One of my biggest, baddest spending habits is to splurge on clothes, generally from thrift stores. I LOVE clothes and, even though I mostly shop secondhand, it still adds up. If you’re like me, then you might have accumulated a lot of clothes over the years. A lot of which just sit in the closet. One day I came across an event at one of my favorite herb shops in Santa Cruz (if you are in the area stop by Go Ask Alice for amazing tea options!), it was for a Buy Nothing clothing swap! I went and absolutely fell in love with the idea, so I decided to host my own!
The Buy Nothing clothing swap I hosted was mainly for adult women’s clothing, but a few attendees also brought kids clothing, you can specify what works for your event. Here’s how to host your own buy nothing clothing swap:
Buy Nothing Clothing Swap: The Step by Step Guide
The Planning Stage:
- Talk about it!! I told my colleague, Alisha, I wanted to host one and she loved the idea, plus had a bunch of clothes to contribute! She and I decided to host it together which helped me manage it and get the word out. I told several of my friends about the idea and asked them for feedback to garner interest and get ideas for how to run it.
- Next I figured out the details! Alisha and I decided to host it on a weekend and planned on doing it outdoors at a local park. This way moms could bring their kids and allow the kids to play while they checked out the clothes.
- I posted about the Buy Nothing clothing swap online. The places I posted included:
- My personal Facebook profile
- Several local Facebook groups I am a member in
- After posting the event online, a mom friend of mine who had just launched a nature based school said I could use her classroom for the event! She wanted people to find out about the school and wanted to support the event, it was a win-win. I then had to go back to all of my online postings and change the location. For future events, I recommend reaching out as much as possible beforehand so you have time to find opportunities like this! Once you post the details online it’s better if you can avoid going back to edit them.
- During the weeks leading up to the Buy Nothing clothing swap, I collected clothes from my own closet, my co-organizer, and other friends and family who were willing to donate. I invited others to drop off their donations the week before the event so that we could have everything laid out as much as possible before it started.
The Day of the Buy Nothing clothing swap:
- Time to swap! I loaded up my car with all of the clothing and met Alisha there 2 hours early to set up. We used fold out tables and laid all of the clothes on the tables. If you have a portable clothes hanger, bring it! We hung nicer pieces on the wall with a coat hanger on a thumb tack. We also put out a few snacks to share and some toys/coloring stuff for kids. I had my son with me the whole time and wanted it to be as child friendly as possible, since I was gearing this swap towards other moms. We made a big sign and hung it up outside the building on the street so people could see it as they went by.
- You will need to have a system for organizing clothes that people bring. I didn’t want attendees to just throw things onto the tables making it look messy. On arrival, I had attendees check-in and bring me their bags. I quickly looked at each clothing item to make sure it was clean, then half-folded it and set it on the table. There was almost constant reorganizing of the tables to make more space as new donations came in. I really appreciated having the help from my friend Alisha. If you can find someone to host it with you, definitely accept the help!
- Remember to enjoy it and get yourself some new-to-you clothes! It’s easy to get wrapped up in organizing and planning, but don’t forget about self care! It felt good to see so many happy mama’s leaving with big bags of clothes. Plus they were able to get rid of that donation bag that had been sitting in their closets for who knows how long. Most of the attendees ended up staying the whole 3 hours of the event. After checking out the clothing, they mingled while all of the children played together. Above everything, it was a great chance to make new friends and new connections!
Final Thoughts
The space: Think about how your event will be laid out. Does the event space have racks for hanging or tables where everything can be neatly laid out? Do you need to provide tables or racks? If so, who in your network might be able to loan you some?
Donations and rules for exchanging: How much clothing are you expecting to be donated both before and during the event? Will people be required to donate in order to participate? Will you ask attendees to layout their donations before “shopping?” Or will you take their donation and lay out the items while the attendees “shops?” You could ask everyone to donate their items in the 48 hours leading up to the event and layout everything before it starts. Will you have a limit on how much clothing attendees can take?
Overall, I’m so glad I organized the clothing swap. My best advice to organize your own is to talk to people about the idea as much as you can and take advantage of social media! A lot of people who came left me great feedback on the facebook event after the swap ended, which helped me get better ideas for the next one. Don’t be afraid to let people know feedback is welcomed. I had a blast doing all of this, from putting it together to the actual day of the swap. You can specify what you want as well, maybe do one for just childrens clothes, or both women and men. Anything is fine. I hope you are inspired and encouraged to organize your own clothing swap!
This sounds like a great way of getting rid of clothes you don’t want while finding something new to wear, although I image it could quickly descend into chaos if there aren’t a few people properly sorting out and arranging the donations