Have you heard of the 20/80 rule of wardrobes? I hadn't either before today. Basically, we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time.
The other 80% is just hanging there, untouched and eventually being discarded. You know the old saying, one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure? Now's the time time to ring it in.
A clothing swap is a great way to encourage the sharing economy and make memories with friends.
After finding out we all had almost the same sized feet, 1MW HQ decided to do an office clothes swap. Each of us will bring in some items and we will all walk away with new outfits and shoes that cost us ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Interested in throwing your own office clothes swap?
We’ll I’ve been doing my research and I want to share with you some top tips for having a rocking swap!
1. Organise, invite, prepare a space.
- The number one tip to having a clothing swap is to let people know as early as possible! This way your guests can get all their best items together and in pristine condition. You’ll have more people attending, with more thoughtful products to share.
- Ask guests to pre-sort their clothing by size or by category; it will make proceedings go a lot smoother on the night.
- Make sure the space you pick has a mirror or two, and somewhere your friends and family can nip out to try on their new outfits.
2. Set up some rules.
The first rules of the clothing swap are
don’t talk about the clothing swap
, quality and patience.
- Remember; don’t bring anything you wouldn’t give to a close, picky friend. Nothing stained or ripped.
- No swapping until everyone puts his or her stuff out, and no fighting. Standard dinner party etiquette.
3. Don’t limit yourself.
One of the best clothing swap tips I’ve read is to think outside the box.
- Don’t limit yourself to just swapping clothes! Swap shoes, accessories, unopened cosmetics, books, nik-naks – the possibilities are endless!
- Don’t limit yourself to your usual style, this is your chance to try something new. Challenge your everyday and start to create your own truly timeless style.
4. The leftovers.
Inevitably there will be left overs.
- You can arrange to have a charity shop pick them up, or take them yourself.
- Head over to opshop.org which will let you know the location of your nearest charity shop.
We would love to hear about your clothing swaps, you could comment us on our Facebook page , tweet us or Instagram us with the hastag #1MW.
Head over to our WEAR fact file for more information the environmental impact of our clothing purchases.