Clothing Swap Party! Ladies (and gentlemen if you like) Clean out your closets!

You are sick and tired of seeing and wearing some of your wardrobe. What do you do? Sure you can give it away or sell it. But why not having a clothing swap party instead (aka Fashion swap party). These parties have become increasingly popular because they are a great way to get you and friends together and swap what ya got. I have recently thrown one of these parties this past summer and it was an absolute hit!

Not really sure how to get started? Well I guess your out of luck!...I'm kidding, come on, that's why you're here right? I will walk you through one example of how to have this kind of a party. Remember, you don't have to follow this outline, this is just how I did mine. There are many varieties of clothing swaps out there that could fit more to your style or you can create your own.

• First off, pick the minds of your friends. See if they are in the same situation as you. Do they need to get rid of some or a lot of clothes? Would they be interested in coming? Remind people too that they don't necessarily have to bring anything, that this is just for fun! * A little tip, you don't have to restrict your party to just clothing items, you can do shoes, accessories, whatever you like. Plus this gives you a little more variety to swap. Also where will you be having the clothing swap? You can have it in your home or if it's a nice day you could even have it outside like I did. You can even see about renting a public space if you think you will have a big turnout.

• Once you've gathered a consensus from your friends and where you'll be having it, pick a date when to host the party. Weekends are a good choice but don't rule out weekdays too. I held mine after work on a Wednesday and still had a good turnout. It's a good idea to give everyone a least a couple of weeks to gather their clothes and clean them for the party. The trick is to poll people when a good time for them would be. Once you find what works for you and the majority of your group, you've got your date.

• Next you'll want to send out the official invite so all your guests are in the loop. You can do this through email of course or just word of mouth. A Facebook event page works too. Sometimes it's nice to find a good online site like Evites.com to send out your invitations. It gives it a nicer look to it. You can also make hand made invites for that special touch. What I did was put a poster up at work. A friend and I designed one, printed out of a few copies and posted them around our work place. Mind you some work places won't allow you to do that so it's always good to double check first. When writing out the invites or poster put all the who, what, wheres, times, BYOB's, etc on there. Also make a note that only clean clothes that are in somewhat good condition will be accepted. Obviously most people will do this but it's good to remind everyone just in case. Tell your friends to invite their friends that way you can meet new people in the process. *A tip: Even though this is hard to do, try to get a variety of sizes at your party so as someone won't feel left out if they can't find anything that doesn't fit them. Sometimes this doesn't work out but always try to make the best of whatever your situation will be.

• Okay! So the word is out! Now you'll want to go through your own closet (if you haven't done so already) and pick out what you are giving away. Remember to take your own advice and clean, iron and prepare your items. No holes, rips or stains. You would want people to get your clothes just how you would want to receive theirs.

• It's getting closer to the party day. Double check with your friends to see who is all still coming. You can do this a week before to a day before your party.  By finding out who is still coming you can estimate how many chairs you'll need, how much space you'll need for the items, what to get for snacks/horderves (if you want any that is). How you do you want to display the items? You might need to organize some hangers for displaying some items. You can gather baskets to place other items in or you can even your fold the clothes and place them on tables. Remind your guests, if you want to, that they can drop their clothes off a day or so before the party (That way you'll have them displayed before they get there)

• Know how you want to run the party. If you want to have an even swap you can make tickets and give them out to everyone who comes into the party. One ticket for one item donated. People can use their tickets to select new items. Plan out some games for the party in case you have two or more people that want the same item. This is a fun way to decide who the winner of the item will be.

• Almost ready?: Okay it's the day of the party. Make sure you have everything in place. Hangers, seats, games, food, drinks, music (optitonal but fun). You can put up some decorations if you like. A friend and I put up some pink balloons and streamers to add a really girly, fashion vibe. Display out your clothes and others (if you have them in advance) Make sure your changing rooms are ready, whether if it's a bathroom, bedroom, or spare room. You can but a creative sign on the door to indicated this is where people can change. Feel free to decorate the inside of them too with ballons or even candles.

• Party Time! As people arrive, collect their items from them so they're not confused as to where to put them. You can have them display their items if you like of you can do it. When people came in for my party they just placed their items folded on the designated areas. Tell people can they look at the items and try them on while you are waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive.

• When everyone has arrived, invite your guests who haven't look over the items to do so and to try them on. This can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on how many people and clothing items are there. Don't worry if some people aren't trying things on or if they have tried them on already, they can mingle or get something to eat or drink while they wait.

• So everyone has had a chance to try things on and see what's up for grabs. Let the fun begin! You can now start going through your swap process. We did ours like an auction. What I did was I was the auctioneer and I went through every individual item. I held it up, did a little spiel, and asked if we had any takers. If no one takes it, place it in a basket for charity. If you have only one bidder than that item goes to them. If you have multiple bidders you can play a game to see who wins it. We did an egg spoon race for one popular item. My girlfriend came up another fun idea to decide on the winner with the skittles idea. Everyone had a bowl of skittles and whomever wanted an item had to bid their skittles..I.e.:" I have two skittles here, oh now I have six skittles here, I see ten over here!" Whichever way you decide to do it make sure that whomever doesn't get the item knows that it is just for fun and they'll see something else they'll like. *Tip: If someone decides they want to take back an item before it goes up for bid they should be aloud to take it back. If they want it back after someone has taken it than it should be up to the discretion of the new owner if they want to give it back or not. Make this clear to your guests before the party starts so there are no misunderstandings.

• The party's over! But what a blast! Plus you got some new items and got rid of your old ones. As well your friends got new clothes too or at least had some fun giving away their old ones. Now you've got something to give to charity as well. After my party we were able to give a lot of the un taken clothes away to a family that was in need. Their daughters loved all the selection and it made us feel good in the process.

Clothing Swap parties are a great way to clean out your closet, have some fun and give to others less fortunate than yourself. All the best to you and your party and I hope you have as much fun as my friends and I did!

If you like this article then maybe you will be interested in How to Plan a Suprise Party http://www.bukisa.com/articles/190671_how-to-plan-a-great-surprise-party or How to Organize a talent show http://www.bukisa.com/articles/182979_how-to-organize-a-talent-show

by Alice Woodbury