If you haven’t heard of swishing yet, then this is the latest craze in ethical shopping. It is the new pastime of the fashion-savvy woman who wants to reduce costs and improve her wardrobe at the same time. You can swish online, or host a swishing party in your own home. You’ll need a bunch of like-minded women, each armed with a bag of clothes that they are happy to trade.
Swishing enables you to get rid of the items you no longer need, no longer fit, unwanted gifts and unmitigated fashion disasters. Improve your wardrobe by exchanging items for some new outfits. Not only does swishing enable you to help others and expand your closet , but has the benefit of not shrinking the contents of your wallet too!
Says, Virginia Rowe, editor of the women's fashion website, Stylewillsaveus.com, “swishing is much more fun than normal shopping... it’s so nice to see the clothes that you have loved in the past going to a good home.”
Swishing is both fun and environmentally friendly, it ticks all the boxes when it comes to clearing your conscience and helping to protect the environment. It combines the obsession for fast fashion and everything vintage with ethical-shopping and saving money.
The Term Swishing
A communications agency named Futerra, coined the phrase swishing, when their women staff felt the need to commit to a cause which saved the environment, but didn’t want to do in badly dressed! Futerra has set up a dedicated swishing website, swishing.org, with information on holding swishing parties, relevant features and links and a calendar of swishing events.
How to Organize a Swishing Party
Become a swisher by holding a swishing party in your home or office, the arrangements are pretty straightforward:
- First get a group of girlfriends or work colleagues to blitz their closets and decide what they would like to exchange. This could be clothing, shoes, bags, accessories, jewellery, whatever fits into the fashion frame.
- Decide on a venue and a date and send out invitations. There is a downloadable invitation template on Swishing.org. Encourage your guests to bring a friend or two, the more variety you have in outfits, styles and sizes, the better.
- Display clothing and accessories on shelves, rails, chairs and doors – whatever space allows. Be creative – arrange clothes in sizes or by type.
You will need to establish the rules before you start so that everyone understands the principles. When your fashion-hungry guests arrive with their booty, carefully explain the rules; and get them ready to swish!
The Rules:
- Everybody must bring at least one item but can leave with as many as they like.
- When the swish opens, whatever people take is theirs. You’ll be surprised at what swishers will fight over. Those pair of red tights you bought for a fancy dress party three years ago might just be the thing for your fashion-forward neighbor!
- No money should be exchanged – all swishable clothes are free to whoever claims them first.
- If two women are fighting over the same garment, then toss a coin, or the equivalent. Be firm and fair!
- To prevent guests walking away with armfuls of clothes that they may never use, encourage them to try things on, in order to leave more choice for others.
- No one can claim items before the opening of the Swish.
- No scratching, biting, pushing or shoving!
If you and your friends enjoy swishing then you can take your swishing party to the next level by opening it up to others in your local area. Choose a venue like a bar or café or fashion boutique and print posters/flyers and invitations, encouraging as many people to attend. It’s a good idea to set the ground rules out first on the flyers/posters, to avoid any unnecessary hassle.
How to Swish Online
A swishing party isn’t the only way to swap your outfits. There is a steady stream of swishing websites emerging on the net, like Whatsmineisyours or Bigwardrobe.com, where you can barter, swap, buy or sell clothing and accessories. This takes swishing to a whole new level. Whats Mine is Yours currently has around 13,000 members.
Gill Hart - Gill Hart is a fashion and image professional who specializes in women's fashion over 50.
