Around the Sun: A Blog About Saving Money in Portland, Oregon, and beyond

Nov 8: Women’s Medium Size Clothing Swap

November 5th, 2007

From Barb, Medium Swap Coordinator from PDXSwap.com:

Bring clothes, shoes, and accessories you no longer love to the November swap. It’s a great way to spend a Thursday night pampering yourself while saving money, updating your wardrobe, and keeping usable cool stuff out of landfills.

When: Thursday November 8th, 7pm (please arrive a little early)
Who: women of all ages that wear medium sizes 6–12
Where: Presbyterian Church of Laurelhurst (in the Narthex), 935 N.E. 33rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97232, 503-232-9129
Directions: two blocks south of Sandy Blvd on 33rd, at Pacific Street, in a small modern red brick building. There is a large parking lot behind the church. Enter through the door closest the parking lot. There will be signs.

Bring: CLEAN and in good condition size 6–12 clothes/accessories/shoes (plus petite and jr.equivalents) to swap, a bag to carry your treasures home in. (Musty, smokey, stink-soaked clothes are no fun to paw through. Please do a smell test before bringing clothes that have been in storage…because like dryers steal socks, storage adds strange smells:)

TIPS TO MAKE SWAPS RUN SMOOTHLY a.k.a. if this is your first swap, here’s how it works…

If you’ve never been to a clothing swap, here are some tips:
*  wear spandex/yoga/bike clothes or a swimsuit under your regular clothes so you don’t have to get naked to try things on (children may be present, and occasionally a janitor has come through near the end of a swap). 
*  I’ve got three tall mirrors I’ll bring, but it actually works better with at least 4, so if you have a full length mirror please bring it with you.
*  Bring along a bag(s) to carry your treasures home in.
*  Scour your closets, drawers, and storage for clothes in good condition that you no longer wear, accessories, shoes, belts – basically any wearables (also petite and jr equivalents), wash them up and bring them along to add to the swap.
*  At 7 pm (or other designated time) we dump all our bags of clothes into a pile on the floor (we have an accessories pile in a separate place so no one is hit by an errant shoe or purse).  You take what interests you and put it in a pile behind you.  When your pile gets rather large, you try on the clothes in your pile, throw back what you don’t want, and put what you do want in the bag(s) that you brought.
*  I’d really appreciate it if you get here before the start time because if I have to leave the pile to let you in I miss out on some of the thrill of the chase:)
*  Leftover clothes will be donated – preferably to organization(s) that will pass the clothes along for free. 
*  There is no limit to the amount you bring or the amount you take home with you.  If you can use it – take it!  In fact, if you’re a quilter, felter, or other fabric artist, after the other women have chosen what they can use, if you see something (especially something that is damaged or outdated) that you could incorporate into a cloth project, feel free to take it at the end of the swap when we’re bagging things up.

Depending on how many people show up the exchange can last from 30-50 minutes, so it’s short and sweet. 

You CAN make a positive difference by recycling your clothes.  Plus, you may eventually get a whole new wardrobe:).  Please feel free to pass this information on to your female friends.  The more people that come, the better selection of clothes for everyone. 

Entry Filed under: Clothes,Free,Portland,Swap