DC Sip & Swap

This past Thursday night I attended the DC Sip and Swap with the Swapaholics at the Clarendon Ballroom. It was a blast! It was a pretty large scale clothing swap event where you bring your "like-new or gently worn" clothing, jewelry, shoes and/or accessories (at least 5 items) to swap for whatever you can find/grab/snatch from the tables and racks once the swap begins. They screen the goods and set up while everyone arrives and has a few drinks or bites and then it was open sesame at 8:00 sharp.

Here are a few of the items I submitted from my closet:

This is a great piece, but I can never quite rock the awkward 3/4 length sleeves with a jacket.

I gave up the belt not the dress. It's an uber-cute belt, but too thick for my tastes anymore.

And this was my shopping list! I thought it would be smart to go in with goals and a strategy in mind so as not to waste any time dilly dallying when I got in there. Girls be fierce! The only things I managed to procure from this list were a thin red belt and a short sleeve brown cardigan. But part of the fun of it is finding a whole bunch of random stuff you weren't expecting to find, so I was happy to leave with 2 of the desired items and a sackfull of surprises.

My friend Laura and I sippin' and mingling, pre-swap

In the throws of it...

It was pretty chaotic, especially at the beginning, but everybody was really excited! It was fun! I didn't see any hair pulling or nail swatting, but snatching briskly was completely acceptable and in common practice.

Aaand the empty racks at the end. I was done at this point, but there were still people digging through the scraps left at the tables and trying things on right in the room there. I was mingling at the bar with one of my favorite DC style bloggers, District of Chic I was so excited to meet her! I also got to meet a marketing rep from DC Goodwill, who partnered for the event (all the residual items not taken or put out were donated to Goodwill) and a few other interesting bloggers and stylistas.

I took home some great finds, including 2 dresses, a belt, a cardigan & a long sleeve crop top. For a $20 ticket ($30 for 2), I think the return was well beyond what I paid for and would do it again in a heartbeat! More events like this around the DC area please!!