Organize A Clothes-Swap-Party
Clothing Swap Party Ideas

A clothes-swap-party is a meaningful way to revamp your wardrobe. Gather your friends together to reduce carbon footprints and recycle-used-clothing you no longer want.

Why spend money needlessly when someone else can make use of perfectly good used garments?

Have a party and make an afternoon or evening of it.

What a great idea for families with kids of all ages, and especially for those with no more children to pass things onto, but want a change of wardrobe for themselves.

It's a wonderful opportunity to get rid of surplus clothing from your own home, get a change of clothes for yourself or your own children.

A clothes-swap-party is great for back-to-school kids' clothing needs.

Do you have relatives, friends, family or all three with small children?

All parents know about the cost of outfitting kids nowadays.

Considering the simple fact that children grow so fast and the really young ones hardly make much use anyway out of their outfits, especially good outfits like party dresses, good pants and good shoes.

How many times has your young child needed a pair of pretty party shoes or a party dress that won't be worn often, won't last more than a year because of size, but is too expensive to buy for that one occasion or two?

Many times we as parents have been caught suddenly needing that one blouse, or specific skirt for something going on at school and just don't have it on hand.

Ran into that problem myself once when my daughter needed a black skirt for a school band performance. Easy to find you might think? Not necessarily at the time.

Some items are like "the little black dress." Timeless, goes with anything and it never hurts to have one. You are sure to find an item like this at a clothes-swap-party perhaps for you or your teenager.

Host a clothes-swap-party for the opportunity to get new outfits and accessories without having to open your purse.

And, this idea isn't a good one only because of recycling or expense. Maybe your town just doesn't offer numerous shopping opportunities in terms of selection. Maybe you just can't find a certain size or the "look" that you're after.

Someone else just may have exactly what you are looking for, but they have no use for the item because their child has outgrown it now. Attend a clothes-swap-party if you hear of one and see what's available.

Trading clothes, or recycling used clothes especially after you've worked hard on organizing dresser drawers and cleaning out closets during the spring clean-out would be a good time.

What about towards the end of the summer when people are thinking about back to school clothes for their kids? There are lots of opportune times to organize a clothing swap party.

Ready to try it? How many people can you accommodate? You need to think about this especially if the people you invite ask if they can bring some friends as well.

Hey, the more the merrier, and the more variety and resources there will be.

Have people gather up the kids' freshly washed used clothing and gather their own surplus items too.

Just 20 ladies each can bring quite a large armload of clothing, or even boxes of clothing with them to trade, but do you have the room for all of this? It might be a better idea to just invite a smaller number of very close friends, and allow them to to bring a few guests to trade-used-clothes. Again, it depends what kind of room you have and only you know that.

You'll need to have the room to properly displayeverything, for people to walk around comfortably, and you should also have a place readily available for the ladies to try things on.

You may want to allow people to go into your bedroom where there is a mirror and good lighting. You may not.

Maybe you have a huge rec-room and you could arrange to have a mirror at each end of the room. That's an idea.

Be sure certain items indeed fit before deciding to take it. Everyone should have the best chance available to them to decide this in order to make a good decision.

Need a little mood music at your clothes-swap-party?

Have a little going in the background. A little light music always lightens the atmosphere for "shoppers" doesn't it?

Same goes for food. It is an "event" after-all, and could last a good number of hours. Be sure to provide some light snacks and refreshments. Don't be afraid to ask your friends to bring a little something to contribute. I'm sure they won't have any problem with that, and it does take some of the load off of the hostess.

tagged jeans Another thing to make known to your guests, is that this isn't a "freebie" in the true sense. They must bring contributions to the clothes-swap-party in order to take something home with them. Well, that's fair.

Personally, if it was me hosting a used clothing recyling party, I wouldn't set limits. I would feel the same way about this as I have hosting garage sales in the past. At the end of the day, I just "want it gone" from my house.

Afterall, I don't want nor do I have use for the items anymore. Some people though do want to set limits.

This idea may apply to a larger group and especially with alot of people you don't personally know well.

Certain items have certain values. In other words, a "fair" exchange rule is what some clothes swap parties abide by.

Items may be marked by a tagging method to ensure this. Granted, it wouldn't be fair either for one person to go around and scoop up all of the jeans when others want a pair or two as well. Hmm....you would have to come up with an idea of some kind, being in agreement at the start on "fair value."

For example, contributing a belt, wouldn't allow one to take home 3 bigger items. You may choose or not choose to come up with some type of process to avoid this type of situation. Perhaps a "voucher" system?

How about a direct trade system with the actual owners of the garments? Not sure...that could certainly put a limit on what people go home with. Again, the goal is to "get rid of it."

Sort the piles into groups by the type of item, sizes, seasonal, boy, girl, or color.

Be sure to have bags or small boxes available for people to carry their treasures home in.

Whatever works best in the space you have will be fine. Let people wander around, browse, and enjoy themselves.

ladies green purse

Don't Forget About The Accessories

Don't forget that this clothes-swap-party can include a variety of accessories as well. You could have tables for boots, shoes, hats, purses, and what about costume jewelry?

Now, I would be at THAT clothes-swap-party for sure. I think about how thrilled I am when my Mother or sister have gotten rid of costume jewelry they no longer want. What a treat to pick through these things. They are dull and boring to them, but all new to me.

And, it's FREE!

One more thing - Arrange for leftover items to go to a shelter or a church where surely someone can benefit.

At the end of day, hopefully the adults have a new variety of clothing items to wear, or their kids are well outfitted for awhile. Clothes-swap-party? It's a very good green idea for reducing our carbon footprints.

Leave Clothes-Swap-Party, Return To Fashion Carbon Footprint

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