Tags
clothing, clothing sizes, clothing swap, donate, fashion, free, shopping, style
This weekend I went to my second ever Clothing Swap Party. Not sure what that is? Basically, you invite a bunch of ladies to clean out their closets and get rid of anything they no longer want. Everyone brings all their unwanted items to someones house and sorts them into categories by type of item (shirts go with shirts, pants with pants etc). Once everything is all sorted and organized everyone draws a number to see what order they get to pick items. One by one each girl gets to pick a new item they want to keep. Doing it this way makes sure everyone gets a fair shot at getting the most wanted/cutest items and not just the girl who can grab things the fastest. At the end of the party anything that is still left gets donated. Basically you get to go shopping in your friends closets but never have to return the items. How fun is that!
This was my pile of goods to contribute to the party. Certain items, like camis and undergarments, I just trashed because I knew no one would want them. I ended up with 3 bags packed full with clothes I no longer wore and was happy to say good riddance forever. I actually ended up trying on everything in my closet to make sure I was getting rid of the items that no longer fit or just didn’t look good on me anymore.
We gave all of our clothes to my friend Ashly a week before the party and she graciously sorted them all for us. When we got to her house she had hung and folded everything and even sorted them by size and color!
It doesn’t just have to be clothes either. We had a good mix of scarves, belts, purses, hats and shoes to go along with all the clothes as well.
Here are some of the things to keep in mind to make sure your clothing swap is a success.
1) Invite girls of all different sizes. Doing this insures a wide range of clothing sizes for everyone to pick from.
2) Remind everyone that the items once belonged to someone else so be mindful of what you say about them. You wouldn’t want to make fun of a shirt for how ugly it is, and then remember the girl who brought it is right next to you.
3) Ask girls to wear clothing that is easy to try items on over. We had a slew of girls dressed in yoga pants or leggings and camis or tank tops. That way not everyone is fighting for the bathroom. Of course the bathroom is necessary for trying on jeans and pants.
4) Put up lots of mirrors around the swap area for girls to try items on.
5) Use the first 30 minutes of the party to just look through everything that was brought. Let girls try things on freely, so long as they put them back. Then when it is time to do the picking, girls already have an idea of which items they want.
6) Have girls draw numbers and go in that order to pick items. While #1 is picking, #2 and #3 can be up looking through the racks and trying things on as well to make it go a little faster. Just make sure #1 gets to pick her item before #2 does.
7) Let each other know what looks good and what doesn’t. We had so much fun helping girls find flattering clothing. It was also really cool seeing the same shirt on a short girl versus a tall girl and seeing how differently it can look on different body shapes. Honesty can really make a girl feel confident in wearing something.
So what did I walk away with? I ended up with probably about 15 pieces but here were some of my favorite items I snagged.
A beautiful coral/orange maxi skirt.
A few patterned tops and bright cardigans.
Summery wedges and a straw hat.
Cute dresses. The one on the left is my favorite because the pattern is actually little boats!
I had such a great time and walked away with a whole new wardrobe. Best part about it is that I brought home more items then I ever would have from the mall, but I didn’t spend a penny! Clothing swaps really satisfy the need to shop and don’t make a dent in the wallet.
At the end of the party we started thinking we could do this same style of party for a lot of different items. A jewelry or book swap, or even a home goods swap. How fun would all of those be? Mixing up what you swap could help vary who comes to the party as well, like men or people of different ages too.
Have you ever been to a clothing swap?