Upgrade Your Wardrobe

Have you ever walked down the street and thought, I'd love to own that woman's dress; or that lady's designer handbag is to die for? I'm sure many of us have, both with complete strangers and our closest friends. Outfit envy is a common phenomenon. Often when you ask someone where they got their stylish outfit, they'll say "It's been sitting in my wardrobe for ages, I never normally even wear it!" Doesn't that just make your heart stop?-clothes lurking unloved in someone else's wardrobe when it could be making you feel a million dollars! So when someone else has clothes you just have-to-have, get them to join you at a swishing party and you can take home their unloved clothes and love them forever! (See the links at the bottom for swishing party listings).

So what's all the fuss about and what happens at a swishing party? Well I've just been to a fabulous swishing party hosted by 'bigwardrobe.com' in London. I met loads of friendly ladies while waiting for the swish which was great because I'd gone on my own and felt far from lonely. There's always a real buzz about swishes and it's wonderful meeting so many likeminded people. There was plenty to keep us eager fashionistas occupied while we waited for the swish to begin including 2-4-1 on food and cocktails, free skincare consultations, free make-overs and bargain beautiful henna tatoos!

Still, as wonderful as the company and cocktails were, I was there for designer clothes and I wanted to make sure I got my fair share in exchange for the lovely (but unloved) clothes in my wardrobe. I took a selection of 18 wardrobe staples e.g. M&S black trousers, beautiful evening tops, summer shorts and summer vests. What I claimed in return was definitely an upgrade! 

Among my finds was a Ralph Lauren shirt, an Elle dress, a Banana republic halterneck, a jasper conran top, a Tommy Hilfiger light jumper, a DKNY t-shirt, a Whistles top, 4 pairs of shoes including a new boxed pair of Whistles beaded shoes and a pair of boxed miss sixty shoes. The event cost just £6.50 to attend and I came away with roughly £700 of clothes and the delight of seeing other people offerring my unloved clothes a loving home. Since I know that you're dying to know, the 18 items I took with me cost me a grand total of about £70 (most of the items were free from previous swishes, free from freegle, from charity shops or from high street shops where I can afford to shop). That means that in just a couple of hours, I increased the value of the wardrobe I travelled with tenfold!


One thing is for sure, whether this swish was a swisher's 1st or 31st swish (like me), we'll all be back for more!