I just got back from the Clothing Swap and Fundraiser that I organized with a friend some months ago. This was the first clothing swap I've ever been to, and I had such a blast. Many of the women thanked us for putting it on.
My friend and I had this idea since we have such an awesome group of women friends. Unfortunately, one of our friends, who was always the life of the party and always supported women's gatherings, passed away from cancer around this time last year. Her children are riding in the Ride to Conquer Cancer in June, so we made the Clothing Swap a fundraiser for them. Everyone was to bring 5-10 pieces of clothing and donate a toonie (two dollars in Canuck parlance) for each item they took away [most women, myself included, brought much more than that]. We had a dozen women show up and we raised $162! Which means that 81 pieces of clothing changed hands in a little under two hours!
On the first go-round, we were to pick a piece for someone else! The first person to choose picked something for me! She chose a vintage apricot-coloured swing coat, which I love. I was second and selected something for one of my co-workers. I must know her well, because I picked out a skirt she had brought! So I put it back and the second skirt that I selected was one that she loved. As far as I know, everyone kept what had been chosen for them! Then it was basically a free-for-all; women picked out their own clothes and friends pushed clothing on other friends. We all had to go by the rack several times, to see what other women were discarding. Collective gasps were heard when we tried on the right style and right colour.
We held the Clothing Swap in the common room of our local women's centre (I am on the Board of Directors). While we were ripping off our clothing and running around in underpants, I thought that anyone who happened to look in the window would think "typical weird commie feminists!" [although we all had bras on; that feminists burned their bras in the 1960s is just an urban myth!]
Besides my vintage coat, I came away with 5 sweaters, 2 blouses, 1 long-sleeved t-shirt, and 1 kilt. Since we had such a blast, we are going to make this an annual fundraiser. It really didn't take much time to do at all. We just had to invite about 20 women, buy some wine and cracker and hummus, set up a clothing rack, and clean our closets out.
I highly recommend doing the same!
2 comments:
That clothing swap sounds like so much fun! I wonder if it's something I can organize for work as we do a lot of fundraiser as it is.
See you at dinner on Friday. Give me a call once you're in town! Can't wait to see you and Hus (and Rufus).
Yes it was a great time, and so easy to organize. Just make sure that there is a mix of pears and apples! Besides me, most of the rest were apples, so I was out of luck in the pants department!
See you tomorrow.
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