Swap-o-Rama-Rama in Raleigh

During the past few years of web surfing, I've seen clothing swaps mentioned several times. Whether it is a small affair held as a house party, or a larger event, it always seemed like a fun thing to do. The essence of it being that you bring a bag of unwanted clothing, and you leave with a bag of "new" stuff to add to your wardrobe. Like a "by the pound" thrift store, only with your own donation of clothing serving as your payment. A thrifty way to add more secondhand items to your wardrobe.

This Labor Day weekend I finally had a chance to attend a licenced Swap-o-Rama-Rama event, held on Saturday in downtown Raleigh, NC. Fortunately the location was in a rentable room at a kid's playplace, ala Marbles Museum. So Stew took the three boys in to play and I took my big green bag of clothes in to the swap.

Armed with my bag and a $10 donation (the producer of this swap was a nonprofit in Durham, The Scrap Exchange, where I totally want to go someday, Wiley would LOVE it), I stepped into the "Zanzibar Room" with little apprehension. I made my way in, making sure I got my big green bag back after it was emptied, and checked out some of the items up for raffle. Eventually I entered my raffle ticket (free with admission) in for a child's instrument set, complete with tambourine. I never win anything, but I wasn't required to be there to win, so what the hell. Next I headed over to the tables of donated clothing. After a few minutes of browsing, it made me smile to see one of the volunteers/workers wearing a funky 70s floral polyester top I'd brought, and then I began seeing more of my own donation added to the piles.

At first I was like "hmmm, do I really need any of this other stuff?" But then that whole, "Hey, REUSE/SWAP!" mentality settled in, and I started envisioning possibilities. A lemon yellow spandex tank top? No, but I could probably wear it for yoga/lounge clothes, or as a layer in a colorful outfit. An 80s pink sleeveless tank with a button-up neckline placket? No, but I could take it over to a "DIY Station" and paint the buttons orange. Plus I made sure to pick up one thing for each of the boys and something for Stew; an aquamarine LL Bean polo shirt for Stew (to enhance his eyes), a navy blue long sleeve t-shirt for Wiley (same), a stripe-y top for Cyrus, and a cute yellow ringer-tee w/ a motorcycle print for Milo.

After an hour of browsing, snagging and painting, I called Stew. He was still sane watching with the kids, who were apparently having a ball playing at the museum. He encouraged me to stay longer if I wanted to.

So I waited for my buttons to dry and circulated through the tables again, a fresh layer of clothes mixed in. Happily I noticed very few of my own donated items still remaining.

Also I started looking about at the other swappers. First to approach me was a woman who admired my big green bag. She had picked up a big pair of flannel PJ pants and asked one of the sewers at a DIY station to make a similar big bag out of the pants. Then I saw a young teenage girl wearing a brightly printed pair of flats from Grandma Long's collection. Earlier I'd seen a young miss wearing the moss green pair of Bitten flats I'd only worn once. Finally I saw that the nice lady that had liked my bag was wearing a pair of sandals I'd brought. The bag she'd commissioned was completed so I asked her to pose for a photo. She gave me her business card and asked me to email her the photo. Networkin' it yo.

Later as I was sitting to the side gazing into my big bag, another woman commented me on it, and I shared what I knew of its history. It came from Stew's side of the family, passed down to me by his Aunt who had said someone in the family(?) had been a fashion sales rep and had used it to carry around product samples to different vendor meetings. The woman then shared that her booth was promoting the "ReTails Thrift Shop." All the shop's proceeds go to support "THE $20 FIX," animalkind.org's targeted spay/neuter assistance program that enables low-income pet owners to spay/neuter their pets. Yay, a new thrift shop to check out the next time I'm in the northeast Raleigh area.

I circulated one more time, stashing a few more things into my big green bag. Finally, once my paint was dry, I called Stew one more time and then made my goodbyes. I headed out to meet the boys in the foyer of the museum. We swang through the gift shop, and as the boys had behaved well, we let them each buy a smallish toy.

Overall it was a lovely Saturday afternoon trip into Raleigh and we'll definitely do either a swap or Marbles Museum again.

Here is what I wore, completed by a skinny grommeted black belt that I "swapped" and put on while browsing: