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Pony: Clothing Swap
10.24.2005
I went to a massive co-ed clothing swap last night at Julia's gallery.
On saturday, Kiff and I sorted through many piles and shelves of clothes (achoo!) and ended up with two massive garbage bags.
I own seven black sweaters. Do not let me buy any more black sweaters.
I found good homes for most of my favourite cast-offs, and picked up a few small items I really needed, including: A flattering swimsuit (never worn), a dress to wear on top of pants, a plaid bathrobe, and a cowboy shirt that will surely find its way into the next swap, but for now i love it.
Clothing swaps are mad, delirious, half-naked fun. After an hour we invited the guys to come in, too, but by that point we were all wearing crazy ensembles of dresses and pants and hats and belts, bleary eyed with rag-picking, and cooing: "looks so GREAT on you!" to everyone in front of the mirror.
Here is how you have a good swap:
1)Go through your clothes. Be ruthless. Part with stuff you "might" fit into one day. Or that you haven't worn in more than a year. Let it go. The key to a clothing swap's success is having some really nice stuff that other people might actually wear, not just the ugly items few will love. Don't bring mouldy stuff that has been sitting in the basement.
2) At the swap, sort stuff into piles of pants, skirts, tops, sweaters, and misc.
3) Invite people of different sizes. Make sure there is more than one skinny person so that her clothes can find a home. Try not to be jealous of the person who looks great in everything.
4) Don't hoard stuff in a pile unless you absolutely love it. Everyone is entitled to a couple of grab-and-hide items. But this is not Filene's basement. If someone else likes what you have tried on, let them have a chance to try it one too. Let the others decide who it suits best.
5) Invite someone with a car so that you can drop the unwanted stuff at a goodwill. This is very important, because no one wants to end up with an apartment full of dusty rejected clothes.
Tips: Piles of dusty clothes will make you sneeze. Take an antihisthamene before you get there. Be gracious. Leave with less than you came with.
