Hello, my name is Cheryl and I am an impulse sale shopper. Quite often, I will grab something that is on sale but isn’t 100% what I am looking for. It is either too short in the sleeves (“But I can roll them up!!”- But then they don’t fit right), too short of a hem (“Of course I can wear leggings under it!” –Except that I won’t), or just not me (“Seems like everyone is wearing corduroy…why don’t I own corduroy??” –Oh yeah, because I detest it). And the ultimate justification? IT IS ON SALE. I AM ACTUALLY SAVING MONEY.
Well, I have amassed a sad little pile of clothing that for one reason or another doesn’t make it into my regular rotation. So imagine my delight when my lovely blogger friends at Sisters Marie invited me to a clothing swap party!
If you aren’t familiar with these two gals, they are sisters-in-law (Lisa married Kaitlyn’s brother) and they have been swapping clothes and collaborating on fashion posts ever since. They also own the websites BISTM (Because I Shop Too Much) and BTGTF (Because They Grow Too Fast), a marketplace for individuals to buy, sell and swap women’s and kid’s clothing and accessories.
I gathered up my pile of scarves, shoes, clothing and jewelry and hauled them to Kaitlyn’s home in the ‘burbs. They designed her living room to resemble a “mini pop-up shop” boutique, and they totally hit their mark. I walked in to find professional rolling racks adorned with velvet hangers that had tags with our names on them.
After hanging my swappables up, I sent shopping in the other “closets” and saw a ton of adorable items! Here is what I love- we all have different styles so it forced me to try something new. We took turns swapping- if we liked something in another closet, we asked the owner if they liked anything in our closet. It worked incredibly well, and we all went home with a bag full of new to us clothing and accessories!
Lisa and Kaitlyn set up an amazing sit down lunch for us (and since we are all bloggers, we took photos before we dug in!). Cute cookies were provided by Tiffany of the Etsy shop Dough and a Dear and flowers were provided by Bloompop.
I couldn’t WAIT to get home and style my new pieces with existing items in my wardrobe. I swapped with most of the girls, including some great spring break styles from Lisa:
They also gave us adorable Sisters Marie t-shirts (and yes, you can order your own, they are super soft vintage) and bags to haul our goods home in.
Here are some tips that I learned for host a clothing swap:
- Bring more clothes than you think you need- you just might find a ton of items you can’t live without!
- Get creative- iPhone cases, jewelry holders, etc… You don’t have to stop at just clothing and accessories!
- Get a feel for everyone’s sizes beforehand- shoe sizes, ring sizes, clothing sizes, etc…
- Find a charity to donate all leftover clothing to. Sisters Marie gave our “unswapped” items to the Children’s Cancer Society.
- There were 6 of us- a good number to swap with, and I would limit it to 10 or 12.
Cocktails like the signature drink the sisters put together always make an event more festive:
And most of all, have FUN with it!
A HUGE thank you to Sisters Marie for hosting this amazing event…can we make it an annual thing please!!?? Make sure to head to their online stores to see what else they are swapping!
Italian leather wallets with the preference of design of your choice.