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Did you ever raid your sister’s closet? Or your best friend’s? I did. My sister Jessie and I frequently shopped each other’s closets. Sometimes, the sharing came easily, but one time, I confess our swap became a heist. I say “confess” because it was me who did the heisting. I stole her favorite polka-dot romper and ran back to college with it before she could say anything.
This is not something I’m proud of. It was a souvenir from her time as an exchange student in France, so it was extra special to her. As I type this some 30-plus years later, I am ashamed for taking something so precious. Eventually, I returned it, and she graciously forgave me. Today, we share our memories of that romper, wistfully going on about it like it was “the one that got away.”
Thankfully, Jessie has reason to trust me more now. We continue to share from our closets without the thievery. From time to time, we send each other care boxes with things from our closets that we think the other might like. Years ago, I bought a jumpsuit that had the spirit of that French romper. I wore it a couple of times but sent it to Jessie as a mea culpa. I knew it would look amazing on her. There is something about white polka dots in navy that suits her. See below.
Swapping clothes is one of the best, most sustainable things you can do to clean out your closet. It’s also popular. When I had discussions with friends about sustainable strategies for cleaning out closets, clothing swaps came up time and again.
Host a Swap
Hosting a swap can be as easy as sharing with just one person you know well or having friends over for coffee with swaps in mind. My experience with clothing swaps has always been informal. You already know how my sister and I share our closets, but pre-pandemic, my blogging friends and I used to do this whenever we got together. It wasn’t organized, though. It just happened. Organizing a larger event brings more people to the party, which provides more opportunities for an eclectic swap.
According to Jen over at the blog Modern Frugality, hosting a variety of friends or opening your event to the community is key to a successful swap. She has created a complete guide for hosting a clothing swap, large or small. To start, she recommends deciding on a few swap party rules before the invitations and announcements go out, things like:
All clothes must be freshly washed and in good condition.
Require a minimum or maximum number of items to swap in order to participate.
Make clear which types of clothing will not be accepted, such as undies and pantyhose.
Once you’ve sent the invitations or posted information in public spaces about your swap, you will want to get organized. Will you need tables to make sorting and rummaging easier? How about signs for the type and size of the items on a given table? These are just a few considerations Jen points out in her blog post. If you’re ready to organize your own clothing swap, visit her blog for more tips.
Swaps in Your Community
If hosting isn’t your bag, poke around your community to see if someone else is hosting one. These events can be simple or grand and organized by individuals, non-profits, local businesses, and community organizations. Most ask participants to bring things to swap. Some are free, but many have a small entrance fee.
To find a swap event near you, start with Eventbrite. Once on the site, search for “clothing swap” or “swaps” in your area. I searched on that website for swaps across the United States in December and found at least half a dozen. Below are a few of them:
December 9 in Washington, DC: Thrift the District Sweater Weather Clothing Swap. $10 entry fee and up to 15 items to swap.
December 9 in Dallas, Texas: DFW VINTAGE SWAP MEET #18 Presented by SWAP CON. The entry fee is between $5 and $20, depending on the level of access you want and whether you want to be considered a vendor with a booth.
December 16 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota: Clothing Swaps for Creatives. $20 admission fee.
December 17 in Los Angeles, California: Fashion Share. $10 entry fee. Bring as many items as you want.
January 6, 2024, in Fairport, New York: Clothing Swap at The Hive. $15 entry fee and at least five items to donate. Anything left over gets donated to Dress for Success in Rochester.
Facebook is another good place to search for clothing swaps. If you have a neighborhood or community page on Facebook, go to the page and search “clothing swap.” Or search “clothing swap near me” in your favorite search engine.
Use an App or Swap Online
Thanks to the advent of whatever device you’re using to read this, there are ways to swap out your closet from the comfort of your home without going anywhere or hosting a single person.
Buy Nothing
Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller created the Buy Nothing Project on a beach in Bainbridge Island, Washington, when they saw how much plastic washed up on the shore. They write on their website, “We spent years collecting and inventorying those plastics and learned that they come from each of us, from our homes, our cars, our workplaces. They wash down our watersheds into our oceans. We started the Buy Nothing Project in an effort to stave off pervasive plastics in every ecosystem on Earth by encouraging each of us to Buy Less and share more.”
So, the Buy Nothing Project isn’t just about clothing swaps—it’s about sharing everything from kids’ toys to bike helmets to fruits and veggies from your garden to time and advice. It is a true, holistic swap that brings your community closer. It goes without saying that by participating in the project, the community uses fewer new resources and keeps the earth cleaner. Their website says it better than I can:
BuyNothing offers people a way to give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude through a worldwide gift economy network in which the true wealth is the web of connections formed between people. We believe that communities are more resilient, sustainable, equitable, and joyful when they have functional gift economies.
How does the Buy Nothing Project work?
To get started, download the BuyNothing app on your smartphone. Set up your profile with an introduction, including photos, so your neighbors get to know what you look like. Then, start posting anything you’d like to give away, lend, or share amongst neighbors. You can also ask for things you need. Or show gratitude to someone. The main rules for Buy Nothing: “Ask for anything you’d like to receive for free or borrow. Keep it legal. No hate speech. No buying or selling, no trades or bartering.”
If it sounds complicated, Buy Nothing offers free training and resources that help people get the most from their Buy Nothing experience. You can also search through their directory to see if there is a Buy Nothing group on Facebook or some other social media platform.
Swap Society
The founder of Swap Society, Nicole Robertson, gets how much you love fashion, and she wants you to keep on loving it, but she also doesn’t want us contributing more to landfills. She developed Swap Society to make it easy to mix up your wardrobe without hurting the earth. According to the company website, “Swapping keeps clothes out of landfills, lowers clothing footprints, and helps to abate the overconsumption of new textiles.”
Here’s a video featuring Nicole discussing her approach to Swap Society:
There is a membership fee of $20-$30 a month, so it’s not for everyone, but the fee covers shipping, whether you’re sending something to Swap Society or receiving something from them.
The site is similar to ThredUP in some ways but operates a little differently. Swap Society accepts all wearable brands and sizes that are clean and ready to wear. They want clothing to be kept in circulation for as long as possible. Sending in things from your closet earns you “SwapCoin,” which you can use toward other things you spy on the site that you can’t live without. If you want to buy something, everything is $5.99, plus SwapCoin. New members receive a welcome kit with a pre-paid mailing label to send in their clothes, and they get up to 200 bonus SwapCoin to get started.
PopSwap App
Created in Sweden but available worldwide, the PopSwap app is designed to help you share and borrow with friends you’ve known forever, as well as “Style Twins” you meet through the platform. According to PopSwap’s website, the app allows you to “create a virtual wardrobe, explore the wardrobes of other users, and connect with like-minded individuals who share your passion for sustainable fashion.”
From what I can tell, it’s as if Instagram and Tinder had a baby—you post photos of your wardrobe, you follow people, and people follow you, and the app connects you to others nearby who have the same style and, presumably, wear the same size. The app tracks the swap transactions you’ve made so that if you want your items back, you have a record of where they are.
With all these options, we can swap out our closets to our heart’s content and feel a little better about our carbon footprint.
Next week: clothing companies that want their clothes back, what they do with your castoffs, and how you (and the environment) can benefit. Don’t miss out on this resource for making your closet more sustainable. Subscribe if you haven’t already. And if you know someone who might be looking to swap their closet, please share!
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