“A woman should wear fragrance wherever she expects to be kissed”-Coco Chanel
Laura Reynolds looks at some of the cheapest beauty products available
Although this is a reaction that most people would share, I am always surprised about the number and the range of people who think, as I now do, that swapping your unwanted clothes for those that others no longer wear is a brilliant idea.
For those who may be unfamiliar with the concept, it is a trend that began in America and this is how it works: you pick out some clothes you haven’t worn in about three years, or stuff that you bought off ebay that, despite it being lovely, is never, ever going to fit you; you then go and dump it all in a big pile of clothes that used to belong to a load of other people who have done the same, and proceed to rummage through and find something that you will actually wear. For those that have never experienced such joy, this may sound like a massive hassle, but those of you who have know how exciting it is to find something cool among other people’s rubbish.
The benefits of clothes swapping are fairly self evident. Not only are you preventing perfectly good clothing from going to landfill and reducing the need to buy into a consumer culture by spending money on new, and potentially unethically produced clothing, but you may also be saving tons of money.
Clothes swapping is not just for poor female students though. You don’t even have to be an eco warrior. At the last swap I went to, at St Nicholas Fields in York, I saw many a swapper who looked like they’d stepped right out of Marie Claire taking the opportunity to trade in last season’s haul for stuff that was coming right back into fashion. I also saw piles of men’s and children’s clothes alongside the customary women’s lot, and mums dumping too-small smocks in exchange for ones that would fit their growing kids. But practicalities aside, the bliss of finding something fab for free is second to none, and beats a crowded sale rail hands down. Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it, that’s what I say.
You don’t have to go far to give clothes swapping a chance: Women’s committee clothes swap, Thursday Week 8. Leeds community clothes exchange hold swaps once a month. Also keep and eye on St Nicholas Fields upcoming events
You must log in to submit a comment.
