Ladies Night Out Ideas (Clothing Swap)

How about just going out for a nice dinner and conversation. Save the "themes" for teenagers. I know I would not be I terested in that at all.

My girlfriends and I tried this, but the clothing swap didn't work so well. We're all similar sizes so everyone found things that fit, but our styles aren't really close enough that people were excited about the hand-me-downs. The items that were taken were jeans, sweaters and coats - stuff that didn't have to fit exactly perfectly. We donated all of the shirts and dresses.

Accessories worked better, but it still wasn't perfect. None of us wear costume jewelry, so we swapped actual jewelry. Nothing super expensive, but it was real stuff that people wear everyday. I liked the process but a few women were disappointed that they brought things like silver bracelets and went home with plastic-y stuff.

Pulling numbers would not have worked for us. Instead, we sat around and chatted, ate dinner, and then wandered over to look at clothes and jewelry when we felt like it. Of the eight women who attended, six went home with "new" clothes and jewelry. Three went home with only "new" jewelry. And two decided they didn't want anything from other people.

Oh - one last tip. Don't have people bring a garbage bag full of clothes. It's too hard to display. Everything needs to be on hangers so you can display it. You do need a hanging rack to make this work. If not you'll have piles of clothes all over your furniture and people won't look through them.

Uhm, pulling numbers isn't going to work. I'm a size 6. What if I pull the number of someone who is a size 15? How will that make HER feel?

I say that you have tables marked by size range and let the ladies trade. Have shopping bags available and Sharpie pens to mark them with their names. Then everyone meet in the middle for snacks and drinks when they're done "shopping."

Make it clear that all items remaining are to be donated to a local women's shelter, or to a women's outreach that provides business-wear for women who cannot afford it.

I would only do clothing or accessories, too. I would feel very self conscious if my size were so much bigger than others'. As for how to do, how about collecting all the pieces and laying them out as prizes. Then play some kind of game where each time you win or mayb get a trivia answer right, you get to choose a piece.

I've never done anything like that which you propose. A close friend and I are nearly the same size, or were once before babies. Everytime I strip down my closet I offer her first picks before sending to charity, she returns the favor.

Certain items I've acquired in this fashion have become long favorites.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

I find it really only works with accessories or if you are all the same size.

We had a thing like this at church a while back. Everyone got an 8 foot table and could bring what ever they wanted. Kitchen stuff, clothes for kids, men, ladies, etc....one lady even brought a lawn mower.

Everyone just set up and then we all just had fun. There was no system or anything. We're friends, if we saw something at the same time as someone else we acted like adults and let them have it.

There were no hard feelings, one person volunteered to take anything we wanted to just get rid of to a local charity. I was so glad to not have to take all the left over stuff back home again. Some of it I did want to take home though. I could sell some of it and didn't want to just give it away. Other stuff I was glad to get rid of.

Do you all wear the same size?
I personally would not exchange clothing and I don't wear costume jewelry.

You know your friends the best but that wouldn't fly around here for a theme.

I've been to a few parties like this.

As below posts say, sizing makes it very tricky. Even if the *women* are the same size, oftentimes the clothes they want to give away are not ("I'm giving this away because it's too small for me", "I'm giving this away because it's too big for me").

Maybe try a purse swap? Or a shoe swap - sizing is not such an emotional issue when you're talking about feet. ;-)

If you really want to do *clothes*, my advice is to do one type of clothing (like "pants and jeans" - a "pants party"). Ask people to tell you in advance what size pants/jeans they are bringing to give away. Then you'll know how "balanced" the party will be.

A friend did it about 4 years ago. I loved it. We set up our areas and if a pal saw something in your pile she asked you to go look at her pile and the two of you either agreed or not. Say, I saw a designer blouse but I only had scarves, then the pal took about 5 of my scarfs to equal the value she thought would compensate. Even larger ladies were in on the fun. They traded shoes, purses, etc.

I would not want to do a free for all because some lady who brought junk may leave with designer dibs and the woman who brought in great stuff may get little in return. Therefore, I think the ladies should have free will to say yeah or nay to any swaps that involve their goods.

Please let us know how it goes. I am hostessing a swap in November!

ETA: Oh well, I had the swap, but my GF had a better idea for organizing it: As a guest enters, she takes her goodies into a separate room. She and another guest (acting as co-hostess) count the number of items she brought (say 6). There is a chart that has round 1 and round 2 on it. Divide the number into 3 round 1 and 3 round 2. This goes for every guest as they arrive. When the swapping starts, the first lady goes into the room alone and picks how ever many items it says for her to pick round 1. She can try them on in privacy, etc. Then she comes out into the main room and shows everyone what she took. Then the next lady. Round 2, it starts again. Round 2 is so that any late comer can still participate.

The problem with this is, as others have said, the sizes vary. The selection can leave some women with nothing to select. And if some things aren't chosen, the woman who brought it can wind up feeling insulted. (Yes, she doesn't want the item, but can get hurt if no one else wants it either!)

It might be fun to contribute clothing to a cause like "Dress for Success" which provides professional clothing for women entering the workforce from extreme disadvantage. They get job skills and interview/resume help, but don't have the clothes to wear to the interviews or to work. So you could all come together and make your evening activity the piecing together of outfits from all of the donated items. Bring a bunch of hangers and put together tops and bottoms, jackets and pants, jewelry and pocketbooks, etc. If you take a few nice photos and send them to the local paper, it generates publicity for the "Dress for Success" program, and you will feel good that your ladies helped other ladies. Sometimes you can even team up with a local women's store (the smaller ones tend to be amenable) who donate space, racks and maybe kick in some accessories or a gift card.

Another thing your group might try at this time of year is a perennial party. We did one in our neighborhood and it was really fun. Everyone dug up a few things that needed thinning or transplanting and put them in pots. Hostas, bulbs like tulips and daffodils, tubers like iris, ferns, ground cover like pachysandra, things that reseed easily like columbine, and hardy plants like all the varieties of sedum are just a few ideas. You can make everyone responsible for bringing, say, 4 things. (They can also ask a few neighbors for some trades.) Then arrange the donated items in groups so that there is a selection, even if all the groups aren't the same. Choose numbers out of a hat, and that's the order in which everyone selects their choices. Everyone gets a garden boost during the season of transplanting. If you get a set of big craft sticks (look like tongue depressors), everyone uses a sharpie marker to write down the name of the plant and planting instructions (how much sun, etc.) and sticks it in the pot beforehand, or use post it notes (but tape them on so they stick - nothing worse than getting home with something you can't identify). If everyone gets a bunch of free boxes at any liquor store, the plants can be loaded up in the cars and won't tip over during transplant. We've done this at someone's home too, with an afternoon lunch - doesn't have to be a "night out".

Good luck!

If everyone is the same or very close in size, it sounds like a great idea. Otherwise, I just don't see how it would work.
If sizes are varied do an accessory exchange instead, scarves, hats, purses, jewelry, etc. Have areas where people can display the items clearly and neatly, a purse, table, a scarf table, etc. Have some wine and snacks until all the items are out and then go shopping! Make sure you have some shopping bags on hand.

Strip poker. Ante would be a piece of clothing each hand. (of course that would mean you have to bring 10-20 pieces to swap - I guess that can be good if you are trying to get rid of something).

Have fun!

I think I would go with purses and jewelry.

I think it would be fun. I've thought about doing it myself. If everyone knows ahead of time that all leftovers get donated then I wouldn't worry about drawing #'s or that someone got more than someone else.

We did it at our gym and it went well. Everyone just kind of helped each other, we all started at the same time. We browsed and said oh that's cute, or it would look really good on so and so, go try it on... All tops were in one area, skirts in another, jeans another, etc... Jewelry, purses small household items would be a great addition. I donated my boys clothes because I knew no one at the gym would fit into my bigger clothes. I had someone extremely happy for them.

Have fun!