I recently had the great pleasure of being invited to a friend’s Swap Party. She is doing the 30 Day Declutter Challenge that I did during January (check out my 30 Day Lent Challenge post) so was keen to get rid of lots of clothes.

Heidi and her lovely housemates kindly hosted us with Pimms, popcorn, and of course a garden full of clothes. They (rather innovatively) used their clothes lines for us to ‘display’ stuff on, and added clothes horses for overflow. We had SO much that we also had to lay out some sheets – but overall it worked really well! Hosting needn’t be stressful or overcomplicated – we proved you can easily do it in your own back yard!

Everyone brought a big mixture of things and the lovely Anna had a HUGE loft clear out so brought several huge bin bags of stuff. This certainly kept us well stocked and spoilt for choice! But everyone brought about 10 items so there was masses of choice regardless. The great thing about everyone bringing things is you get a big mixture of styles, cuts, and brands.  Check out my blog post on How to Host a Swap Party for more handy tips and tricks.

After some initial hesitation about who is allowed to bagsie stuff first we all got stuck in and started trying things on and parading round for opinions. There was definitely something for everyone, in all sizes and colours!

I adored this jacket but it was a bit big for me… it soon found it’s destiny owner though and she looked amazing in it! Gotta be honest with yourself when an item is waiting for someone else…

The girls also organised a little ‘sewing corner’ which was a fab idea! All they did was bring down their sewing kit and some fabric scraps so nothing fancy but worked a treat. Here’s a very innovative repair job going on – adding flamingo scarf fabric to fill in ripped denim shorts #natch.

Of course it didn’t take long for the fashion shows to start, and almost everyone was wearing their ‘swaps’ by the end (some to hilarious levels of layering). Having clothes as a central talking point means you get plenty of girly bonding and laughs even with total strangers. Definitely a wonderful way to bring people together.

Here’s me with one of my choices – and amazing black and sparkly ballerina dress. It just screams NYE and I’m already counting down to December… although also wondering if I can dress it down enough to wear it as a day dress (white t-shirt underneath??). Rafaela was thrilled to see her dress find a happy new home and I was glad to have it – win win!

All round we had an awesome day, and I was so glad to part of this lovely group of ladies. Everyone found things they adore, and got rid of things that they’ve worn and moved on from. Epitome of ‘one (wo)man’s trash is another (wo)man’s treasure’. All the leftover clothes were donated to charity so it was all 100% good vibes – my kinda day.

Check out my next blog post to see what I got…. but here’s a sneak peek in the form of my first ever Gif! What do you think? Want more??

have you ever hosted a swap shop? comment below!