Clothes Exchange

Ladies, do you find yourself constantly complementing your friends and wishing you could raid their closets? Perhaps it's the other way around, are your friends constantly complementing you and asking you were you shop? Or maybe you're just a shop-a-holic like in the case of Michelle and I and are in desperate need to get rid of old clothes and accessories to make room for new clothes and accessories. Well, here's a fabulous suggestion: Clothing Exchange Party! It's not just a fun excuse to get together with your girlfriends, it's also a fantastic opportunity to score some goodies for FREE!

So here is how it works: Pick a date for the event. Sort through your clothes, set apart the "never wear", "too old" and "doesn't fit" items and ask your friends to do the same. (please make sure the clothes you are planning on giving away is laundered and ironed/steamed) Then everyone gets together with their unwanted goods and you can either neatly hang the clothes up, a la boutique, or lay them out on tables (depending on how much room you have to work with). Point is you want to make it look appealing and not have people feel like they are sorting through someone's laundry.

We have attended a couple of these and normally they are organized by garments: Dresses in one area, skirts in another, pants, blouses, coats, jewelry, shoes, you get the idea. (I have heard of parties taking it a step further and even organizing by size) It is also helpful to have a designated room or space, equipped with a mirror, available for anyone who wishes to try things on.

Everyone tries to offer to bring snacks, appetizers, finger foods and the sort. Keep in mind, you will most likely be trying things on, so it's probably not the best idea to have a full blown dinner. And of course no girl's party is complete without dranks!

Cotton Candy Martinis

The girlier the better!

Once all guests have arrived and are settled in, it is time to shop! Now, we normally don't set any rules because everyone is very respectful and courteous of each other. However depending on your particular group or preference, you may choose to have ladies pick in turns or only allow them to take equal to the amount of items they brought.

If you're the host, it is a good idea to have some shopping bags handy or simply re-use the ones guests used to bring their clothes in.

At the end of the event, there are bound to be left over items, which normally the host or a volunteer will gather and donate to Goodwill or another second hand store of their choice.

Now, we were just so excited about our finds from the last exchange party we attended that we wanted to share with all:

We hope this has inspired you to throw a clothing exchange party of your own.

:) 

Love,

Lesli and Michelle