It’s economical, friendly to the environment and (let’s be honest) a whole lot of fun! If you’re sick of what’s in your wardrobe or just need a refresh, clothes swap parties will be your new best friend.

How many times have you looked through your clothes convinced that you have absolutely nothing to wear? We think it’s safe to say that we’ve all been there. Despite the shoes, tops and scarves bulging out, we are all guilty of getting bored of wearing the same piece of clothing over and over again.

Why host a party?

First and foremost, it gives boredom the flick. It’s a fun and easy way to update your wardrobe, where the only expenditure may be alterations to make your new clothes fit perfectly.

Secondly, it’s economical. While we’d all love an unlimited budget to buy all the clothes and shoes in the world, this just isn’t the case for the vast majority of people. This means updating our wardrobes will often come down to affordability. A clothes swap party won’t cost a cent (except for maybe some delicious cocktails) and is a fun way to catch up with friends.

Finally, it’s better for the environment. By swapping, rather than buying, you’re encouraging others to reuse and recycle rather than throw items away. In fact, swapping, rather than buying a new pair of jeans, will save you more than 6000 litres of water.

Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week is an amazing reason to get your friends together and encourage everyone to reuse and recycle. Moving away from ‘fast fashion’ and making clothes last for longer periods of time (rather than throwing them away) is a great way to reduce consumer impact strain on the environment.

Where to start…

The first step is to choose who you’ll invite. It’s best to invite people with a broad spectrum of shapes and sizes. Make sure that all shapes and sizes will be catered for at the event. You don’t want anyone to feel left out and not have anyone to swap with!

Another option, if you can’t make sure that every attendee will have clothes swapping options, is to host an accessories swap. Rather than clothes, invite people to bring along jewellery, scarves, shoes and handbags.

Some clothes swapping guidelines

Remember, it’s not a free-for-all. There need to be some ground rules in place, especially when it comes to the condition of the items.

We recommend only pieces in good to excellent condition. This means washed, clean and with no tears or rips (unless they’re part of the design, of course).

It’s also wise to put a recommendation on the number of pieces people should bring. If someone brings 15 items and another only brings five, the playing field can be a little unfair.

Consider setting up a system so each person gets fair time to look through things and choose his or her items. There are a couple of ways you can do this:

• Draw straws to see who shops first and then in what order the rest of the attendees go in. In this case, limit the number of items each person can choose so there is still ample items for the next guest.
• Give guests time to peruse the selection, and then it’s free for all (within reason of course). If you’re all friends, perhaps talking it out may be the best option.  Two people eyeing off the same item, consider fun ways to choose, such as a ‘model-off’. If all else fails, flip a coin.

Finally, if you want to share the costs around or at least keep them down, get every guest to bring a plate of snacks or some drinks – then, you can really make it a party.

Setting up clothes swap party

A clothes swap should be fun, and a pile of clothes in the middle of the floor just isn’t that.

Consider purchasing a reasonably priced clothes rack that you can hang items off. Alternatively, you can hire one or use an empty cupboard. If you can, sort clothing by size so it’s very clear what will and won’t fit each attendee. Or alternatively, you can categorise them further by season or style, and then into their corresponding size order.

Set up a place for all the accessories. If you’re using a single table, grab some shoe boxes to create different levels so you can style the accessories in different ways.

Ensure you have a dedicated ‘try-on’ area (for larger parties, consider having two). If you can, try to include a full-length mirror in this spot so guests can properly see how they look in things.

The aftermath of clothes swap

It’s highly likely that once everyone has taken home their goodies, there may be some need for alterations. Make sure everyone’s new clothes fit them perfectly. However, as the outfit was free in the first place, this is a small price to pay for some stylish new pieces pieces. Also make sure that if there are items left over, they’re donated to charity. Remember – reduce, reuse and recycle as much as you can!

If you’re thinking of having a clothes swap party, be sure to take your new threads into a Looksmart Alterations store in Australia and New Zealand to have them expertly fitted by our experienced tailors. We’ll have you look like a million bucks for a lot less!