How to Host a Frock Swap

"For someone who loves shopping, living in Los Angeles is like being a kid in a candy shop."

I love to shop. There's no better feeling than putting on something new. It makes you smile, it makes you feel renewed and confident. After you've worn something half a dozen times, it just doesn't have that same feeling. Clothes become rags to us pretty quickly, and we live in a disposable society where we're constantly looking for the next thing.

"I started writing an article about eco-fashion, and I became aware of how wasteful clothing production is."

I don't think that people necessarily make the connection between fossil fuels and their brand-new sundress because the pollution is not as immediate as filling up your gas tank. But the fashion industry, second to agriculture, is one of the most polluting industries for the planet. The amount of toxins that go into the production of cotton or denim are enormous. If we can find our way to curb those contributions, we can give the planet a chance to heal. So I thought, how could I satisfy my urge for more clothes without contributing to that endless cycle of production and pollution?

"I decided to host a clothing swap for my girlfriends."

I picked up a flyer at a coffee shop for a clothing swap where you paid $5 at the door and came with a garbage bag full of old clothes. I couldn't make it to that event, but the idea stayed with me. I've never really been into shopping at second hand stores, but there was something about trading clothes with girls I'm close with that seemed like a better option for me.

"We had a tea party, and everyone walked away with something new."

I served cherry pie, cucumber sandwiches, strawberries and tea, and some of my friends also brought food. After the tea party, we each dumped out our garbage bags of clothing and organized them into piles of jeans, tops, sweaters. We started trying things on - it was a grownup game of dress up. Once everyone decided what they liked, I gave them all ten lotto tickets.

We held things up one at a time, and anyone who liked it would put their lotto ticket into the jar. We'd shake it up and whoever's name was pulled, that person got the item. The idea was that everyone would leave with at least ten things, and we ended up with a lot left over that we donated.

"Even though I didn't have a tag to rip off, the clothes were still new to me."

The whole next week, I was wearing new outfits to work. Even though they may have been clothes my friends wore a dozen times, they were still new to me. I also think that I carried some of that female energy with me in the clothes. As I wore the different outfits, I thought about the girl who owned them before. And these are girls that are really special to me. I feel like the clothing swap was very important. It hit home on a lot of levels.

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