i promised a re-cap of the clothing swap that i organized a couple of weekends ago, so here it is! i apologize in advance for the ridiculous amount of pictures - i couldn't help but share all of them. i still feel like it's hard to appreciate just how much clothing was actually there; we ended up donating a six foot high mound of clothing to the thrift store afterward. it was nuts!jen and i arrived pretty early, about 9:15; we needed to unpack all of the clothing that we brought. i had 12 trash bags full of stuff, and she had a giant bag-full and two huge tubs. after arranging the tables and sorting through all of the items, we made signs to direct people to the room the swap was held in, and the schedule for the day.
jen is so pretty, right? we met in gym class when i was in 11th grade, right after i transferred to my new high school.
the clothing you see above is JUST the stuff that jen and i brought. we filled about half of the room before anyone got there. we needed more tables!hannah joined us later in the afternoon, setting up her own rack of pretty vintage things. there was a slight fiasco with a lack of hangers, and we spent the last hour before the swap started running around, frantically hanging things, picking up after ourselves, and scarfing down pizza.
can't forget the cookies, either! i had mad an absurd amount of chocolate chip cookies (about 137, to be exact). amanda brought cupcakes, and there was sparkling cider and juices, too.
the plan was to have people arrive at the swap between 1 and 2; they'd have the chance to distribute their clothes into certain sections, and have a snack (or two). we didn't write out the schedule explicitly, so there were lots of people who came in after 2, and some that arrived right at 1. i think that if i did this again, i'd make sure to ask everyone to arrive at 1, so that there is enough time to set clothes out and no one gets stuck browsing the leftovers at the very end.the swap started promptly at 2, and ladies were (very politely!) sorting through the clothing. i excepted a mad dash to the tables, but everyone was very generous and polite; i didn't see an ounce of pushing or shoving.
carina found something good!
bernadette found a pair of, um, sweater pants - apparently very exciting stuff!
hannah, bernadette, me!, and carina during the swap.there was also the vintage shop component of the event. ada, hannah, jen, and i all had racks set up perpendicularly to the swap tables, and was open for swappers to shop the entire time. mostly everything was very reasonably priced, and i was happy to be able to pare down my collection. at the end of the swap, jen, hannah, and i swapped the remainder of our items amongst ourselves.
the beautiful ada!overall, the swap was a blast! my office is now empty, which was exactly what i wanted. i came home with some great pieces including a fur coat. i hope everyone that came was able to snag a couple of good things, and that the thrift store is able to use the clothing that we donated.
