Comments on: Clothing swap parties

By: Cecelia

Cecelia — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:27:32 +0000

I am seriously thinking about doing this myself. I seen the idea on the local news and the way they did it was they had one person hold up the clothes and the first one that yelled out me..got it. I was thinking of holding a door prize as well, say a bottle of wine and having finger foods too. My problem is, all my friends are smaller then me, being I am a size 20-22. However, they have this website called meetup.com I believe it is and you can advertise on there and see how many people would be interested and have people rsvp..It sounds like a lot of fun, and women get a night out. Maybe even switch it up from month to month, books, to kitchenware..to just a plain girls night out.

By: GIGP Management

GIGP Management — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:43:18 +0000

I love clothing swaps i just got a new project and I am working on the 1st annual Cloth Swap And Pop Charity clothing swap event. there will be giveaways, contest, food,drinks,mini makeovers,massage and some celebrity appearances unclaimed clothing will be donated to Big Bothers Big Sisters and a percentage of the proceeds will be donated to helping kids clinic. It’s going to be a totaly fun girls day out in vegas. if you need an excuse to come party in vegas this is it! You can find out more at http://www.clothswapandpop.com

By: Ellen

Ellen — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:14:07 +0000

My social circle does this about three or four times a year, with different people hosting each time. Mixed-gender (few of us are particularly modest — those who are just hide in a bedroom), tons of clothing, leftovers to Goodwill. Sometimes accessories or non-clothing items (books, housewares) are added, but they tend to make it harder on the organizers, who already have enough to do carting off the leftover clothes.

You have to have strict guidelines about what’s not appropriate to bring, though — there’s always the clueless git who tries to donate something that smells of mildew or cat vomit. But with enough volunteers to separate out the awful stuff beforehand, it still works.

By: ana

ana — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:41:57 +0000

Just read about http://www.Bigwardrobe.com in this months edition of Elle magazine (p.83). It’s the world’s biggest clothes swapping website and it’s free!

By: Curious Bunny

Curious Bunny — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:09:37 +0000

I’ve been to several swaps organised by the same group of friends and they have been delightful. I’ve always succeeded in (a) getting rid of what was, to me, wardrobe clutter, and (b) acquiring at least a few new-to-me items.

The sizing issue mentioned by a few people hasn’t been an issue at all: we’ve had people from a UK size 8 (US 4) through UK size 18 (US 22?) and everyone managed to find quite a few things. Remember that many garments stretch or can be altered for length – also, many of us have things in our wardrobes that no longer fit (or possibly never did).

As for the state of the clothes that people bring, whoever runs the swap is allowed to set the rules in advance and make sure people understand them: this can include the state of clothes everyone brings (e.g. nothing that needs mending or is stained or discoloured). This has worked great so far.

I’d highly recommend people try this. It’s nice to lay on some food and a little wine so that everyone can chat and loosen up a little before the trying-on starts.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:45:20 +0000

A friend of mine recently hosted an “Art Party” clothing swap. There were scissors, pins, needle and thread, and sewing machines, as well as some stencils and fabric paint. All the clothes brought were fair game to be cut up and repurposed. Some people made new articles of clothing, some made bags or other accessories. Everyone had a great time, and a lot of people went home with something they had “made” in exchange for clearing out their closet.

By: jrochest

jrochest — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 06:27:56 +0000

I held a couple of these in Grad school — much like the first poster. They work wonderfully if the group is large and diverse: it helps to be able to heap through tons of stuff, and it’s easier to be frankly honest if the ‘donor’ is someone from a friend’s sister’s office that you’ll never see again.

We all had lots of castoffs, we all had no money, we all bought tons of wine and we all had lots and lots of fun.

By: Deja

Deja — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:10:09 +0000

I have participated in these and they work great but only if your friends have similar tastes/sizes and they aren’t attached to the original value of their clothes.

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:49:08 +0000

My friends and I did this with accessories: jewelry, hats, scarves, shoes, that sort of thing. It was fantastic. I got rid of things that I didn’t want anymore but that were still perfectly good, and came home with a number of things that I love and wear frequently. A couple of guests had even gone to their mothers’ homes and cleaned out THEIR closets. Everything that didn’t get adopted was donated to a charity that provides interview-appropriate outfits for low-income women.

By: mdm

mdm — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:52:52 +0000

I’ve done this and it is a great way to have a girls nite in. We do a potluck and send the men out of the house. It is fun to keep including new friends with new and different tastes.

We once had a clothes swap where something that was swapped earlier in the year, made its way back.

I once tried to do a cookie swap for Xmas — and since none of my girlfriend turned out to be bakers, we just ended up swapping store bought stuff — which was not the point at all. Never did that one again..

By: Clothing swap parties | Unclutterer

Clothing swap parties | Unclutterer — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:02:51 +0000

[...] posted here: Clothing swap parties | Unclutterer Tags: annual-gift, clothing-swap, good-variation, maternity-swap, online-calendar, our-first, [...]

By: Tatiana

Tatiana — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:58:01 +0000

Our Mothers Club does a clothing exchange each year and it’s a really fun event. We have ladies, maternity and kids clothes, and a few men’s and misc items, too. (for those who clean out their husbands closets). I had lots of clothes my son had outgrown to donate and left with a several items for him in larger sizes, plus a few things for myself! Plus, we ordered pizza and had other food, and made it a great social event. The clothing left over (and there was quite a bit) was donated to a local women’s shelter. We’ll definitely be doing this event again, and some even suggested doing a kitchen exchange…gadgets, cookware, serving dishes, etc. which sounds like it would be fun, too.

By: Stephanie Cockerl

Stephanie Cockerl — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:31:01 +0000

Yes, I do this at least every few months or so with my friends. It has proven to be helpful especially when I lost some weight and I was able to find some “new” professional and personal clothes without spending a bundle.

By: Nat

Nat — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:22:30 +0000

I did this for my clothes and my baby’s clothes in smaller groups with friends, but found there wasn’t much variety and a lot of size problems. For instance in the kid’s clothes swap, people with the oldest kids were SOL. However, since I live in Portland, OR, I’ve joined the email list for PDXSwap. There are several swap events that happen monthly for several different size groupings (ie. small=0-5, med=6-12, large, etc.) and in different parts of town. There are also kids’ clothing & maternity swap events, an annual stuff swap and an annual gift & toy swap around the holidays. (Because there are hundreds of people on these lists, events are well attended with a good variation of clothing styles. The last swap I went to for medium size women’s clothing must have had at least 60 women there. The annual gift swap I went to had over a 100 people.

By: Another Deb

Another Deb — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:29:30 +0000

I spent several years losing weight online with the Weight Watcher’s plan. This clothing swap idea would have gone over extremely well with many people in the forums. They were constantly discussing the wisdom of renewing their wardrobes during the weight loss journey.

I went through six dress sizes in two years and constantly had to restock and purge the closet. Lots of people have a jumble of sizes in their closetfor this same reason. For years, I depended on Goodwill to swap out my clothes. It was so fun to try new styles and find that I could afford to experiment with the wardrobe, a clothing swap event would do the same!

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:43:09 +0000

I’ve never done this with clothes but have with books. We did it sort of silent-auction-style and it was a ton of fun. I’d like to do a kids toys/books/media one too.

By: sue

sue — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:49:08 +0000

I’ve never tried this on a large scale, but as I lost weight, I offered my too-large stuff to a friend who admired my style. Anything she passed on, went to either resale shop or Goodwill.

By: PowerNana4

PowerNana4 — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:08:29 +0000

My friends and I have swapped for years. We have all been different sizes due to babies born, weight gain, loss, and whatever. From now on we will be donating good unwanted office type stuff to a local charity that helps women start over and go on job interviews. It is so great to know our stuff will help in giving someone the confidence to face and interview along with the coaching they receive from trained counselors. There are many such sights all over the U.S. such as “Back to Work,” etc.

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:19:36 +0000

I would love to do this! Unfortunately I’m about a foot shorter than all my friends.

By: Kirsten

Kirsten — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:33:57 +0000

I host two clothing swaps a year. I think they’re a lot of fun. All of my guests have always left with a bag full of new-to-them stuff — clothing, shoes, purses, hats, jewelry. After the event I pack up whatever remains and donate the items to a local charity.

On a different note, I also host two book swaps per year. Everyone brings any books they’re wanting to pass on. We stack them around my first floor and start “shopping.” It’s a great way to learn about new-to-you authors. Unlike a clothes swap, it’s a good mixed-gender event. And at the end, I donate anything that remains to our local library. I will say, however, book swaps can be very quiet events- — everybody’s busy reading covers!