Two Fridays ago a few friends and I finally made it out to a local clothing swap we've been meaning to get to for months. I had accumulated two reusable totes bursting with things I no longer wear, in the six months we've been "meaning to get there".
When I was in college my floor had a box in the corner of the hall where we put clothes and things we didn't want anymore. It was wonderful to have this ever changing constant free box. I tried new styles when ever I wanted to. After I graduated, I no longer had the free box, or a community of women to share clothes with. I miss the ability to easily and freely give and receive new clothes.
So a while ago I searched online to see if there were any swaps in my city. I found a blog listing several, and I began to save clothes excitedly instead of shipping them off to goodwill.
On that Friday when we we finally able to go, we were late. It was in a conference/community room in the back of a New Season's Market. We asked a checker where the room was, and cautiously found our way to the door. I opened it, and we plunged in. It wasn't as organized as I'd anticipated, just a pile of clothes in the middle of the room. We dumped ours in, and began to pick through what was left. I found a few things (pictured above), all in good condition. My friends weren't as successful, perhaps the good items in their sizes were gone before we got there. We stayed for about 15 minutes, and then went out and got some food in the cafe.
I'll still be looking for "my swap", however it was a great night out with friends. We had an adventure and sat and talked after for a nice long time. I enjoyed feeling community with the swap ladies, and with my friends afterward. Overall I'm really glad we went, and I'm enjoying my new items.
I encourage you to look for clothing swaps in your area, or ask ladies you know if they know of any. If you're in college or you know enough ladies, organize your own! If you live in the Portland area, this is the website I used to find this swap: https://swappositive.wordpress.com/
When I was in college my floor had a box in the corner of the hall where we put clothes and things we didn't want anymore. It was wonderful to have this ever changing constant free box. I tried new styles when ever I wanted to. After I graduated, I no longer had the free box, or a community of women to share clothes with. I miss the ability to easily and freely give and receive new clothes.
So a while ago I searched online to see if there were any swaps in my city. I found a blog listing several, and I began to save clothes excitedly instead of shipping them off to goodwill.
On that Friday when we we finally able to go, we were late. It was in a conference/community room in the back of a New Season's Market. We asked a checker where the room was, and cautiously found our way to the door. I opened it, and we plunged in. It wasn't as organized as I'd anticipated, just a pile of clothes in the middle of the room. We dumped ours in, and began to pick through what was left. I found a few things (pictured above), all in good condition. My friends weren't as successful, perhaps the good items in their sizes were gone before we got there. We stayed for about 15 minutes, and then went out and got some food in the cafe.
I'll still be looking for "my swap", however it was a great night out with friends. We had an adventure and sat and talked after for a nice long time. I enjoyed feeling community with the swap ladies, and with my friends afterward. Overall I'm really glad we went, and I'm enjoying my new items.
I encourage you to look for clothing swaps in your area, or ask ladies you know if they know of any. If you're in college or you know enough ladies, organize your own! If you live in the Portland area, this is the website I used to find this swap: https://swappositive.wordpress.com/
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