I Host a Clothes Swap to Upgrade My Wardrobe Without Spending a Cent (…Which Means FREE Clothes!)
Host a clothes swap to get new clothing for free!
One girl’s old sweater is another girl’s fresh find.
My friends and I love any excuse to get together for a girl’s night, but since we all lead pretty busy lives and like to be as frugal as possible, it’s hard to meet up for a night out with dinner and drinks. However, we’ve solved this dilemma by creating our own seasonal event full of fun, food & drinks, and fashion. The Clothing Swap.
In short, we all raid our closets for pieces we no longer love and would normally take in to donate. It helps that we do this seasonally so it’s a bit easier to pick out what hasn’t been worn during the past few months. Then, we all meet at one of our places with a bag of unwanted clothes, a bottle of wine, and a dish to enjoy.
After a quick catching-up session, we get right to the clothes swap…
We start by hanging the pieces so it’s easy to sift through everything available. At our latest swap, I brought up a wardrobe hanger that’s used for extra jackets and gear in the basement. This is *not* a necessity though, and you can lay out clothes in piles organized by tops, bottoms, dresses, or other clothing categories.
Then it’s on to “shopping”! We sift through each other’s pre-loved wardrobes with many of our clothes being new or barely worn (we’re all suckers for TJ Maxx impulse purchases)!
It’s not strictly for clothes either. We’ve shared shoes, purses, jewelry, and even home decor items that we’re no longer loving. I’m always surprised at the number of accessories I accumulate within a season so seeing how much of it I no longer want helps prevent future unnecessary purchases.
Once we’ve gone through the initial phase of shopping, it’s on to the auction.
This is when each piece is held up and the previous owner tries to “sell” it off by hyping it up. The auction is probably the most fun part of the whole night! It results in a loud and hilarious sales pitch and all the girls end up slewing out a million onlinepliments about how amazing someone would look in said outfit.
There’s still no money exchange involved, but the first person to claim the piece or make the case of why they should have it gets to add it to their takehome pile.
When it’s all said and done, some pieces just don’t make the cut so the leftover clothing items are taken to a donation center by whoever hosted the clothes swap.
We’ve had about 7 or 8 Clothing Swaps with fresh faces in each one—friends of friends often ask if they can onlinee because who doesn’t love free clothes?! I really just love this concept since it gives me and my friends a reason to get together with a frugal night in so we don’t have to overspend dining out. Plus, it forces me to purge my closet for unworn clothes and helps me cut down my shopping budget!
If you’re looking for an entertaining evening with friends, I highly suggest trying out a clothing swap party in your own home. Who knows, it may beonlinee your new favorite seasonal tradition just as it has for me!
Not sure which clothes to buy? Here’s how to build your capsule wardrobe!
