Take Off Your Clothes | North America's Biggest Clothing Swap!

03 . 08 . 2011

Diary of a Frugalista:
Volunteering at a Mega Clothing Swap, July 2011

by Nadya Ershova

The S.W.A.P. Team organized a mega clothing swap on July 9-10 in the Grand Foyer Culturel (indoors) of the Place des Arts in partnership with Zoofest and Renaissance. I was a volunteer for both days.

The First Day
On Saturday my shift started at 7 AM, and that wasn’t an easy thing to do. I am definitely not an early bird, and on weekends I usually wake up around noon. This shows how motivated I was to participate in the event and to see how things would be going from the very beginning.

However, coffee early in the morning is a must — our managers felt the same way and took care of that. Everything goes a lot easier if you have a coffee in your one hand and a croissant in the other — mmm !

Laura Vizbara (on the right)

Our designer Neelan Rach showed us how to arrange the racks — we wanted our visitors to feel excited about swapping right away!

Neelan Rach, Jana Piest (both on the right), and volunteers

We also had to lay out the shoes. There were so many of them! I spotted lots of items that I gave away for the event. When the swap started, I saw girls trying on “my” stuff and felt very happy. The items would find a new  home and would not end up in a landfill somewhere! Swapping is good.

Dresses and shoes waiting for new owners

Now, if you want to see some nice swapped clothing, look no further than the people organizing the event! Here are some examples:

Aleece Germano

On the first day, Aleece Germano, President and Founder of The S.W.A.P. Team, chose a lovely second-hand pink dress.

The next day, Aleece was wearing a black dress with a red belt. She got the dress at the swap we held at the YWCA back in February.

Sabina Tang

I liked Sabina’s dress. On Friday night she went to the volunteers’ swap where she found a few nice items such as this red leather belt. She decided to wear it with her outfit the very next day.

Neelan Rach

Neelan’s outfit was both practical and stylish. I simply fell in love with his Chanel purse!

So, of course, seeing so many people swapping (there were over 400 visitors all in all!), you cannot help it but sneak through the clothes a bit as well and try something on, when you have the chance — just for the fun of it!

Look at our first finds! Annie (Annie Cliche, Montreal Chapter Director) found a white jacket with a leopard collar. Stephanie was having fun trying out a funny summer hat with a matching purse.

Annie Cliche (on the left), Stephanie (on the right)

The dress in the following picture was one that I had already noticed when arranging the racks. It was made out of silk and had a balloon skirt. I would have loved to take it home with me. Unfortunately, it was a small size, and it didn’t fit anyone else but the very skinny Annie.

Sabina tried on a velvet beige vest with flower shaped holes, but eventually decided to leave it.

Annie Cliche (on the left) and Sabina Tang (on the right)

Cole, Annie’s daughter and our youngest volunteer — she is only 8 years old! — dug out a nice head scarf and a matching purse. Look at her, this girl will definitely become an advanced thrifty fashionista in no time!

Cole Cliche

The fitting rooms simply looked like magic. They were constructed with white, slightly glossy curtains and were lit up with red LED lamps from the inside. In front of the fitting rooms was standing the dream of every girl — a personal style consultant. Stylist Jeff Golf of Montreal wardrobe consultants Ludique was mainly there to help out with one crucial question: “Shall I take it or not?”

Stylist Jeff Golf

Aleece giving the opening speech (on the right)

The Second Day

On the second day I came at noon when the first public swap session started.

I was super-busy during most of the day.

First, I was assigned to the PR team and had to check the stamp on the visitors’  hands before allowing them to go into the swap area. Also, I answered questions from people passing by. DJ THE WIG from Boston was playing music at the event all day long, which attracted lots of attention.

Later, I was helping out at check-in. Looking at the participants, it was very clear from the beginning that guys were a rarity at this event — but the ones that came, gave away some really nice stuff, like designer jackets, leather bags and wool sweaters. Believe it or not, some of the women coming to the event brought along their suitcases! They left the swap with their luggage filled with nice clothing.

Later on, I joined the sorting crew and helped them put more items on the racks that people had brought to the swap. Busy!

Since The S.W.A.P. Team was partnered with the Zoofest, we also had some artistic and music performances during the event, like the group Street Hearts:

Street Hearts (on the left)

Small cardboard labels were attached everywhere. They presented some interesting statistics about clothing consumption and recycling.

Statistic labels

While working on the floor and refilling the racks with clothes, I suddenly spotted another item I brought for the swap! It was a brownish orange jacket of great quality, made in Russia by a local designer. I used to like it a lot — however, I recently changed my color scheme to bluish gray, so this piece didn’t fit my wardrobe anymore.

The orange designer jacket I brought for the swap event

At five o’clock my shift was over.

I spent two great days full of excitement and joy. I worked with nice and dedicated people who care about nature and the environment. I liked this volunteering experience very much, and I will definitely help out again at the next event.

And of course, I did find something for myself. Three nice dresses and a few other items. I will write about my finds in the next post.

Stay tuned!

P.S.
I totally forgot! A picture of me appeared in the 24H newspaper, July 11. I am the girl in the middle with her head tilted down. Wooh-hoo!