Swishing - Refreshing your wardrobe for free!

I was quite excited about this blogpost. Because swishing is one of my favourite things. It is essentially clothes swapping. I've done it with just a couple of friends, a houseful, and even as a charity fundraiser in church or school halls.

I shared a picture of my wardrobe on a previous post, of the 35 dresses in there, 18 of them were swished!

 

It can be difficult for us to think that the things we have tired of, or bought and never worn, will be of interest to anyone else. But one girl's trash really is another girl's treasure. I, for instance, was more interested in fitted tops and jumpers this time. I have enough dresses, as you can see! So it's not all about bringing the fanciest or most expensive clothes.

 

This weekend I invited a few friends round. We had a glass of wine, some snacks, a natter; generally just a lovely evening together. Plus we all went home with some "new" clothes!

 

I had a serious clear out beforehand, resulting in 2 huge bags of clothes to swish. I find I am more ruthless when gathering clothes for swishing than if I'm just taking to the charity shop. Perhaps it's knowing that they will be replaced with other clothes, but either way it does make me more focussed on getting rid of what I don't need. I've been reading a book about tidying and have realised that half the clothes I wear are my "that'll do" clothes. I own lots of things I love, so the mediocre stuff had to go!

 

I should really have taken some pics last night but to be honest we were all too busy trying on each others clothes and talking. The way we work it is take a bag at a time and sort of show each item, if someone's interested they take it, try it, think about it, and if they don't want it either pass it along or put it in the 'no' pile. There is no shame in having your stuff in the no pile! We all have different styles, are different sizes. I guess you could feel a little exposed sharing your clothes with everyone but surely it's better to give those clothes a change at a new life than festering in the back of your wardrobe?! And if you didn't want to do it that way, you could always throw everything in a pile and just take out things which interested you. I think we just like to make sure we get a good nosy at everything!

This dress, for example, is divine. I need to work on my photography skills! It was my sisters, the pattern is lovely. But it wasn't right for any of us. Inspired by the sewing bee I MIGHT have a go at adjusting it for Little Miss Poppins.

 

I didn't take a whole lot last night, I'm trying really hard to cut down on clothes. But I did get a couple of jumpers, few tops, some shoes, and this totally gorgeous scarf which I just can't decide how to wear!

 

 

If you've never tried swishing, I'd really recommend it. You might be surprised at some of the things people get rid of. One of my favourites is this jacket (photo courtesy of Ebay). My friend had it in her wardrobe for ages, but the length wasn't quite right for her and she thought it was a bit fancy. I wear it on the school run regularly and it just makes me feel fab!

 

If you've tried swishing, I'd love to know how it went. Or if you've other ideas or ways of doing it, please share! What are your best swishes?