I love shopping. It's quite an addiction these days (but I really do need more long sleeves, mom...) As a college student with bills to pay and no job, shopping just isn't in my budget unless I'm taking home something from goodwill, and I try to avoid even that.
Plato's has been a Godsend (or a temptation created by the devil himself...) If you're not familiar with what that is, you can take your gently used (most of the time name brand) clothing and they will sort through it and give you cash based on what they want to take and resell. They also accept shoes, purses, jewelry, scarves, and belts. Depending on where you live, Plato's can be VERY picky. Here in Denton, the girls of Plato's will not take clothes from Shasa or A'gaci, two stores in my Arlington mall but back home they will.
So what to do with the clothes left over? Most of the time I donate it but here in Denton there aren't a lot of donation drop boxes, if there are any. Soon the clothes was piling up and I turned to my favorite
blogger for some inspiration.
This June I read about Joy's
Summer Swap Shop and I thought it was an amazing idea! I knew I had to do one of my own, and I was convinced once the clothes starting piling up. I made a list of girls I wanted to invite, and I was limited since I'm here in Denton. There was about ten girls on the list and I messaged them and got a poor response. So I tried again, in person and more people were interested. They gave me ideas on who to invite and soon the invitation was created and sent out!
When it comes to inviting people, the sites I read suggested inviting no more than 15 people, because it can get chaotic. My final invitation list included 20 people! My friend offered up her apartment so I knew how much space I had to work with. I started out inviting all my girlfriends, even the ones who didn't like to shop.(I kept in mind the 80/60 rule...most of the time 80% of your guest list says yes, and when its time to start, only 60% of those people show up. This proved to be true for me!) I tried to be considerate when it came to sizing, making sure each girl had someone who was a similar size, and for those who didn't, there was still shoes, bags, and jewelry to choose from! Candace really saved the day. She buys clothes of all sizes on clearance and then alters it to her size, so there was lots of XL,L,M,S and XS clothing.
A clothing swap is a great way to meet new people! Girls really open up while browsing for clothing. My guest list was full of friends, good friends and aquaintances and those who made it out had a lovely time. I really wanted this to be a fun, girly event so I requested everyone dust off those heels and wear them to the party! After about an hour they were kicked off and we sipped on lemonade and dined on cupcakes, cookies, peanuts, chips, homemade guacamole and spinach dip and grapes.
It lagged a little at first, with only three guests there within the first thirty minutes, but three more soon followed. Small turn out? Yeah, but for my first party, I thought it was wonderful. It was small, intimate, and no one was fighting over clothes. Not physically anyway. Normally, however many items you bring is how many you can take home and we implemented that at first but after realizing how much clothes we had, we let it just be a free for all!
The clothes AFTER everyone had picked through it. I took home that purple scarf!
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| My Friend Kristi and I. I was trying out the outfit and she was breaking in her boots. QUITE the steal. If only my feet were smaller :( |
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| Samm, trying on a FIERCE tank top, with another in hand! |
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Kristi trying on a sweater, Candace looking through the selection!
(Note the clothes on the floor. We ran out of hangers!) |
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| Kristi again, showing off her new hat, jacket, and boots. Very New Yorker-ish! |
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| Sofia, one of my new friends, brought her Mary Kay products for us to try out. Unexpected surprise :) |
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| My loot! 8 shirts, 1 jacket, purple shorts, a purple scarf, a "tutu" skirt and a cute hairtie! |
I had planned for weeks, literally about three, and before I knew it, two hours had flown by. Everyone helped clean up and bag the unclaimed items, which I donated to Goodwill. We excitedly planned for the next one-Spring of next year! That way everyone can get their unwanted clothes from home and contribute a little more. I am so excited, and so grateful that my first Swap Shop went so smoothly!
If you're wanting to throw your own clothing swap, get to it girly! I plan on posting some do's and don'ts, as well as some things I learned that would have been helpful to know before hand.
Stay tuned!
xxoo,
V
