Clothes Swap

Every year or so my girlfriends and I have a clothes swap. The most recent swap was this past Sunday at my place.

The general idea is that you bring all of your clothes, shoes, accessories that don't fit or you just don't wear, and that are taking up space in your closet, and you bring them to swap. I've heard of some swaps doing a very organized item-for-item swap, but what we do is more of a free-for-all. We bring out all our stuff, separate it into sections for tops, pants, dresses, etc., and then once everyone is there and has their stuff all layed out, we begin grabbing stuff up to try on.

There are a lot of really great things about clothes swap, it's super-girly and silly and fun for one, but it also forces you to go through your stuff, try things on, and scrutinize your wardrobe. I was able to give my friends some beautiful dresses and tops that I just wasn't wearing anymore, and I also rediscovered many things in my own closet that I simply forgot I had.

Some tips for a successful clothes swap:

• send an email a few weeks before the swap so that people have time to go through their closets, attics, storage, etc., and then send a reminder email closer to the date,


• describe in detail a couple of the nicer things you'll be offering to get people interested, i.e. "designer shoes, size 8," or "dresses from Anthropologie,"


• let people know that regardless of their size, there will be things on hand like handbags and accessories that will fit anyone,


• I had a ton of stuff I was trying to unload, so I was sure to stress to my friends that if they couldn't find anything to bring to swap they should still come because we would have more than enough there for them to take some,


• at the swap offer libations and snacks to get everyone in a social and happy mood,


• give everyone 15 minutes or so from the start time of the swap to lay their offerings out and quickly peruse what else is there,


• set up a couple of mirrors and have a couple of dressing rooms ready, encourage your friends to try things on and show them off to the group, it makes for a fun, fashion-show type atmosphere,


• have empty shopping bags on hand for people to carry around their loot, and


• donate the leftovers to a nearby charity or shelter.

The photo above shows our "accessories" section as well as a whole bunch of t-shirts.

Christie is taking a break from her mimosa to check out the shoe selection.

Lora checking out a shirt at the swap.

Brittany posing with as many items from the swap as she could fit on her person. Adorable.

Verdict: The swap was a major success. We had a great turnout, around 10 girls, and a lot of amazing stuff was swapped. Although my goal for the swap was to get rid of some stuff and get my wardrobe under control, I picked up a few lovely things myself.