Clothing Swap Parties: Yea or Nay?

April 27, 2009 07:00 AM | Comments (9) | Posted in look for less, free, clothing swap, clothing exchange

A clothing swap party sounds like a great idea on paper, but is it easier said than done? It could be a fun way to get rid of closet clutter and freshen up your wardrobe, or it could be a total disaster.

What if all your friends are different sizes? A gathering like this could just bring attention to this fact. A clothing swap also makes us think of that White Elephant gone wrong - remember when you gave up an expensive bottle of wine for a tacky snow globe? So unfair. However, in this recession, a clothing swap party can be an innovative and creative way to shop, assuming you’ve got the right group of stylistas in attendance.

So, what’s the verdict? Have you ever thrown or attended a clothing swap party? And if you haven’t, would you consider going to one if you were invited?

Kathryn on Wallet Pop on Clothing Swaps, Be Your Own Colorist, Ruche, Inner Style

March 18, 2009 09:00 PM | Comments (1) | Posted in web round up, clothing swap, kathryn finney, walletpop aol

Kathryn Finney is one of Wallet Pop‘s favorite experts on fashion!  Get their full take on saving (and even making!) money via clothing swaps.

Can you think inside the box, prep carefully and then commit?  Women’s Health wants you to Be Your Own Colorist.

Online shop Ruche has one of the prettiest look-books out there; check out their new Spring collection and their delicious photos!

Does your “outer style” speak to your “inner style”? As a stylist with a background in psych, You Look Fab asks: what do you say with your individual style?

Six Great Online Swap Sites

December 28, 2008 05:00 PM | Comments (3) | Posted in clothing swap, online swap sites, tbf tools

Recycling is in-not only in terms of the environment, but also in terms of fashion—and these sites are leading the online swapping community. Before trading your goods, you need to know a few things: be careful swapping used make-up, always ask for clear photos to help you assess the quality of the garment you’re swapping, and make sure you understand the shipping fees and dispute policies of the site.
 
Swapstyle.com. Possibly the most stylish-looking of the swap sites we’ve visited, SwapStyle.com is also probably the most well-known and frequently used. Super easy to navigate, categories include accessories, apparel, shoes, maternity, cosmetics, and even books. We found everything from a Macy’s party dress (value: $13) to a Prada handbag (value $1,200), and items can be for swap, for sale, or both. You have to register to use the site, but the registration process is pretty painless—to list items, however, there’s a subscription fee (apparently $20 per year, but the first year is free . . . )
 
MyFashionSwap.com. MyFashionSwap comes in a close section in terms of LOOKING like a fashion site, but of course a pretty package isn’t everything. We like this site—particularly the no-fee-basic-membership (you’ll pay small fees if you choose to utilize things like front-page or category features for their items)—but the number of items available at the time we browsed was pretty darn limited, and the browsing through pages was a bit frustrating as they didn’t always load properly after page 1. Hmmm. Still, the items we DID manage to view included things from BCBG, Theory, Marc Jacobs, etc. So we’ll try to be patient.
 
DigNSwap.com. Totally user-friendly, DigNSwap.com strips away all the fancy (read: useless) bells and whistles with a simple search or browse format, which brings you to pages with clickable thumbnails for de-lightful swap items like Stuart Weitzman heels and Marc Jacobs jackets. Listings give you all the basics—color, size, condition, etc. The selection is quite limited, but when the items are really good, it’s worth an occasional browse to see if you can find something in your size . . .
 
Rehash. Rehash takes an environmentally-friendly position on item swapping and, well, who can argue? Regardless of the angle, Rehash is primarily about books and clothing, and if you don’t mind browsing, we saw plenty of cute stuff to swap. There’s also a forum and a “question and answer” page, if you want to, well, talk about swapping, we guess.
 
MakeUpAlley.com. Makeup swapping? Sounds gross, right? Well, fortunately the idea of MakeUpAlley’s swap page is to swap all those hardly-used makeup and beauty items you bought that weren’t what you’d hoped, which, at least in theory, sounds like a reasonable idea. Maybe. While we’re not certain we’ll be using this particular swap site, we just wanted you to know the option was out there—the decision to swap lipgloss with a total stranger is ultimately up to you (in the FAQs, they do recommend only swapping unused mascara. Right.)
 
ChanceXChange.com. This is not a fashion/apparel swap site, but we’re pretty sure that all of us probably have other stuff cluttering up our closets (and basements, and lives) we’d like to swap out—on ChanceXChange, that means CDs, movies, books, games, and a few random miscellaneous items. So, if you have some oldies but goodies you’d like to unload—and/or you’re desperately seeking a copy of “The Santa Cause: It’s a Punk Rock Xmas” (seriously, it’s on there)—it’s totally free to register and swap so you have nothing to lose.

Have More Swap Sites? Add Them to the Comments…

Fashion Advice: How to Do a Clothing Swap

October 3, 2007 10:06 AM | Comments (2) | Posted in fashion advice, clothing swap, online clothing swap

Dear Budget Fashionista,

I was just wondering how you feel about clothing swaps. Have you ever been to/organized one? I have been trying to get one off the ground but since I’m a misplaced college graduate with no friends (everyone moved home) short of posting on Craigslist I have run out of ideas to get people interested. Any advice you have would be beyond helpful.

Answer: I think clothing swaps are fun! I’ve done clothing swaps before and I wrote about them in my book, How to Be a Budget Fashionista.

In order to get people interested I would pitch it more as a party/event than a clothing swap and start small (about 4 or 5 people) who happen to be about the same size and/or have similar fashion sensibilities. You wouldn’t want to invite someone with a ‘socialite’ style to a clothing swap full of people whose style tend to be ‘sporty’.

I would ask co-workers (although it could be weird) as well as check to see if there’s a clothing swap meet-up  in your area. If not, put one together and start to recruit new friends. Another idea is to see if a local thrift or consignment shop would be interested in hosting a clothing swap (with whatever hasn’t been swapped donated to the store), which may be safer than inviting strangers into your home.