If you took a look inside my closet, you would see that I don’t have a lot of clothing to begin with.  My partner’s portion of our closet is filled with much more clothing. Despite the fact he keeps saying most of it is ugly, he doesn’t bother to get rid of things he doesn’t like or wear anymore.

Closet Purging

A few months ago, my sister helped me do a closet purge. Since she is the more fashionable one, the purge felt like something right out of a “What Not to Wear” episode. I tried to justify keeping some articles of clothing and a few things she said were: “Get rid of it.” “You have too many hoodies and too many things with flowers on them.” “That’s ugly.” After we were done, my closet looked even emptier, but at least it was filled with clothing I wore quite often. The clothing I had gotten rid of was donated to the Salvation Army.

Clothing Swap

Another great way to get rid of your clothing is have a clothing swap amongst your friends. It forces them to clean out their closet. However at the same time, it may give them an excuse to buy some new clothing. 😉

A good friend of mine held a clothing swap a couple of times. Everyone brought clothes, bags, shoes, jewelry and accessories such as belts and scarves that they didn’t want any more to the clothing swap. Even if your friends are not similar in size, they could still try on certain accessories and check out the hand bags.

It was a lot of fun trying on different clothes and the best part was not having to pay for the “new” (new in the sense that it’s something different for you to wear) clothing you could add to your wardrobe collection. The clothes that didn’t get snatched up were donated to a local charity.

Clothing swaps are a great way to get rid of clothing, get some new clothing and a frugal way to spend time with your friends and perhaps make some new ones.  I found the clothing swap was a nice change from having the usual potluck or movie night. What made it even better was that because it was a free swap, if I didn’t find anything I liked or that fit, I didn’t feel bad.  Most of all, I enjoyed the friendly fashion advice from other guests.

Here are a few tips I picked up from the two clothing swaps I went to:

• Although this may seem obvious, I still think it’s a good idea to remind guests that the clothing they bring should be clean and in relatively good condition. Ask yourself if you would want your friend to wear this. Besides, what fun would it be to look through clothing full of holes, tears, and stains?
• Like any party invite, give them a decent amount of advanced notice to give them time to clean out their closet.
• Space is key. Make sure you have a lot of space to display the clothing and people aren’t crammed together while they try on clothes.
• Have decent lighting and a full length mirror or two in which guests can see themselves in the entire outfit.
• Display accessories on a table.
• Group similar types of clothing together and if possible within that group, separate the clothing based on size, making it easier to sort through. This is especially useful when you have a large amount of clothing.
• Make it more fun by serving some light refreshments and snacks. Food at any gathering is a must! (At least for me it is).

Have you ever hosted or attended a clothing swap?