The Great Clothing Swap of 2025

      I hosted my first (and up until this year, only) clothing swap back in 2017, absolutely loved it and was clearly overdue for a repeat. In between then and now I’ve moved closets quite a few time, including an international move (there and back) and had my wardrobe change due to a pregnancy and the new normal of where I am now, sartorially, postpartum. I finally sat down for a serious closet clean-out and realized it would be a perfect time to host a swap. I had about 3 plastic bins full of clothes, ranging in size from xs to xl that were yearning for new homes. It’s easier to part with meaningful, “nice”, or “I-paid-too-much-for-this-to-be-something-that-I-didn’t-wear-but-reselling-will-be-a-lot-of-work-and-probably-not-that-satisfying-monetarily” pieces when they are going to friends or friends of friends.

The skirt is Anthropologie and one of the many finds I got 

    So how was it? It was a blast. Which is great, because I had an actual nightmare a few nights prior that there weren’t going to be enough clothes. That everyone would show up and there would be a measly 5 shirts between us to swap. I need not have worried - every lady took home between 5-15 items, a bag of clothes was taken for Dress for Success (a local non-profit that, among other things, takes donations of professional attire to help unemployed or underemployed women find their next job) and we had a few bins/bags/boxes full of leftover clothes that I took to Goodwill.

My haul (plus a few Goodwill items I didn't realize were in the photo until later)

     Alright, on to (some of) the clothes. Somewhat ridiculously, I didn’t take photos of the clothes I contributed, although there were some real bangers in there. I’ll see if I can collect a few photos from their new owners. One of the first items I beelined for was this skirt. I love the ochre color (I also have a trench coat in almost the exact same color so I want to play around with monochromatic looks), the pockets, and the fact that is it a different silhouette than most of the skirts I have. I paired it with an amazing secondhand Proenza Schouler woven leather jacket I bought on TRR a few years ago, and I felt like a million bucks.

I should wear this jacket more often.

I made the pants.

     Anther amazing score was a lovely lady’s collection of cashmere sweaters from a brand called Aqua (which is the Bloomingdales in-house line) and they are incredibly soft and chic. I love the light blue color especially (it matched the pants I was wearing so I wore it the rest of the day) and have already worn it 3 times.

I made the skirt, it's a Peppermint Magazine Wrap Skirt

     I’m not sure if this Brooks Brother’s button up was from their mens or women’s collection but either way, it paired well with a skirt I made, for a more polished summer look. I also LOVE this pink Ted Baker jumpsuit. I was hesitant to even try it on (another lady insisted) because the sizing of jumpsuits can be so hit-or-miss but this one fit perfectly. It also has pockets and a fun tie detail around the waist.

     Last up, a pair of Maeve leopard print pants. For these pants I wanted a visually interesting top but one that didn’t clash with the print. I dug out a secondhand Rachel Comey shirt that I always want to wear but never quite feels right, and it added the right amount of volume to balance out the pants.

     The new-to-me clothes almost had a “capsule” wardrobe feel, in the sense that I wanted to wear all of them that week and so I felt pressed to find outfits for them and it presented a fun challenge. It also felt nice to receive messages from the attendees that they were loving their new pieces and that the clothes were out and about in the world instead of gathering dust in a closet. This definitely won’t be my last clothing swap!

Thanks for stopping by!