Charity shops smell. They sell old clothes for old people and I wouldn’t be seen dead in one...’ Or at least that’s the general consensus on the state of Britain’s charity shops.

Many people think of charity shops and second hand shops as the places where clothes go to die. Odd gloves, shoes in desperate need of reheeling and flapper dresses practically moulting the beaded tassels. It’s a pretty unappealing image.

Which is a shame, because I’ve definitely discovered a few of my most beloved fashion gems in the most unlikely of charity shops. A couple of adored vintage umbrellas, some gorgeous, fit-for-the-coffee-table fashion hardbacks and my prized Casadei boots – a snatch at £15, when they should have been upwards of £400.

But isn’t it always nicer to have something new? Not always. I’m of the opinion (as is my very fashion-forward MD) that some of the most fashionable eras are far behind us. How else does one subscribe to the style of the roaring Twenties without the help of a dress or a hat that was actually there? So, as far as charity shops are smelly old people’s haunts (the shops, that is, not the old people) we should be grateful that the fashionable ladies of the forties and fifties have chosen to bestow us with their classic cast-offs via these charitable channels.

The Daily Info lists no fewer than 35 charity shops in and around central Oxford, although I am sure there are many that have not made this list. Oxfam has a monopoly over this network, but there are others like the Helen & Douglas which are fairly well represented on Oxfordshire’s high streets.

Charity shops serve an important purpose. Yes they raise money to effect social change. Yet they achieve something else too – they give clothes an extended life. Contrary to the misconception that charity shops are garment graveyards, they actually prevent textiles from ending up in real graveyards – the rubbish heaps and landfills that plague our environment.

It’s not just charity shops that do the trick. There are now plenty of designer –yes, designer! – brands wholly centred on giving discarded textiles new life. And lots of major retailers like H&M and Marks & Spencer are involved with turning old threads into new togs, making it much easier to shop for clothes with a clear conscience.

I write this in anticipation of Oxford Fashion Week’s ethical speaker event, which will have taken place by the time you read this. You may well have even attended the event. But right now, it’s got me terribly excited. Not just because I’m hosting it but because, perhaps for this first time, I understand all the forces contributing towards the campaign for a more ethical fashion industry.

Like Elizabeth Laskar, the champion of ethical fashion – and one of the co-founders of the Ethical Fashion Forum – and Vogue veteran Abi Chisman, the brain behind designer jumble.

Needles to say, I have completely transformed my view of ethical fashion. Yes, I, the girl once guilty of buying angora ear muffs in Copenhagen. Gone from my mind is the image of crusty cast offs.

The idea of time consuming ‘customisation’ (which never appealed to me) is no longer the exclusive outlet for reviving old clothes.

I now understand the true meanings of upcycling, refashioning, repurposing and, in short, what can be done to transform unwanted textiles.

Now, with (hopefully) a few decades of consumerism ahead of me, I’ll be happy to make more informed decisions about how I shop, without feeling frumpy or unfashionable in the process.