how to host a clothing swap

this past saturday, my sister and i hosted a clothing swap.  we invite our friends over and told them to bring any gently worn (or new) clothing, shoes and accessories that they're ready to part with.  there were six of us in total...and more clothing than we knew what to do with : )

if you're ready for a wardrobe makeover, i highly recommend swapping items with your friends.  i came home with two huge bags of new-to-me clothing.  my bags were full of clothes from anthropologie, j.crew, gap, banana republic, etc.  it would have cost hundreds to buy all that new!

kate, sara, ashlee, hannah, me, cate

so, if you're intrigued...here are some simple tips to make your clothing swap a success.

1. invite in advance.  give your girls plenty of notice so that they have plenty of time to sort through, find and organize what they hope to exchange.

2. make space.  be certain to choose a location (we hosted it at my parents' house) that has plenty of room to lay everything out.  that way you can easily see what everyone brought.

3. offer food...and cocktails.  hannah (my sis) and i made homemade french bread pizzas, salad and sangria and ginger lemonade.  it made the event much more festive and everyone appreciated the "lunch break" mid-swap.  (i was thinking about posting the pizza recipes tomorrow if you're interested...)

4. have bags handy.  make sure you have extra bags (we used reusable "green" bags) so everyone is able to easily gather their items and pack them for transport.

5. donate.  whatever is not swapped, donate.  simple enough : )

we all had a blast, and everyone left with tons of clothing that they loved.  we're already discussing when to host the next cool-weather swap, so we can stock up on fall/winter items.