It's that time of year again.....for a clothing swap! I'm so happy that they have been holding these swaps almost quarterly, rather than twice a year. Since I'm a girl on a budget, these swaps really help me expand my wardrobe for only $5.00. (It also helps me keep my closet clear of items that I'm not wearing).
This past swap was a little bit different as they changed the venue to a high school's cafeteria, and had enough room for 300 swappers. (Yup, that's right, 300....there were so many clothes). This swap also had a $5.00 entrance fee....which let's face it, is a steal of a deal for clothes. Half of the money went towards the school's debate team and the other half went towards making the group a non-profit. If you are in the DMV area, (DC, Maryland, Northern VA), then check out Frugal Fashionista's clothing swaps! I won't be able to attend the next swap (June 15th), because of a family vacation, but I encourage you to look into it. If you aren't in the DMV area, I still suggest that you check out Meetup.com and look for clothing swaps in your area. I love this site because while it can be a dating website, it is more of a social site that connects people with similar interests.
This is the outfit that I wore to the latest clothing swap. The dress that I'm wearing actually came from my very first swap. Under the dress, I'm wearing a black tank top and black leggings...to make trying on clothes in a room full of people easier. There were some girls who were stripping down to their "small clothes", but I'm just not comfortable doing that in a room with 300 people.
I had this white belt on at first, but I wasn't loving the look. My original plan was to wear gray leggings, but I felt like they were too see-through to wear once the dress came off.
I went to the swap with two friends, and this is our haul. I was halfway to the swap, and realized that I forgot to bring my beach bag for carrying all of my clothes! (Hence the garbage bag). I was being proactive for this swap, and I had all of the clothes pre-sorted into small bags according to size. I won't forget my bag on the next round!
I was able to get two pairs of shoes from the swap....however I didn't take any out of my closet before the swap. Oops, now I'm short on space! Lol. The gold glitter pair of flats are brand new!
Here is my pile of clothing from the swap. It entails 2 pairs of shoes, 1 dress, one short dress/long shirt, 1 skirt, 3 shirts, 2 cardigans, 1 summer vest, 1 bracelet, and 1 necklace.
I forgot to mention that there were raffle prizes at this swap too! Multiple businesses donated items and gifte cards to the swap. Since my crew and myself were there early, we each scored two gift cards (one to a local jewelry store and the other to JustFab.com). All three of us actually won a prize from the raffle tickets as well.
This is the necklace that I won from the raffle. One of my friends won a necklace and a bracelet, and my other friend won a loose ruby valued at $600. Yes, you did read that correctly....and she was so excited.
The beautiful bracelet that I picked up at the swap. I couldn't believe that someone gave this up. It had a pink "sister" bracelet, but I gave it to one of my friends as I already have a pink bracelet and she didn't have any yet.
I have been wanting a long turquoise necklace for some time now. The man bought me a beautiful short turquoise necklace while we were in Jamaica, and now I have a longer version.
You might be wondering how in the world I can gather a minimum of 5 pieces of clothing and 2 accessories from my own closet for each swap. Well I'll share my little secret. Sometimes the items that I get from a swap don't work in my closet, no matter how hard I try. These items go back into my "swap pile".
Another way that I get items together is by helping others clean out their closets. Is it cheating? Maybe....but it's for a good cause. Any time that I hear of someone who is getting ready to clean out their closet, or already has done the deed, but hasn't donated their clothes yet, I try to get them to give me their clothes. Most people don't have a problem doing this since they were planning on already giving their clothes away.
I typically roll into the swaps with multiple bags of clothing and accessories by doing these things, and I usually walk out with less than I brought. However, since the clothes haven't all come straight from my own closet, it works out. The more clothing that we all bring in, the more clothing there is to go around!
Earlier I said that I did not take any shoes out of my own closet for the swap, so I didn't have any room in my closet for the new pairs of shoes. You may think, "That's not fair, you shouldn't take shoes if you didn't put any into the pile"....except that I did. I put shoes into the shoes pile for the swap...they just so happened to come from some else's closet. LOL.
I also try to look for items for the individuals that donate their clothes to me. I figure that getting them one item in return for the BAG of clothes that they gave me is the least that I can do.
If you live in the DMV area, please sign up for the next clothing swap! I'd love to meet up with you! (After the June swap that is). And there are also plus size clothing swaps for those that are XXL and over.
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