A Successful Clothing Swap

One of the reasons that I decided not to shop for 52 weeks is that I learned that fashion is the #2 most polluting industry after the oil and gas industry.  How?  Just to list a few examples: polyester and nylon are synthetic fabrics made from polymeric or plastic fibers, potent chemicals are used to dye fabrics and leathers, and pesticides are used in large quantities to produce cotton.  These materials and chemicals are polluting our waters and our people.  For more insight on this topic, I encourage you to watch the Netflix documentary “The True Cost” (LINK HERE :The True Cost Documentary)

One of the messages that is clear from the documentary is that the fashion industry is being supported by poorly paid working women in underprivileged countries.  These women are paid less than a living wage, meaning that they cannot live on what they earn.  Fast fashion companies like H&M, Zara and Forever 21 make profits on the backs of these poor women and refuse to take responsibility for their part in this vicious treatment of workers.  They claim that they are not responsible for the actions of their third party subcontractors.  As a woman in a western country, I believe that I have the responsibility to take action on this.  I encourage everyone to use our power as consumers to avoid supporting companies that allow these kinds of practices to continue.

The best solution is to refuse.  Refuse to get swept up in the cycle of fast fashion and refuse to consume because an industry tells us that we need to change our look.   The best is to wear clothes that we love and suit our bodies.  As Yves St-Laurent said, “Fashion fades but style is eternal”.  Words to live by.

With this in mind, I hosted my very first clothing swap.  As many of us know, we get tired of our clothes and sometimes that is the driver for buying new clothes.  A clothing / accessory swap (or “Switch and Bi!$ch”, as I like to call it) is an opportunity to share and switch items of clothing and accessories to renew our wardrobes.  Plus, it is a great reason to get together with girlfriends and drink wine!

Although I started out with a guest list of 20, it quickly whittled down to 9 and then to 7 (as two people bailed on me the night before the event).  After settling down with our wine and snacks:

it was on to the main event, the clothes:

 

 

I was a little worried that we would end up in a scenario like this one:

But the evening was cordial and everyone ended up with an item that they liked, like Mireille with her “new” green sweater:

and Beatrice with her “new” white jacket:

 

Some of us had fun trying on some kooky item, like Helene in these fushia pumps:

We donated the remaining clothes to charity (Renaissance).  We all agreed that the event was a success and we plan to repeat it in the fall.

Based upon this recent experience, I have a few suggestions for a successful clothing swap:

• Make it a fun event: having wine and snacks helped everyone relax (and made everyone less shy for stripping down to their skivvies).
• A group of 5-10 people is perfect if you are having the event at your home. For a larger group, space may become an issue.
• Be sure to include accessories in the swap. Accessories such as jewelry, scarves and purses are a great way to update your look and it also helps ensure that no one leaves empty-handed.  For someone like me who needed no clothes (and really just wanted to downsize my wardrobe), taking an accessory allowed me to partake without having to accumulate more clothing.
• Try to have a group with a few people each (3 minimum) of similar sizes. While I read on other blogs that you can have people of varying sizes and end up with a reasonable exchange, this was not the case in this clothing swap.  We had one group of 4 people of size A, 2 people of size B and one lucky skinny Minnie who got everyone’s “too small for me” clothes.  The group with 2 people of a similar size ended up with the least clothing items as they could really only exchange with each other.
• Plan ahead to allow people to accumulate items for the exchange. I plan to advertise my fall event over 1 month in advance.

 

Challenge for the Week:  I encourage you to reconsider your need for more clothes based upon a fashion trend.  Are you willing to embrace Yves St-Laurent’s quotation and create your own timeless style? Or are you just tired of your clothes?  Try organizing a clothing swap with your friends.  It’s guaranteed fun!