5 Things I Learned from Hosting a Clothing Swap Party

After a recent rewatch of The Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants, I felt a longing for a sense of girlhood that I’ve been out of touch with lately amidst the humdrum of life. Long gone are my hopes of finding a pair of jeans that fit me perfectly, let alone three of my other girlfriends. But what I felt was within reach was the feeling of sisterhood that the leads of this movie so affectionately shared. Inspired by this early 2000s classic and a nostalgic urge to raid my sister's wardrobe, I decided to host a clothing swap party to fill my cup of fashion and friendship. 

So, after several evenings of sifting through my clothes, a few loads of laundry, and a frantic last hour of vacuuming and cleaning before the girls arrived, the little soirée came together, better than I could have imagined. My takeaways? So much more than just clothes. (Although, my newly procured knit tank that I’m wearing as I write this is pretty rad too). But here are my five takeaways that I can share with you. 

1. More is Not Merrier

If you’re thinking of hosting a clothing swap party, sending your invites is the first step. Give your friends enough of a heads-up to sort through their wardrobes. When it comes to the invite list, I believe that less is more. Even with only ten girls, if they each brought ten items, that would result in a hundred pieces of clothing floating about in my apartment-sized living room. 

Since I’m not a fan of swimming in a sea of clothes or chaos, I decided to keep our invite list tight and asked everyone to only bring the crème de la crème of the clothes they were willing to part with. In this case, more is not merrier, but still, be open to inviting folks outside your usual circle and those who sport a different style than you to ensure your swap is curated, yet sprinkled with variety. 

2. Love is in The Logistics

Speaking of a sea of clothes, let’s talk organization and other logistics. First up, presentation matters! No one wants a crinkly pair of old jeans haphazardly thrown over the couch, even if they are a pair of Levi’s. So, invest in racks, a steamer, and colour-coordinate your sections to make it easy to peruse. Keep the clothing seasonal, prop up as many mirrors as you can find (trust me, they will all be used), designate your bathroom and spare rooms as changing rooms, and don’t forget to set up cozy lounge spaces to collectively discuss how “fire” you look in your new finds. 

To lighten the hosting load, I enlisted a friend to curate the perfect clothing swap playlist and a true charcuterie connoisseur to lay out a stunning spread - and boy did they both deliver! For an added touch of love, I wrapped each piece headed to a new home in tissue paper with a little love note. Over the top? Yes. Memorable? Very. 

3. Lay Down The Law

You’ll need to establish a few ground rules, but be prepared for them to be kindly broken. For instance, our early evening soirée scheduled from 3 to 6 PM, ran well beyond its course with the last few stragglers leaving at 10:30 PM. If you’re having a good time and hosting the swap is about more than just the clothes for you, then expect it to last longer! However, there may be a few other rules you’ll want to enforce better than I did the closing time. 

I set two simple yet non-negotiable rules: First, everyone had to try at least one item on and show their look off to the other girls. Second, they had to eat something. This may seem self-evident, but I doubt the charcuterie or racks would have been so neatly cleaned out had I not explicitly set those expectations. Some may be shy, others hesitant to try on someone else’s clothing, and most could use a gentle nudge. If you're going to set rules, walk the talk. Be the first to try something on, strut your stuff in front of your gal pals, and don’t take yourself too seriously!

4. Swapping More Than Clothes

A clothing swap is a little like thrifting, but better. For starters, it’s free. More notably, instead of guessing the backstory behind the blazer I’m eyeing, I can ask its former owner. Yes, I now know a thing or two about the blazer, but more importantly, about the person. You can understand a lot about someone by both what they wear and what they don’t. The clothes we wear, or once wore, to present ourselves to the world are so interestingly tied in subtle or overt ways to who we are on the inside.

You see the dress your friend wore to her high school graduation and quietly nod recognizing the same sentimental need to hold onto things within yourself. You learn that the jacket you picked up in a middle-of-nowhere town nestled in British Columbia is the same middle-of-nowhere town your friend is visiting next weekend. You say, “What are the chances?” and hand them the jacket to take home, because if that isn’t a sign the jacket is meant for them, what is? You don’t just swap clothes, you swap stories and along with it trade little pieces of yourself. How refreshing for your clothes to have a story that is much more interesting than the brand name it is imprinted with.

5. Just Try It On

What I loved most about the afternoon (turned night) was how, without the concern of a price tag or the lurking presence of a sales associate, the girls were so open to trying on something outside the realms of their usual style: something a little sexier, a little shorter, a little edgier, or even a little frillier. It’s fun, and even liberating, to step outside not only our usual taste in fashion but also our ideas of ourselves, what we think we can or cannot pull off, and who we think we can or cannot be. 

Like our clothes, sometimes we hold on to our identities a little too tightly, knowing they don’t fit but still hesitating to let them go. But in the harmless pursuit of fun and with a room full of gals ready to hype you up, it’s easier and encouraged to try something new. You may like it, you may not, but regardless, you will learn something about yourself. Who knows? Florals might be your new thing! 

We wrapped up the night much later than anticipated, but the swap didn’t end there. In the days that followed, there was something heartwarming about receiving texts like, “Wearing your top to my networking event tonight, wish me luck x.” Somehow, in sharing clothes, we became interwoven into the fabric of the little moments that comprise each other’s daily life. And when you see your girlfriends out and about, rocking the clothes they've swapped with each other, it's like being privy to an inside joke only you know - a little like the secrets of a sisterhood.