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Clothes swap
I went to clothes swap party yesterday morning, run by Liz D for the girls at my church.
Basically what happens is women go with a bundle of clothes they don’t want (but are still in good condition), put them in a communal pool, and people take home what they please. Like a second hand stall amongst friends.
I’ve never been to one before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I rocked up with a few items. It seems like the kind of activity that can go really well, or just plain wrong (would it be weird to see friends trying on my clothes? And worse still, what if no one wanted to try on my clothes??).
But it was great! Lots of people who weren’t even from our church offloaded some things, so Liz’s lounge room looked like an op-shop, complete with an accessories, bags and even a shoe section. Towards the end women were running around with outfits on over their clothes, oohing and aahing over various things, picking out items for others. I think the key to why it worked so well is that everyone had a good sense of humour about it.
I managed to score some nice things - two necklaces, a brown leather bag and two tops (and I’m glad to say my clothes also found a good home!). I think this would be a great idea as a regular event for a church:
*It encourages people not to waste by chucking things out (environmentally friendly and good for finances!);
*It’s a great way to be generous and help out the cash-strapped - and the clothes can go Anglicare or the Salvos afterwards;
*It’s a good way to have a presence in the community (especially if you live in an area where people like to op-shop);
*It’s great for building relationships and getting to know people - we had brunch afterwards and most of the women hung around talking until 1pm.
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It was fun, wasn’t it
I actually reckon it’d also work well as a ‘bring a friend’ thing, perhaps at a larger venue.
I agree soph. I was thinking through how you’d run it - the problem with just holding an event and advertising it with leaflets is you might get people taking advantage of it - i.e. coming to get armfuls of clothes, and not wanting to chat. So I reckon word-of-mouth would be the way to go.
Sounds like a fun and a great idea!