Non Consumer Girl

Recently, I went with a girlfriend to a Clothing Swap Party, called Frock Swap.

The basic principle of a clothing swap party is that women bring unwanted items of women’s clothing or accessories that were either new or near new to swap for something that they did want. No money changes hands.

A couple of days prior, my girlfriend and I had gone through our “archived” clothing, being purchases that we had made and when we had gotten home, decided that the colour or cut or design didn’t suit, or that we had grown out of prior to being ablge to wear it! Or that what had seemed like a bargain at the time, really wasn’t because it really wasn’t our style. I had seven items, my girlfriend had five.

We turned up at about 6pm, it was raining, so we made a dash for the party clutching our roped bags of our unwanted clothing.

We could bring up to 6 items in to receive 6 tokens. When we arrived at the Party, we found that we were among the first. We gave up our clothing mistakes, they were scrutinised by the party organisers, and then we were given our tokens.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that there were refreshements of the sparkling kind to get us in the mood! There were also an assortment of quality cheeses, grapes, sliced fresh summer fruits and crackers. So we relaxed in the courtyard while the partygoers arrived.

For about 45 mins, women arrived in their packs, er i mean groups, chatting giggling and there was an expecant buzz in the air.

The rules were that the swap didn’t start until all clothing had arrived. The clothing was arranged on hanging racks according to type: pants on section, dresses on another, tops on another, skirts on another.There were also some tables, with near new shoes, boots, handbags, necklaces and bangles.

About 10 mins before the swap started, we were told that we were now allowed into the clothing area, and we could browse the racks. But we couldn’t try anything on until the swap started.

Unfortunately, there were about 4 or 5 women who just grabbed an armful of clothing and held onto it ( can you believe!) One of the party organisers saw a couple of the women, and insisted that they hang the clothes back on the rack to be fair to everyone. However, there were a few women standing near me who were holding armfuls of clothing prior to the swap starting.

Go! The swap started, and it was quite fun browsing through the eclectic assortment of colours, fabrics and styles.

I found a lovely dress. It fits perfectly, and is finished with a satin sash. I will get a lot of wear out of it.

My girlfriend found a lovely silk wraparound skirt. She is very tall and lean, and it looks just perfect on her and are in her colours. She also found a lovely summer woven multicoloured handbag. I had admired it in the browsing time too, but had forgotten about it when I found the dress.

I was very satisfied, as I thought if I came home with 1 item that I really liked after bringing 7 unwanted items that I would never wear, then it was a success!

Before the swap ended, I did a quick visual sweep of the clothing racks, to see whether my unwanted items had found a good home. I was happy and just a little bit relieved! that what were my mistakes had been a “find” for someone else.

We found a coffee shop afterwards and have a lovely chat and catch up to finish off our fun evening!