‘I love your top‘. said the bubbly voice projecting compliments, stunned and taken aback, the apologetic response is always the same, who so ever the receiver may be. “What this old thing?” Are we so modest we have to apologise for looking nice or is it perhaps we want to appear flippant with our fashion choices? The effort you need to put into accepting the compliment could have the reverse effect. If we said, ‘thanks’ actually I spent ages ironing it and choosing the right accessories and I am really glad you noticed, would somehow imply that we are ungrateful for the compliment. We brush it away, hopeflly appearing to be undeserving.
I remarked on a dress a friend was wearing, saying how pretty it was, “Oh” she said, it is just a charity shop find. That is a good thing. I complimented, I love that you are recycling.
How often do you hear somebody play down the value of something? In fact, we are adding back stories to items and adding value, so get your head around this……………….. We play down the value to add value.
We recently did another clothes swap party in conjunction with a restaurant venue in my town. Let me explain here, as I have repeated many times, what this is. I will give you a clue, it is in the title Clothes SWAP.
You just bring your pre-loved clothes to an event and swap them.
Objective……..to give clothing a longer life and keep it from going to landfills. There is a global crisis caused by disposing of garments/textiles and all our other rubbish.
Let me add here, that clothes swaps do not just happen. There is no clothes swap fairy sprinkling magic dust and saying ‘you will go to the ball.’ It is not about you getting a load of free clothes. There is more to it
Like all events, there are a bunch of people doing all the groundwork to make it all possible. These people are visionaries and they can see the purpose, the reason we do stuff, the benefits and advantages. If I want to start dishing out compliments I would start here. There are people out there who understand that we all do things for a reason. They may not all be the same reasons and that does not matter, what matters most is they do something. I believe people make big changes by doing simple things.
Receiving a compliment for a garment you swapped has a different response, I have seen the smiles on the faces when they say, ‘I got this in the clothes swap’ ‘We are helping to save the planet’
People pay six euros to cover the costs of running an event, to supply a tote bag, cover the wine and pay the waitress to run the bar.
We only had one negative comment saying Six Euros was a lot for people’s leftovers, yep there is always one, however, we watched people walk away with stuffed tote bags and big grins, they had done well. Six Euros is a small price to pay for four tops, a couple of dresses, a handbag and a jacket not to mention the glass of wine, the socialising with friends and the satisfaction of dropping the phrase, ‘What this old thing?’ Knowing you are contributing to the solution and not the problems of a global textile crisis adds value to your garment and not just in monetary terms. Well done to all who got it, understood the purpose of it all, and a special thanks to those ladies who got stuck in and made it happen.
So when is the next one, before you ask. Soon so watch this space.
AND HERE ARE THE DETAILS OF OUR NEXT CLOTHES SWAP!!!!!! Well done to Rhonda Huke for organising this clothes swap.
All of the clothes that were not taken, will start off the next event. If you want to organise your own event, I will be happy to advise you, please just comment below.
