or something else too good to be true) here. I was in here today and I noticed they have a really good selection of woolly v-necks at the moment- I think I might have to pop back and snap one up myself!

Debra is my new favourite charity shop. The selection is much wider than others in the area, with…read moretwo levels of clothing, houseware and accessories. Furniture is upstairs; and includes kitchen, bedroom and living room items. I'm a little iffy on buying a used mattress, but the tables and wardrobes have a lot more character than anything you'd find in a discount furniture shop, for the same kind of prices. The clothing isn't overly fashionable, but there's a lot to look through for men, women and children. Home items like dishware, knick knacks and even musical instruments also come at reasonable prices. There's a large selection of books and tonnes of VHS tapes, but DVDs are pretty minimal. I only noticed some informational DVDs and a Jamie Oliver Christmas special. The shop is quiet and spacious, making it a much nicer to look through than some other charity shops. I'd recommend it for budget shopping - especially for the furniture.

Debra is a charity that works to raise money for Epidermolysis Bullosa. Money raised helps to fund…read moreresearch and also helps to support individuals and families suffering with the condition. I am a great fan of charity shops and the London Rd area is a real hot spot for charity shop shopping. This branch of Debra is quite a bit larger than some of the other charity shops in the area (Oxfam, BHF etc.) and for this reason it stocks a wider range of stuff, including furniture. There is also a wide variety of men's and women's clothing, as well as crockery and lots of vases and ornaments too. Debra is a great place to pick up an end table or a coffee table for a very reasonable price- they always seem to have at least two or three floating around the shop. There is also always a collection of what I imagine they deem 'vintage' dresses in the window...quite often these are not that great but occasionally there will be a real winner!

Guttersnipes sells both new and vintage clothing for men and women. It's a slightly out-of-the-way…read moreshop in the North Laines - a bit farther up Trafalgar than the busiest areas - and smells yummy like incense. It's worth a look, though with stylish tops and dresses - one highlight I noticed was a pair of women's brown dress pants with suspenders. There were several band t-shirts: Iggy Pop, Madonna, Wham, etc, etc .... and several with retro logos. The shop is two levels, with a teeny staircase leading up to the first floor. I'm not quite 5'4" and the roof was almost touching my head. It might be a little awkward for any one taller to make it up there. Just a warning. Anyway, it's a cool shop I recommend checking out for unique duds that'll make you smell of incense.

They have new, retro, and vintage clothing in Guttersnipes. It's quite alternative, the website…read moresays that they cater for 'street urchins, punks, mods, spivs, lovers and cheeky monkeys.' The punks would probably find tartan miniskirts and band t-shirts to their tastes, the mods might appreciate the polo shirts in the men's section, not sure what the spivs and the street urchins would go in for. I guess perhaps according to that round-up I'm a lover, in that the thing that I liked the best was these absolutely gorgeous embroidered hippy-skirts which are vintage American, sent over by the owner's girlfriend who lives in L.A., not too expensive at £19, either. They also sell these totally psychedelic trainers by a brand called Kashi, that are covered with crazy patterns and symbols. They are definitely unique!

I can't believe I haven't written about Wolf & Gypsy before…read more A designer boutique on Sydney Street, it specialises in vintage fashion for men and women. Last time I popped in there was a couple of dresses from the fifties but the majority of outfits are from the sixties and seventies. We're not talking about tatty flares either but stylish dresses, blouses and wide leg trousers for women and cool shirts, cardigans and figure hugging Levi's for men. Refreshingly, everything is reasonably priced and the stock is in very good to excellent condition.

I instantly loved Wolf and Gypsy. I'm a long time fan of second hand shops, but oh, the effort of…read moreweeding through racks of duds for that one stylish Find. Well, if you're not feeling up to the time sucking search, Wolf and Gypsy has already done the leg work. Racks of Finds for both men and women are available throughout the shop. Prices aren't bad - in the £15 - £25 range. Records and collectables are available upstairs, but "he just stepped out for about half an hour" I was told, and so will have to leave that for another time.

The London Rd is a charity shop haven...I love nothing more than a lazy day meandering from shop to…read moreshop, picking through other people's old tat to see what I might lay my hands on. Brilliant though they all are, one shines out above the rest...the good old PDSA! Tucked away on Oxford St, the PDSA always seems to deliver, which really isn't something you can normally expect from a charity ship, given the inconsistent nature of donating. But seriously, I struggle to leave the place empty handed! The shoes are usually quite dodgy, all a bit Shoes Fayre circa 1983, but they often have great jackets and jeans. The tops are organised by colour, which is very visually pleasing, and makes life easy, especially if you have an idea of what you are looking for. The book section used to be really good, lots of great authors like Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou. Last time I went in there wasn't so much, but they may just have been experiencing a bit of a book drought. The ladies that run the place are amusing, to say the least- they usually have some anecdotal tale that is rarely related to what you're buying. And if you're a pet lover you will feel especially good about shopping for this wonderful cause!

Charity shops have come under fire and lost a lot of credibility lately in terms of stock and…read morepricing, which is unfair, after all they are fundamentally a charity. Like all charity shops PDSA sometimes still has the odd hidden gem in the midst. The book section isn't upto much but the vinyl section has come up trumps in the last few visits I've made. The staff are lovely and even let me into the hallowed back room of the glorious non display items, it was my Graceland.

Loved it! So many pieces for such a fair price…read more When I was there they had especially many blouses in like an 80's style so if you're into that - you should for sure visit when you're in Brighton!

To Be Worn Again, Brighton's bulwark of second hand clothing, now has another retail outlet in…read moreKensington Gardens, adding to the outlet at the top of Sydney Street and the warehouse on Providence Place. This behemoth has everything you could want in a second-hand store: huge selection, cheap prices, and now another shop to browse through! Don't give these shops a miss: the warehouse is the best for wealth of choice, but this new shop seems to be their new place to stock the more traditional of your items, meaning you're more likely to find something you can wear more frequently here. I've been shopping at To Be Worn Again for the past 5 years, and the whole set-up has always been a welcoming one. Service is friendly across the branches, and they all seem to have a good idea which of their shops stocks what. You may need to travel a bit if you've gone to the wrong branch, but once you get there the wealth of choice is amazing. I've seen everything in to be worn again: leather jackets, t-shirts, hats... They seem to have a couple hundred of each item of clothing you can think of. If you're a second-hand clothing whore, like myself, this is the best place in Brighton to go. Apart from their excellent store policy, selection and service, To Be Worn Again also seems to offer the best prices on their merchandise. You pay much less than market value, but not excessively so: you won't walk away with hundreds of new things for just a couple of quid, but you will be pleasantly surprised. Beyond that, they seem to specialise in stocking more peculiar items: nothing to risque, just pieces that could be fashion disasters or masterpieces if worn with the right combo. If you're going to a costume party or running a play, this is the best place to find costumes or costume ideas. In the end, To Be Worn Again is an open secret. Everyone in Brighton knows it's the place to go for second hand stuff. There are more upmarket places, like Traid in the Lanes, and cooler places, like Beyond Retro, but nothing beats finding a jacket that compliments your wardrobe perfectly for under £30. If you haven't been, go. Now.

I heart Oxfam. When…read morethe Labour Party held their conference in Brighton recently, Oxfam put out a blackboard with the message: MPs - COME AND SPEND YOUR EXPENSES HERE! This cheeky humour extends to the shop's colourful window displays and the humour of the staff and volunteers that work here. As well as stocking lots of new and secondhand clothes, shoes, boots, handbags, books, CDs, vinyl and household goods, this particular branch includes one-off items of clothing that have been customized with different textiles, patches, zips and so on. Where else in Brighton could you get a blouse with a skull and cross bones AND flowers added?

This branch of Oxfam sells crafts and other fair-trade produce (especially food) and greeting…read morecards, rather than second-hand items (for those, go the Western Road shop near Waitrose). Items include textiles, pottery, jewellery, bowls and vases. It has a small but nice selection and is worth a browse if you are in this part of town, or are looking for a specific fair-trade item. It's also worth a try if you are looking for a nice but unusual gift, while keeping your conscience free!