Category Archives: Clothes Swaps

Swishing Things Up A Little

October 28, 2015Clothes SwapsBlogger, clothes, community, dc, Periscope, secondhand, shopping, Style Lottery, stylist, swap, swishTimiKomo

This season, we’ve upgraded the Style Lottery shopping experience. The first thing most people noticed was that we changed the name of our events.

So why a swish instead of a swap? It’s because swapping is simply about exchanging clothes while swishes are about creating community. Having lived in three cities in the last three years, I know from experience that meeting new people can be somewhat intimidating. Style Lottery brings people together and creates a sense of community around fashion. Our swish events happen on 3 levels (college, city, and community). Our events are our way of making our communities feel more intimate and our impact more evident.

For this event, we teamed up with a local creative collective called goDesignDC to create a unique shopping experience for our guests. The creative geniuses behind the collective (Obi and Amanda) gave us the boutique look we were going for. Here are a few highlights from the event.

A thoughtful & sustainably designed space

Style Lottery is serious about sustainability, so teaming up with goDesignDC was a match made in Heaven. The team build the ceiling fixtures and racks from locally sourced and recycled materials. If you want to see more of their design vision, check out their Instagram page.

The chance to meet new people in your community

We love when our social circles overlap and our friends meet each other. Friends can turn into style soulmates in a matter of minutes. We witnessed it happen several times throughout the event. A style soulmate is someone who wears a similar size in clothing. Although you didn’t intend to, you end up picking up most of the things she brought to the swish. Once you find her, you decide you have too much in common not to be friends in real life. You exchange numbers and decide to go on a roadtrip to Philly together. That last part actually did happened at our last event. We couldn’t have made it up if we tried.

A curated boutique experience

Our guests’ favorite part about our events is our ever-changing inventory. As the swish goes on, new items are brought out onto the floor. We had blogger and stylist, Buki Peters of Style With Buki, in the building helping guests style their swish finds. For guests at home missing out on the action, Buki also did a LIVE style session on Periscope.

The option to recycle clothes

For this swish event, we were fortunate to partner with a local H&M store. The leftover clothing was donated to the store’s recycling program. Most people don’t know that H&M will give you a 15% off coupon for recycling with them. To reward the ladies for lowering their carbon footprints, we made sure that each woman received a 15% off coupon for her contributions.

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Thank you to everyone who made it to our first ever City Swish in DC. We’re always looking to improve your shopping experience for our guests. The feedback we received from our guests has been fantastic! If you’ve ever been to one of our events, we’d love to hear from you. Please take 2 minutes to fill out our survey.

   Photo cred: Obi Okolo (goDesignDC)

Style Lottery wins a Fast Forward award!

Here’s a little about the award:

Thirteen entrants—both individuals and teams—have been selected as winners in the Fast Forward competition, in which the University will fund student projects that demonstrate how Syracuse University and its students can have a positive impact on the world. The winners presented their ideas for the Chancellor, Board of Trustee members and fellow students at the Fast Forward event as part of the Chancellor’s Inauguration. The student projects will be awarded grants of as much as $1,500 to fund the completion of their projects.

This award has been just the time of encouragement Style Lottery needs. I have been hosting closet swaps for quite a few years now. It’s been a lot of work to coordinate, but they’re always worth the “trouble.” Cheers to bigger and better swaps in the future! Following the presentation, I ended up in the Daily Orange newspaper:

Why I SWAP

August 28, 2013Clothes Swaps, Events, Fashionclothing, Clothing and Accessories, recycle, swap, upcycleTimiKomo

Source: A Million Green Reasons to Swap Your Clothes

10 Steps to Hosting a Clothes Swap

June 3, 2013Clothes Swaps, Fashioncharity, clothing, Clothing swap, shopping, Shopping guide, thrift, Timi Komonibo, Used and SecondhandTimiKomo

1. Make an evite or Facebook event

Screen shot 2013-06-03 at 2.10.21 PM — Tip: Invite your friends whose style you like and those who you think would enjoy the swap

Be sure that you explain what a clothes swap is in the info section of the evite. Many people are apprehensive about swaps because they have no clue what to expect.

Watch this quick video to learn more about clothes swaps:

2. Find a Venue

Depending on the kind of atmosphere you want to create, you need to pick your location wisely. I have been to a clothes swap in a small boutique with strangers (as an attendee) and I’ve hosted many in living rooms of homes with friends. Both were entirely different experiences. The boutique was interesting because I was getting to shop in strangers’ closets. It was nice to meet the other ladies and sample treats from local vendors. The swaps I had in homes felt comfortable and fun. I saw old friends and made new ones. I have concluded that there is no right or wrong location for a swap. You simply need to find a space that is big enough to store and display the clothing, a mirror for guests, and perhaps a private area (like a restroom) where they can try on clothing.

Another thing to consider is the size of the venue. In my experience, it’s best to over-invite. Cancellations are expected of any event. On average, I have about 15 guests at my swaps. This is a good number for such an event. 15 people will provide variety among the clothes, yet it is a small enough number for the event to still have an intimate feel. Make sure the venue can hold the number of invited guests and their belongings.

3. Collect donations

Screen shot 2013-06-03 at 2.18.36 PM — Some guests, like my friend Bunmi, prefer to donate their items before the event.

There are a number of ways to get clothes to your swap. First, look in your own closet. Purge it of any items you no longer wear. Wash the items and put them aside for the swap. Then you can send a reminder to your guests to start putting aside some items about a week before the event. Guests often ask me what to bring. I throw the question back to them.

Screen shot 2013-06-03 at 12.14.55 PM — Here’s an example of the poll I posted on the Facebook event.

Most guests opt to come to the event with their donations in hand.

Screen shot 2013-06-03 at 12.13.38 PM — I asked my guests to bring a minimum of 5 items.

4. Sort through the items (guests can do this themselves)

Screen shot 2013-06-03 at 12.12.00 PM — Tip: Keep an eye out for the condition of the items. I occasionally have a “shop at your own risk” box for items with rips or tears

5. Mix and Mingle

You and your guests should set aside the first 15 minutes of the swap to sort through the clothing. My guests and I enjoyed some light snacks while we waited for the swapping period to pass. The snacking continued as the swap went on.

6. Setup and Organize the items into their designated areas

Screen shot 2013-06-03 at 12.12.09 PM — Tip: Use racks and hangers, if possible.

If everyone sorts and organizes what they brought, the process is much faster.

7. Shop!

Clothes Swap 2448x3264-030 — Tip: As the host, you can help your guests shop.

Shopping is the easiest and the best part. There are a couple options when deciding how gets are going to shop:

Option #1: One-for-One trade- This means that the more you bring, the more you get to trade.

Option #2: First Dibs Goes to the Highest Giver– The person with the most donations gets to pick their items first

Option #3: Free-for-All– Everyone can shop to the hearts’ content, regardless of how much they brought.

All of my swaps have been free-for-alls. I have never had anyone complain or fight over clothes. The free-for-all has the potential of appearing a little chaotic, but as long as your guests put back the items they don’t want, this option is a lot of fun.

Don’t forget to shop for yourself too. It can be easy to forget that you are a shopper as well when you’re floating around doing host-duties. By all means, help recommend clothes for your guests

8.Choose a charity or resale store to donate the remaining clothes

Screen shot 2013-06-03 at 2.49.23 PM — Tip: Donating to a thrift store you often shop at is a great way to give back.

9. Pack them up and donate them

10. Fill out a donation receipt

If the donation is big enough, it just may help you out on your taxes.

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Planning a clothes swap might take some work, but you and your friends will get more out of it than you put in. Give it a try!

Clothes Swap: A Philanthropic Shopper’s Dream

June 3, 2013Clothes Swaps, Events, FashionDomestic violence, Pennywise, Sexual assault, Timi KomoniboTimiKomo

This past weekend, I threw what must have been my 6th Clothes Swap. When I started planning for the swap, I reached out to Pennywise Resale Center, one of my favorite thrift stores in Houston. I have been shopping at Pennywise for years, so naturally it came to mind when I was thinking about what store to donate the remaining clothes to. Few people actually know about Pennywise’s philanthropic efforts. Pennywise is dedicated to “Assisting survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and their children.” I sat down with Liz Moreno, the chairman of Hispanic Business Division- Fort Bend County Womens Center. I was impressed by the great work the Fort Bend County Womens Center, in conjuction with Pennywise, is doing to help the survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in the city of Houston. Keep an eye out for my upcoming feature on Pennywise.

I had a blast organizing and hosting the clothes swap. It’s one of those experiences you have to see to believe. My post today is mostly going to consist of pictures of the event. Enjoy!

The guests came bearing donations.

We sorted their items in the designated areas:

Clothes Swap 3264x2448 — Jackets & Sweaters on the left rack; Dresses on the right rack

Clothes Swap 3264x2448-004 — Shoes and accessories on a table

Once they sorted the items, everything was a free-for-all! They could pick up anything they wanted . It is always so civilized and

They helped each other shop:

Happy shoppers!

It was a chance to hang out and make new friends.

Guests always leave satisfied and happy, knowing that their shopping spree didn’t cost them a dime.

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Clothes Swap DeeTimi 2448x3264 — Happy Swapping!

Special thanks to my sisters, Mom and Dad for helping with setup and tear down of the event. Shout out to Pennywise for letting us borrow the giant racks to put the clothes on!

I brought a lot of clothes to the swap and found some great pieces at the swap. I honestly prefer clothes swaps to thrifting. They are a great way to introduce new items into my closet without going broke. Now that I’m moving up North for graduate school, I’m changing up my style quite a bit. This swap helps me, but it helps others even more. At the end of the swap, we had more than 500 articles of clothing left. Because I donate all the proceeds to a charity, my love of clothes is doing a world of good to people I may never meet. That makes it all worth it.

Last Clothes Swap of 2012

January 15, 2013Clothes SwapsCloset, clothing, Clothing swap, fashion, minimalist, stylist, Used and SecondhandTimiKomo

Here’s Event #2 that I hosted: Last Clothes Swap of 2012

Around these parts, I am the Clothes Swap guru. Ok, so what I gave myself the title…I love hosting clothes swaps. At this point, I rarely find anything for myself. I love helping people find new items and try new styles they never thought they could pull off. I feel like Stacie Clinton on “What Not to Wear.”

This last clothes swap of the year was about starting afresh. There were so many ill-sized articles of clothing in my closet that I had to get rid of. I realized that I couldn’t continue shopping and bringing new items into my closet without doing a clean sweep first. For a while, I thought I had a hoarding problem. I have way too many clothes in my closet; clothes I had no use for anymore. After I saw an episode of “TrueLife: I’m a HOARDER,” I realized that I gradually want to move towards a more minimalist lifestyle. It’s a slow process, but little by little, I can see more carpet in my closet. Don’t ask lol.

I’m also “reinventing” myself like I do every Spring, so some of my old digs have gotta go.

Here is the preliminary stage of the swap. My own (and my sister’s) donations waiting for my guests to add to the pile.

Screen shot 2013-01-14 at 7.55.29 PM

Friends came by. We shopped, swapped, ate, and tried on clothes. As always, a blast :).

Guests:

The left over clothes went to a local thrift store that I frequent. It’s funny going thrifting and seeing things that I donated. It feels good to know I finally let them go. Now to attack the trash bags of clothes in the garage. Another day perhaps.

Thanks to all who came!

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