Emma Doran: 'I like the idea of putting something in a charity shop bag and somebody just finds that'

The comedian talks second-hand fashion, motherhood, finding her voice and why she keeps moving the goalposts in life and comedy

Emma Doran: 'I always go to charity second hand shops first to find something.' Pictures: Niamh Barry

Forget the glossy department stores and endless scrolling, if Emma Doran wants a new outfit, she’d much rather rummage through a charity shop.

And right now, she’s in her element.

When we catch up, she’s smack bang in the middle of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe and has discovered three charity shops on the very street where she’s staying – a happy coincidence for a keen-thrifter fronting this year’s Second Hand September campaign for Oxfam.

For the Tallaght comedian, second-hand shopping isn’t just about scoring a bargain, it’s about the thrill of the hunt, the creativity in giving old clothes a new life, the certainty you are wearing something no one else will have.

It’s how she grew up, and one that feels increasingly far away for many in a world drowning in unwanted garments.

“I would have gotten bags of clothes from cousins, sisters-in-law, friends,” she says, recalling the buzz of going through the bags for “finds”.

“I would always have been going into my mom’s wardrobe – I came from a place where my mom was reworking clothes.” Growing up, Emma Doran says her mother Marjorie was a dab hand with a sewing machine, crafty with everything she did. She recalls her working her magic on transforming something old into something new for her, all of which makes the idea of extending the life of clothes feel very natural to Doran.

Emma Doran: 'When I was younger, I always would have been making up stories and acting out things, you know doing sketches for friends.'

For her, charity shops are her first port of call for an outfit, purely for the individuality and the lucky dip element of never knowing what you’ll find.

“Rather than somebody telling me what’s in fashion at the moment, that’s how I shop; I always go to charity second hand shops first to find something different something that nobody else has,” she says.

And while Doran admits that she’s not quite at the stage of doing a Pretty in Pink-style dress revamp, she would love to do a sewing class to ramp up her own skills.

Even with what she calls basic sewing skills, she’s always putting beading on to clothing or making her own jewellery – her own small resistance against the massive consumption of textile waste.

Ireland consumes around 53kg of new textiles per person every year – one of the highest rates in the EU. About 64,000 tonnes of textiles are thrown into household bins every year, making households the single biggest source of textile waste.

“We’ve all seen the images of landfill sites full of clothes. It’s easy to think it’s all the responsibility of big corporations but we can all make changes ourselves, and those changes can be better for us as individuals, too,” she says.

Second Hand September is a really fun, accessible way for people to look at their own shopping habits. On a bigger level, we’re all aware that our clothes come from somewhere and they’re made by somebody. If you’re buying a brand new t-shirt for one euro, it makes you question how that’s possible and what the bigger picture is.

While none of us can change the world on our own, each of us can do our bit and Doran says that she’s started taking pictures of herself in outfits so she can create different looks and essentially play with outfits rather than go out and buy something new.

“I suppose what I was doing was giving myself time with my own clothes, you know, to explore my own wardrobe. That’s what I would’ve done when I was younger. I would have been constantly reworking and actually enjoying that process as well,” she says.

“The outfits are more interesting but I also enjoy it more – it’s creative. When I’m going into charity shops now, I’m thinking what am I looking for; like I’m [currently] looking for a red belt.”

When it comes to our obsession with Vinted, Doran believes people are always going to want to browse and touch, feel and try before buying something. She’s also a fan of doing a clear out and sending bits and pieces out into the world on their way to a new life.

“I like the idea of putting something in a bag for the charity shop and somebody just finds that on like a wet Tuesday morning,” she says.

As a storyteller, she also loves the idea that something she wears will spark a story, whether it’s a piece passed down from her mum she’s been complimented on or a charity shop gem. And it’s those stories – the frank and brutally honest ones about her own life that have won Doran a legion of fans across Ireland and the UK.

Alongside Aisling Bea, Joanne McNally and Kyla Cobbler, the comic is part of a new wave of Irish female comedians who are selling out venues at unprecedented rates.

As well as making her Edinburgh Fringe debut this year, the first leg of her Emmacuate tour of the UK and Ireland has sold out 80 shows. She’s also just added 26 extra dates to the smash hit tour including a night at the iconic London Palladium Theatre on February 7 next year.

“When I was younger, I always would have been making up stories and acting out things, you know doing sketches for friends,” Doran reflects.

When she had her first child, Ella, at just 17, she found herself — like most mothers — with a lot less time for herself. But having had her “soulmate” daughter so young, she says she had not yet realised just how important that storytelling streak was for her.

“I think I probably got to a point where I was really frustrated because I wasn’t getting the chance to express any of that side of myself. And I didn’t know what that was,” she says of her route into stand-up.

Her first open-mic night happened while she was on maternity leave with her second child, Joe, who came a decade after her first. She started making social media sketches and suddenly it all “kicked off” just as she was entering her 30s.

From that moment she was writing, performing, doing gigs “kind of like a maniac” and she hasn’t stopped since.

“Once I gave myself permission to dip my toe a little bit, it just flowed,” she reflects. “There was no [thought] of a career, that this is going to be this thing that I do all the time.

“I think I gave myself permission to explore. The purpose wasn’t that it was financially rewarding. It was just fun.”

Working in the entertainment industry, performing and being on the road, while being a mum of three, means being able to rely on support at home.

“When women have babies, there’s lots of people who want to come and hold babies: that’s nice, but, like, if you could stick on a wash and go, that would be even better,” she says.

“That support is harder, and that’s probably the support that you really need,” she continues. “If people are helping you with those kind of things, what they’re saying is: ‘I think that the thing that you’re doing is worth so much that I’m going to step forward and take this job or role off your hands to make it easier for you.’” 

Of where she is in her life now, Doran says she’s happy and has no regrets. She doesn’t have any existential questions about who she is, what drives her, what she’s passionate about or what makes her tick. It all makes her feel very grateful.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement and Doran always has an eye to making things better in terms of shows and her own performance.

She likens it to how her mum, aways creative and crafty, found painting later in life, preferring oil painting to watercolours because it allowed her to constantly add to what was on the canvas. It’s like her comedy in a way, a constantly evolving process, she says.

She’s aware that over the years her own goalposts have constantly moved and goals she set for herself two or five years ago have been met. It’s only when she looks back and sees this that she can acknowledge it.

You’re always looking for a little bit of excitement. The goal constantly moves. Once you reach that, you just move it again.