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Imported Tip: Swap Your Clothes Montreal-Style

Clothing swap parties are Julia's new favorite way to shop.

Monday Jun 04, 2007.     By Julia Steinberger

Lifestyle Feed

I apologize to the males in the audience, but this week's column isn't as gender-neutral as most. After attending one of most fun and earth-friendly get-togethers a few weeks ago, I've since been spreading the clothing swap gospel word to everyone I know.

Clothing swap parties are an organized way to get a group of friends together to trade the (still-desirable) clothes they no longer wear. For a pack-rat like me, who hates throwing good stuff away, it's a great way to dump good-quality clothes. And, simply put: There is no eco-friendlier means of dealing with non-biodegradables like clothes and furniture than re-use, which keeps them out of the waste stream and reduces the need for new stuff.

Although the swap sounds like a no-brainer, it's helpful to hear from someone who's been there that this concept actually works. For a couple of weeks after a purge-my-stuff phase, I tried to get friends to sign onto the swap-party idea but didn't meet much enthusiasm. The general concern among non-swappers was that it wasn't going to be worth the effort, or worse, that it'd be a potentially awkward event where people would stand around and try not to wrinkle their noses at other guests' old bras, stretched-out sweaters and other undesirables.

Just as I was ready to give up the idea, I got an email from friends Jenny and Meghann inviting me to a swap party at their Andersonville digs. They'd gotten the idea from a swap they attended while staying with friends in Montreal, and they'd had such a good time that they were excited to try it. I stuffed two bags with clothes and shoes and headed over to see how things would work.

Turns out, the swap was both a blast and a total success, thanks to a couple of easy rules. First, ensure that guests will be enthused to swap by setting boundaries for what people can bring. Oversize promo t-shirts you got for free, the hypercolor Hammer pants you've been hanging onto for nostalgia's sake, and just about anything you bought at the souvenir shop on your last family vacation will not appeal to your friends.

Second, structure is key. I walked through their front door to face a roomful of about a dozen girls, sporting all different sizes and styles, and nearly wall-to-wall shopping bags overflowing with stuff that was up for grabs. Jenny sat in the middle and held up item after item, announcing size and any other interesting info. Anyone who wanted it raised her hand and gave a shout. If just one hand went up, that girl got the item, end of story. If more than one person was interested, the item was dropped in a growing pile, and at the end of the evening we dove into those coveted set-asides, tried them on, flipped coins and found other peaceful ways of dealing with deciding who got what.

Even if you had to forfeit an item or two to someone who admittedly looked better in it, or who just wanted it more, it was hard to feel jilted when everyone came away with at least a couple of choice finds. My final haul included an awesome pair of red heels, a slinky black dress, a sweet sweater in my favorite turquoise color,and two pairs of perfectly broken-in jeans that fit like a dream. And I not only paid zero for the new wardrobe, I also saw the clothes I no longer wanted find new owners who were happy to have them.

For those who still worry that their stuff won't fly, know that outside of things obviously bound for the ragbag, anything really does go. At one point, a ruffly pink dress was hoisted in the air to at least six excited responses, much to the shock of the original owner. In her words: "I almost left that at home because I was too embarrassed for any of you to even see it!" Especially when you assemble a crew with a wide variety of tastes, you just never know what's going to go. Still, there will be stuff brought to the party that suits no one, so just make sure someone in the group is willing to haul those things to your favorite charity or thrift store. Crafty types can also use bits and pieces of unwanted items for new projects. Any way you see it, there are a lot of ways to avoid the landfill.

After four greener-than-average college years as a co-op dweller-turned-aspiring-permaculturist, Julia Steinberger finds it hard not to feel guilty about her one-bedroom apartment, daily commute and indulgence in the occasional dollar burger. She'd like to dream that she could live in a tent/treehouse/rabbit hole, but the truth is, she'd rather stay in the city while doing her best to leave a lighter footprint on the earth. You can contact her here.