How to Throw a Successful Clothing Swap

New clothes are always a treat, but you might not always have a large budget to spend on a new wardrobe every season. A great way to get a great bargain on some new clothes is to have a clothing swap with your girlfriends instead. If you have some fashionista friends, read on to discover how you can throw a successful clothing swap.

Invite: In order to have a successful clothing swap, you need to make sure you don't invite too few or too many people. I would suggest inviting 5-10 people to your clothing swap. I believe having more than 10 people at the swap may make things more difficult and complicated. Erin Donnelly suggests inviting six to eight individuals to a swap party.

Consider Who You Invite: You also need to consider who you invite. For instance, you need to take everyone's size and style into account when making out a guest list. Inviting 4 women who wear a size 8 and one who wears a 14, for instance, wouldn't be a great idea or vice versa. Ensure that everyone will be able to fit into someone else's clothing so that everyone will go home with some new items.

Everyone Should Bring at Least so Many Items: Another tip for a successful clothing swap is to make sure everyone who is invited bring at least a certain number of items of clothes to swap. For instance, you could request that everyone bring at least three, four, or five items of clothes to swap. You could also make accessories, such as earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and shoes optional items to bring to swap with others at the party.

Have Refreshments: A good tip to throwing a successful swap party is to have refreshments. Food and beverages tend to entice people to come to events, which will be an added bonus to getting a bargain on the new clothes, of course! Make or purchase a couple of dessert items, have a vegetable tray, have some finger foods, and/or have some tasty fruit. Allow everyone to enjoy some refreshments and socialize before getting down to the business of the clothing swap. While the guests enjoy the refreshments, they can check out the clothes available for the swap in order to get an idea of what they might like to take home with them later.

Swapping: After you've had a chance to socialize with your girlfriends for a bit and everyone's had a chance to look through the clothes, put all of the clothes into the middle of the room. Have someone hold up each piece of clothing and describe it, including its size, color, design, what it is made of, any special care instructions it has, and so forth. After the item has been described, have everyone who is interested in that particular piece of clothing raise her hand. If only one person wants the item, she gets it. However, if two or more individuals want the item, Get Crafty suggests having each woman try the clothing on and model it for everyone to see. The group can make comments, but the website suggests that the group stick to positive comments and refrain from negative comments about how each woman looks in it. After each woman has tried on the attire, the group can vote on who should get the piece. Everyone closes their eyes and raises their hands to vote for which woman should get that particular piece of clothing.

Trade: After all of the clothes have been shown and voted on, give everyone some more time to socialize. This will allow each woman to think about what she has and whether she might want to trade it for something else. If she does, she may approach another guest and see if she would be willing to make the trade. For instance, you might realize that you don't really need those black pants you got, but you really liked the pink top someone else has. You can approach the other woman and ask if she would like to make the trade.

Donate: One final tip for a successful clothing swap is to donate any clothing items that are left. There will inevitably be some things that nobody is interested in taking home with them. Donate these items to your local domestic violence shelter, Salvation Army, or Goodwill store so that they may benefit someone else in need.

If you and your friends are fashionistas and want to get a bargain on some clothes that are new to you, try hosting a clothes swap. With these tips, you will be able to throw a very successful clothes swap where everyone will go home happy!

Sources:

Lemondrop: Off the Rack - How to Throw a Clothing Swap Party:
http://www.lemondrop.com/2009/02/23/off-the-rack-how-to-throw-a-clothing-swap-party/

Get Crafty: Naked Lady Party:
http://www.getcrafty.com/home_nakedlady.php