Clothing Swaps Are Awesome, Seriously

I've written about clothing swaps before, but I just wanted to reiterate how great they are. I hosted one at my apartment with my NY friends just a couple weeks ago, and it was so much fun! Everyone traded wardrobe dead weight and left with something fun and "new" to play with. And we organized all of the leftover clothes for Goodwill!

I got a little invite happy, so it was a little intense having sixteen girls in such a small space. But that was probably why it was so much fun. There was a lot of laughing and girly screaming. Haha.
Erin and I will do a "how to" video on clothing swaps, but until then, here are a some instructions and tips.

Clothing Swap: Instructions
- Ask attendees to bring items that are still in good condition
- Setup an area on a large table or on a large rug for everyone to sit and put their items on display
- Don't expect to trade one-for-one. It's more fun if it's "take what you like, give what you like"
- Do a round of show and tell for everyone to show off what they brought and encourage people to "sell" the item. This part is fun and can get silly. "I love this shirt, but it's too small for me. It's a size small and could look cute cuffed up with high waisted jeans." "It's a nice dress, but I just never wear it. It's very comfortable and is easy to dress up or down." "I'm over this jacket, but it's in good condition and very warm!"

Clothing Swap: Quick Tips
- The more the merrier applies, but more than a dozen can get a bit crazy
- Encourage attendees to clean out their closets (items that don't fit, thing they don't wear, etc)
- Consider calling it a "Stuff Swap" and expand into other categories like cosmetics (samples, barely used products) or DVDs/CDs
- Have snacks or drinks so even if someone doesn't take home anything they can still have fun