One woman’s old clothes…
…are another women’s new wardrobe!
I scored the above stacks of clothes last night while hosting a clothes exchange party. There were only a handful of women there but we still managed to pull together a small mountain of clothes through which to sort, swap, and “shop”.
New sweater! New boots! 🙂
I’ve been hosting and attending these parties for over a dozen years and am always pleased at the outcome. There’s something about a group of women getting together and trying on clothes (these parties are often called “Naked Lady”) that is very playful and creates a nice camaraderie. Wine don’t hurt neither. 😉
There is also something very satisfying to me, especially in this season of consumerism, to just trade. No money, no receipts, no gift bags, no return policies, just straight up offering what you don’t want and choosing things you do.
We all went home with some treasures last night and the three (!) garbage bags of clothes that weren’t claimed will be donated to the Salvation Army.
Do you wear/buy used clothes? I’ve always shopped at thrift stores and traded with my sisters and girl-friends. I am attracted to the thriftiness, environmental aspect, and the ability to get more unique clothes. Of course, I will never claim to be very fashionable or on top of trends, I just wear what makes me feel good, is comfortable, and functional.
Have you ever hosted an exchange party? It doesn’t have to be clothes, last night was also open to books, jewelry, stuff in general. I’ve often thought that a kitchen stuff exchange would be fun, we all have appliances and things around that we just don’t utilize.
This is GREAT! Congrats on the new wardrobe 🙂 I have also been doing these kind of parties for years and they are a LOT of fun. Enjoy your new “stuff”
I love the idea of a clothing swap and donating the extra clothing to charity. Unfortunately the Salvation Army has a long history of anti-gay discrimination. I’m sure there are some other wonderful organizations in your area to donate the clothing to!
Thanks for the info! What do you know about Goodwill in this regard? This time I’ll take the clothes to the SPCA.
I haven’t heard or read anything negative about Goodwill in that regard, but lately I’ve seen quite a few articles regarding the SA’s bigotry.
I have two boxes of clothes set aside for donation…I think I need to get organized and host a clothing swap!
Thanks again for the info, I’m sure they do a lot of good but I don’t believe with those practices.
How fun! I used to do this a lot with a group of girl friends. We called it a “goddess party” and each party would have a theme and a clothing swap (clothes don’t have to be related to the theme, of course). But then I moved to a new city and haven’t found a group to have swap parties with yet 🙁
It’s a great way to get to know people!
My sister and I trade off quite a bit!! It’s nice, because something can look BRAND spankin’ new but feel old when you have it for a couple of years. A trade-off makes the receiver and the giver incredibly happy.
Love the idea of hosting a party for this! 😀
I went to an exchange in SLC once. So fun and great finds, especially with a group of sporty, outdoorsy women. Just my style. Haven’t done anything like that here. Great idea for the holidays.