Some families are looking to clean out the clothes they no longer use, and they bring boxes of clothes in, sometimes leaving with just one or two “special” things. Other families are really in need of clothes, and come with little or nothing, but leave with bags of clothes. Others bring what they took last season, for another family to take this time, and bring home another seasons worth themselves to start the process again.

And it is fun to look forward to seeing everyone and saying hi to new folks who join us.

Our clothing swaps were featured on June 5, 2009 on NBC Nightly News – Making a Difference. It is a short video. Here is the link
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/31131921#31131921

A web page to teach you how to start swaps of your own. http://swap.nobucks.net/

It is so fun listening to kids ask their mom “Can I buy this?” knowing mom can easily say yes.

I have had a great time hosting these swaps for the last ten years.

One I attended was at a coworker’s friend’s, full of gorgeous women, whose style and bodies I envied … and not one person was anywhere near my plus size. I made off with a great purse and necklace, so I wasn’t terribly disappointed. The second I attended had tables labeled for each size, so it was a breeze browsing. They also charged 50 cents for anything you took, and it went to charity, so people were less grabby and more selective.

The first one I hosted was invite-only, and everyone reported success finding at least something — we had plenty of purses, scarves, and jewelry for the people who didn’t have a match in size (I wear 22/24, one friend is a 0, lol)

The 2nd however was a disaster. We opened it more to the public (friends of friends of coworkers, etc) and the quality of clothing was awful — stuff that wouldn’t even sell at Goodwill. Some women grabbed all the expensive things to sell at their garage sales, instead of the original purpose of helping friends refresh their wardrobe. I was furious!

Furthermore, I had people drop off donations early so I could put them in different corners of the room according to size, so it would be easier for groups of S/M/L/Plus to find their treasures. It took me two hours to set up, and when everyone had left, it took 8 people over an hour to box it all up and fill my station wagon for the Goodwill (there was soooo much that nobody wanted!

For all that work and stress, I didn’t find a single thing I wanted. The women my size weren’t my style, and the purses/jewelry got scooped away before I could even look through it. Some low-life brought nearly-empty bottles of cheap body spray, like the Christmas crap you get from KMart.

What I learned is to keep it friends-only so people don’t feel like they can anonymously screw everyone else. I’ll be adding other rules, like: If you wouldn’t give it to a friend, it doesn’t belong here (nice stuff only!) No taking things to sell, it must be for your personal enjoyment (until everyone’s had a chance, then the leftovers are free to take.) Please try to take a fair amount compared to what you brought (one lady brought a couple ugly t-shirts from various casino give-aways and walked away with a dozen of my nice work blouses.) No kids clothes, and you must bring a dish for potluck dinner.

Third time might be the charm, and I’ll do it closer to fall when the wardrobes change for the season and closets are due for a refresh.

DeeBee

We have some local charity shops – People for Pride in Living, Silver Angel (which despite the name benefits a local neighborhood organization elderly services program).

And then there are for-profit chain thrifts like Unique, Savers, ReNew.

I’d be interested in hearing how other people have set up their swaps. I’ve always found it a bit manic when people start pulling through the different piles.

Everytime I wear those clothes, I feel good inside because I know it was FREE. =)

I haven’t hosted one myself yet, but went to one. Thanks for the tips!

A neighbor of mine did a riff on this. She was a killer sale shopper–I never knew anyone who could find nice clothes at 80% off the way that lady could!

First, she’d go through everyone in her family’s closets and cull out everything she’d bought the previous season. These, she would take to Buffalo Exchange, where would collect a handful of cash for the lightly used clothes. Anything B.E. wouldn’t take, she would donate to Hadassah for a tax deduction.

With fresh money in her purse, she would head for the last-chance sales, where she bought all new stuff for herself, her husband, and her kids. She said she effectively paid nothing for the family’s clothing.

Everyone in the family always looked nice.

It just doesn’t work for me. I dislike shopping in sales, especially off the bottom-of-the-barrel racks where she gravitated. All I can see there is the purple, black, and green polka-dotted nylon dresses. The stuff’s on sale for a reason! Same thing with thrift shops: if you find something you like and that appears to be clean and unstained, it doesn’t fit. You need to have a LOT of patience to shop this way!

Our local Goodwill WILL take stained, damaged clothing – just make it as “Salvage” to save them the time of sorting. I do this a few times a year!

My biggest challenge is finding Secular thrift and consignment stores. We had a children’s consignment store locally that many Moms raved about that I just couldn’t shop at because of the owner’s beliefs. My first and last time in the store I overheard the owner stating that God created the Earth and all it resources for humans to use up completely and quickly, before the coming Rapture. I really wanted to ask “Ok, then why are you running and profiting from a resale store?”

But hey, I really like the idea. If people have clothes they don’t wear, might as well let the friends share

Better even than donating, becuase you get something, hopefully more useful, in return.

Anyways, check your local university website. I would think most host them around mid-late Aug. when students return, but before classes start so they can do back to school shopping there. Arrive early though, often the line forms hours before the sale starts.

I’ve had great experiences being a part of two swap networks. I go with the attitude of getting rid of stuff, so anything I get is a bonus. Sometimes I get nothing, sometimes score. Trying stuff I wouldn’t spend money on has been fun. While I don’t get all my clothes this way, it’s a great supplement.

This has mostly worked with our younger children, who don’t really care if they try the stuff on first.

- As a guy who works in an office, most of the clothes I need are office attire. Most men wear their office attire until it wears out – I know I do (most shirts last 1-2 years). Not much reuse there.

- Men’s sizes are more specific than women’s sizes (for some irrational reason), so it’s harder to find stuff that fits – even if I go to a big thrift store, I can’t usually find much.

HOWEVER, shopping for kids clothes (especially little kids) at yard sales and consignment sales can save you a bundle. I don’t know why you’d exclude these from your swaps, unless very few of you have kids. My daughter outgrows stuff way faster than it wears out.

What is your inseam?

If it is >34″ I would suggest Long Elegant Legs (http://www.tallwomensclothes.com/). It looks like they don’t have anything your size in suits right now, but their slacks go down to size 4 and you could easily pair it with a jacket. They carry mostly 36″ inseam with some available in 38″.

If you are comfortable with 34″ inseam I would start trolling through the JCPenny site. It is brand specific and you might have to do some research but a number of brands have extra-tall length of 34″. I seem to remember most tall in store is 32-33″ and regular is 30-32″.

Otherwise I would go talk to someone at Men’s Warehouse. It seems counter intuitive, but they have some very affordable slacks that can look very nice with minor adjustment for your hips and waist. The people there are very helpful so you won’t spend hours going through racks (and I was told they deal with PLENTY of tall women so they shouldn’t give you strange looks). Their tailoring is done on site and you can bring them back for free adjustment if they did the initial modification.

When we graduated I got an LEL suit and DH got a Men’s Warehouse mix/match set that needed a LOT of adjustment (his thighs were huge compared to his waist). We were both very pleased with the outcome. But ultimately to look right you’ll probably have to spend a little or find someone who can offer hand me downs that can be altered. At my smallest I was a 12 (damn my hips) or I’d offer you mine to have adjusted.