Guest post from Jami Leigh Balmet
Hosting a clothing swap party can be a great way to purge your closet of all un-worn items, gain a new wardrobe and have a lot of fun!
If you are not familiar with clothes swapping, the basic idea is that you go through and pick all your clothing you never wear anymore, bring it to a party of girls and swap for their old-to-them-new-to-you clothing.
There are many different ways to host a clothing swap. Get together with some friends and decide which way works best for you.
- Advertise and make this a big event. Host it at your local elementary school or church.
- Invite a few close friends who you are comfortable with and make a fun day of fellowship out of it.
Here are some ways to get you started in hosting a clothing swap-
Lay down the rules:
- Make sure that everyone attending is aware of the rules. Specify that you want all of the clothing washed, folded and separated by kind BEFORE everyone arrives.
- Are kids welcome or are they better left with Dad?
Specify What To Bring:
- Are you all a group of mothers of toddlers? Then by all means have all the mommies bring their clothes and their kids clothes. Do all of your husband’s work in an office? Then bring on the suits and ties! Decide before hand and communicate to the gals what they are to bring.
- If you really want to make sure that your party is a hit, get everyone involved before the party. Set up a blog or private Facebook group where you can all meet up, share what you are bringing . You can even share some sneak peak photos of the fabulous items you are bringing.
- This way you don’t all show up with 10 pairs of jeans each and no tops.
Decide on Food/Entertainment:
- A clothing swap can be a fun day with the girls or it can be a fast two hour necessity to clean out old clothes and get some new. It all depends on how you approach the day.
- One idea is to cook a bunch of finger foods and have the girls snack away as they try on clothes. Or better yet, ask each gal to bring their favorite dish! You can also plan an afternoon tea or big lunch afterward to continue your day of fun. Whatever way you do it, make sure to plan ahead so you don’t end up with a house full of hungry girls and nothing to eat.
- Decide on and get music ready before the ladies start arriving. Put together a fun mix of music so that each gal can strut her stuff while she tries on clothing or a calming melody for a relaxing day with friends.
Get The Party Space Ready:
- Most likely this will be hosted at your house so make sure everything is in order. If it’s a large clothing swap then make sure you have two bathrooms clean and ready for use.
- Think about how comfortable this group of woman is together. If this is a new group of woman who don’t know each other very well then maybe let people pick what they like and everyone just takes their items home. Or designate a few clean rooms in your house as dressing rooms and let the ladies try on the clothing. If you really know each other then make your living room a “no men allowed” space and try on your clothes right there!
Decide beforehand where all the clothing will go:
- Will you set up tables throughout the living room? Everyone can just dump their shirts onto one table and jeans onto another?
- Do you have space that piles of clothing can be dumped and it’s a free for all?
- Having extra closet space or places to hang clothing would be excellent for tops and dresses
- With any group of women, it’s always important to know how to settle disputes. You may not think it will happen but inevitably, two ladies will pick the same item and love it. Come up with a fun way to settle the dispute such as trivia questions they have to answer.
- Make it fun and light!
- Decide beforehand how the order of picking clothing will go.
- Have everyone go in a circle and pick one item of clothing at a time. This is fair but also very slow.
- Allow each lady to take home as many items as she brought. I.e. if someone brings 20 pieces of clothing they get to take 20 home.
- Have a free for all and let everyone loose on the clothing, this usually works better when everyone is good friends.
- The bottom line? Have fun! A clothing swap can be a fun and productive day for everyone. Don’t let it stress you to host it. Ask the other ladies to help out and bring food.
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Jenni says
I love this idea! 🙂
TyKes Mom says
Great idea! I am in desperate need of a closet cleaning. I have clothes in there from pre-mommy days, as well as maternity clothes, post baby clothes and clothes I would kill to fit in again. Time to purge!