Sunday, March 6, 2011

Thrifty Fun: A Clothing Exchange Extravaganza

A couple weekends ago, my friend Emily organized a clothing exchange among a bunch of her girlfriends. She hosted it at Oreana Winery, which she and her husband Christian run here in Santa Barbara, which was great because it meant there was tons of space and plenty of wine. I loved the Chardonnay that Oreana was serving that night, and it felt so cool and special to be in there after it had closed to the public! I had so much fun meeting Emily's other friends, trying on clothes, snacking on all the delicious food the women brought, and of course, drinking the Oreana wine! I took some snaps of the outfits I made with my new clothes each day I wore them, but I'm not much of a model and I am definitely still learning how to take pictures. I had so much fun at the clothing exchange, and felt like I had a whole new wardrobe for free afterward. I really recommend organizing a clothing exchange to any group of friends and acquaintances. It was a great way to meet new people, too.

wool_skirt
This was one of my finds: a lovely,  swingy black skirt that is full and flattering and just the right length -- a hard combo for someone barely 5'2" to find! I wore it with dark purple tights and a t-shirt from threadless that I adore

I've been wearing all my finds over the last couple weeks and am totally giddy over all the new shirts, skirts, and shoes I found among the large piles. I put a lot of my clothes up for offer that I was always reluctant to just give to Goodwill (even though I hadn't worn them in five years) because it made me a little happier to give them to friends who clearly really liked the shirts, pants, and shoes that I liked but no longer wore. It was also kind of cool to see just how many different body types there are: shirts that would look great on one person would look unflattering on another, or a pair of strappy sandals that slipped off my heels were perfect on another woman with differently-shaped feet.

More pics after the jump!



clothingexchange
stitchingincircles
clothing_exchange
The cute grey wool skirt that is just about perfect. I had to repair a couple almost invisible moth holes in the front of the skirt. I loved it with my green t-shirt and a pair of peeptoe patent leather heels


stitchingincircles
This sexy silvery-grey skirt -- a very '60s wiggle skirt! -- went perfectly with a thick black leather belt I already owned, and I paired it with another Clothing Exchange find, a cute ruffled navy top from Express, and wore it to help PDK celebrate successfully defending his dissertation last week!

irish sweater


This was an outfit I wore with the new shoes I picked up at the exchange, a pair of super-'80s red leather oxfords. I am still not totally sold on them, but there was no harm in picking them up for free! And it's been fun to shake up my usual habits of dressing.

9 comments:

Heather said...

Wow you're in Santa Barbara? I wish you were a LITTLE more north, then we could be friends! (I'm in the south bay!)

Cool blog, I'll definitely be following this one :D

MDS said...

Thanks so much for saying hi Heather! And we can always be internet buddies, as '90s as that might sound. I actually grew up on the coast in Marin County, so I am a Nor Cal girl at heart :)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like fun! Love that green shirt/gray skirt outfit. :) Very cute!

Hugs,
Taylor Lynn <3

Rachel // Maybe Matilda said...

Great finds! I love the gray skirt. I think I need to organize a swap with my friends now, too :-)

www.maybe-matilda.blogspot.com
(found you on the etsy blog team!)

Jodi Chapman said...

That sounds like so much fun - what a great idea! :)

http://www.soulfuljournals.blogspot.com

Amanda said...

You're adorable! I love high waisted full skirts. And I totally think you should fully accept the shoes. They're great. :)

OnePerfectDay said...

That sounds like fun!
And i like the stuff you picked up!

lizzie said...

That skirt is an insanely wicked find! It's a perfect basic. Great pick, lady. I want an exchange! jeez.

MDS said...

Glad y'all like the finds! I was fairly delighted, as is obvious from the post. It was sort of like a very organized, nicely-chosen thrifting experience.

@demandablog -- thanks for the vote for the shoes! I kinda love them after wearing them a few times now :)

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