Posh Swaps Blog

Posh Swaps will be holding more clothes swap parties in November, December and the new year, but in the mean time, there is plenty going on to satisfy your clothes swap urges.

Refashionable Clothes Swap, Covent Garden

01 Oct 2009 19:00

Venue: Covent Garden Dragon Hall

Come and have a fun night out with your friends, go home with a new wardrobe and support a great local charity!

The night starts at 7pm at Covent Gardens’ Dragon Hall (http://www.dragonhall.org.uk). Swap will begin at 8pm in the main hall.

Bring along your unwanted wardrobe treasures to swap.

Cakes and Bubbly will be available on the night. All profits will go to Charity so be sure to bring some cash!

Free cotton Tote bag for each attendee to take their goodies home in!

Here’s how it works:

•Bring along between 5 and 10 items from your wardrobe you no longer need. These need to be clean and in near perfect condition – an item someone else would be delighted to receive (please no soiled or damaged clothes)
•Hand over your items to the swaps desk on arrival in return for your swaps card on which we will give you one credit for each item you bring.
•Swapping will commence at 8pm. Each attendee will be given a Refashionable cotton tote bag to stash their goodies in. There are also toilets available for trying on clothes.
•Items will be ticked off your swap card before you leave. You will be allowed to take the same amount of items you bring (so make sure not to misplace your swap card)
•If you have any credits left over at the end you will be able to keep hold of your swap card and use them at another Refashionable Swap event.

ST MARGARETS HOUSE CLOTHING SWAP

01 Oct 2009 19:00

Venue: Gallery Cafe, 21 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green

After the success of our first ever clothing swap last month, we are excited to announce we will be holding a monthly swap on the first Thursday of every month. This swap is bigger and better than the last one, with DJ’s, homemade cakes, badge making, t-shirt printing and other crafty delights. So…boys and girls, bring a bag of your unwanted clothes, and swap them for a bag of new ones! The clothes are graded so remember, the better items you bring, the better items you can take away!

There is small fee (£3) which goes to charity

Email: siobhan@stmargaretshouse.org.uk

Bowdon’s Big Swish

01 Oct 2009 20:30

Venue: Bowdon Parish Centre

Have you got gorgeous clothes, shoes and accessories sitting in your wardrobe that you would be proud to hand on?

We want you to bring your posh frocks along on Thursday 1st October 8.30pm to the Bowdon Parish Centre to “Go Swishing”

Tickets cost just £5.00 which includes drinks and nibbles and need to bought in advance from Francine Ryan e-mail- francine@cathchildsoc.org.uk or telephone 0161 998 8802.

You can also be pampered by My Spa Clinics who will be on hand to provide complimentary mini manicures in return for a donation.

All money raised will be donated to the Catholic Children’s Society (Shrewsbury Diocese) charity number 509793 who support vulnerable children and families across the North West however they are constituted, regardless of their story, their beliefs or their lifestyles.

So come along - save money- save the planet- contact Francine Ryan today and join the swishing revolution.
Email: francine@cathchildsoc.org.uk

Swapclub’s Autumn Swish

04 Oct 2009 17:00

Venue: Harrison’ Bar, 15-19 Bedford HIll, Balham. London

It’s a refreshingly great feeling to clear out that clutter in your wardrobe. If you have clothes and accessories you never wear or no longer fit you, come along to Swapclub’s Autumn Swish to exchange them for ones you WILL wear.

Bring atleast 3 items of clothing , accessories or perfume.

Items must be clean, quality and you should be happy to pass them on to a good home!
Hand them in to be sorted, meanwhile you and your friends can lounge around in comfort at Harrison’s.

When items have been displayed you can browse and try things on.

After guests have had a good look at what is on offer the begins.
You can then claim the items you want to take home

There is no limit to the numberof items you can claim.
Unclaimed items will be donated to charity (voted by guests on the night)

You go home with a revitalised wardrobe without the expense!

for info and guestlist discount join the mailing list email: swapclubsouth@gmail.com

Email: swapclubsouth@gmail.com

frockswappers

06 Oct 2009 19:00

Venue: Buffalos Bills Middleton road banbury

NEXT FROCK SWAPPING EVENT IS 6Th October @Buffalo bills Middleton Rd, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX16 3QT @ 7 oclock start look forward to seeing you all there (loads of parking and there is a pub which serve nice cool drinks) Can you ask for a better evening x

Email: banger.rachie@talktalk.net

Refashionable Clothes Swap 8th October

08 Oct 2009 19:00

Venue: PanAm bar, Albert Dock, Liverpool

Come and have a fun night out with your friends, go home with a new wardrobe and support a great local charity!

The night starts at 7pm at Liverpools’ PanAm bar. PanAm is a contemporary bar and restaurant, located in the Grade 1 listed Britannia Pavilion on the Albert Dock overlooking fabulous views towards Liverpool’s Three Graces and has won the coveted Taste of Merseyside Accreditation. www.panam-venue.co.uk/

Free cotton Tote bag for each attendee to take their goodies home in!

Charity for Cancer Care Unit Clonmel

09 Oct 2009 20:00

Venue: Knocklofty House Hotel, Clonmel, Co. Tipp, Ireland

Fun night of swishing cloths shoes & accessories

Email: accmulcon@eirecom.net

Swap in the City

10 Oct 2009 04:00

Venue: 199 Lafayette

Come enjoy refreshments, gift bags, & eco-friendly swapping. Bring clean, gently used & new clothing that you no longer wear (yes, dress you bought last year and never wore too) Don’t forget those shoes, accesories & new cosmetics.

For every item contributed, you get a swap buck to purchase other items.

Tickets: $10
purchase at www.theswapteampresents.com

All left over items and part of our proceeds will be donated to the Susan Powell Huntington Housing Facitily.
Official Site: http://www.theswapteampresents.com

Email: info@theswapteampresents.com

The Big Birmingham Clothes Swap in aid of Mencap

10 Oct 2009 11:00

Venue: Bournbrook & Selly Oak Social Club, 13a Hubert Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham

HUGE Clothes Swap in aid of Mencap. Bring along your good quality unwanted items (clothes, shoes, bags, accessories etc.) Browse our MASSIVE selection of fantastic items and swap, swap, swap to come away with a whole new wardrobe! All welcome.

Women’s, Men’s and Children’s clothes all welcome!

Also enjoy a drink from the bar and delicious snacks whilst swapping.

Guaranteed a day out to remember!

**STOP PRESS**

Sensational Colour and Image Consultant Kulwinder Dhillon will be there! Don’t miss her invaluable advice on how to look amazing!

Email: bigbirminghamclothesswap@live.co.uk

Sunday Swish

11 Oct 2009 13:00

Venue: Harry’s Wine Bar, Twickenham Green, Twickenham, Middlesex

This will be a charity focused event in support of the charity “Look Good Feel Better”. Look Good Feel Better is a cancer support charity that helps women manage the visible side effects of cancer treatment - see link here http://www.lookgoodfeelbetter.co.uk/site/index.cfm if you wish to view further details on their website. A small entry fee to the event of £5/person will be donated to this charity.

Sarah Brummitt, a local image consultant will be there to provide us all with fabulous style tips while we all swish.

Wine, nibbles, cakes and tea will be all be available for purchase at the event.

Free “goody bags” will be given out at the end of the event.

Email: kimwdean@googlemail.com

Clothes Swap Party

12 Oct 2009 19:30

Venue: IBAR 1277 High Road Whetstone N20 9HS

A fantastic fusion of fashion and pampering. You bring 5 Items that someone else would love to own & choose 5 to take home. You will have a stylist on hand giving out great fashion tips & advice, Therapists to pamper you, plus a fashion & beauty market. Cost of ticket is £15 and you receive a free glass of wine upon arrival, Pamper treatment either a Massage or mini manicure, plus a lovely free gift as a thank you for you to take home.

Email: info@total-renewal.com

Frock and Roll

24 Oct 2009 11:00

Venue: Hilton Grosvenor Hotel, Glasgow

Go for credit crunch couture and swap, don’t shop for fabulous new clothes, shoes and accessories.

Bring a minimum of 3 items of party or occasion wear that you would be proud to pass on to others, we’ll put them on display and you can go home with a chic new outfit.

A brilliant way to reinvent your wardrobe with handbags and gladrags for the party season - and help to raise funds for charity.

You could even bag yourself a piece of clothing worn by a celebrity!

Hilton Grosvenor Hotel, Byres Road, Glasgow

Drop off your party clothes, Friday 23rd October, 5-8pm
Frock and roll swap begins, Saturday 24th October, 11am

£10 per person, including a complimentary drink on arrival

Style Week Swish

29 Oct 2009 10:00

Venue: Drake Circus Shopping Centre

As part of Plymouth Style Week 2009 we will be holding a Swishing event in Drake Circus shopping centre at various times throughout the day on Thursday 29th October. Please visit our site; www.plymouth.gov.uk/citycentre for more information.

Email: amanda.bishop@plymouth.gov.uk

Swish North East

29 Oct 2009 18:00

Venue: The Thistle Hotel, Fry Street, Middlesbrough

The ultimate girls night out - the theme of this Swish is Party Time - how many times can you wear the same party clothes this is your chance to get something new. Exhibitors include hairdressing, Temple Spa, House of Colour, Shoes, Handbags, Jewellery, manicures and much much more. A buffet and welcome drink are also included in the admission price of £20-00. Please include at least 1 party item in your 3 to 5 swishing pieces.

Email: pauline@btconnect.com

My first reaction to this picture of of two suited men  at New York Fashion Week is to laugh. I found the picture on Lela Luxe and on further reading realised that all is not as it seems. The clear plastic suit made from recycled bottles is not actually a fashion statement but more an elaborate statement to show how a suit made from recycled bottles is not what you would expect. The man on the right is wearing a suit made by Bagir, an Israel-based tailored apparel manufacturer that specializes in high-tech suiting innovations. It is made from ECOGIR™ a fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. The fabric is machine washable and can be tumbled dried so is also eco friendly in that it does not require dry cleaning.

This is another great example of ways that you can help the planet without compromising on style.

In response to 21st Century concerns and the rapidly evolving luxury market, the Gucci Group will sponsor a Ph.D. Scholarship that will explore the potential of new technology in answering the call for sustainability in the challenging context of fashion and textiles.

The First ‘Gucci Group Ph.D Scholarship’ is aimed at promoting creativity and innovation to define what future luxury may be with sustainability in its core.
Gucci Group believe that cutting edge design, science and material innovation hold the key to developing new methods and processes that will assist in defining the future of craft and manufacturing, and help ensure the future for luxury brands that will take into account environmental concerns and climate change.

The Ph.D. Scholarship will be hosted by Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and supported by Textile Futures Research and Consultancy (TFRC) at the University of the Arts London (UAL). This research facilitates technology, translation and convergence, improving the interface between science and design, the exploration of sustainability, the expansion of the textile product and new applications. Linked to TFRC, the Ph.D. Scholar will join a community of specialist researchers and practitioners with internationally recognised expertise in wide ranging and related projects that include:

‘BioCouture’: is a visionary research project to grow clothing. It unites fashion and textile design with bio and nanotechnologies for future sustainable fashion. Led by fashion designer Suzanne Lee, at Central Saint Martins, and scientist Dr. David Hepworth, BioCouture entails the growing of clothing from laboratory cultured bacterial-cellulose. The sheet material is grown in a green tea solution and can be dried down to form a seamless shape or cut and sewn conventionally for clothing;
Rethinking Recycled Textiles’: Kate Goldsworthy, at Central Saint Martins, employs new finishing and laser surfacing technologies for ‘upcycling’ synthetic materials. What were otherwise unwanted; ‘ugly’ materials are transformed into highly desirable fabrics for fashion and interiors;
Ever & Again’: a research project led by Becky Earley, at Chelsea College of Art & Design, about ‘upcycling’, the development of processes and design that improve upon the value of the original textile product in some way;
Pop Up’: Designer Carole Collet, at Central Saint Martins, is developing smart textile surfaces that will change shape in reaction to ambient environmental changes. This project is investigating the potential of applying biomimetic principals from nature, in textile design.

Gucci Group is committed to environmental stewardship and to the sustainable development of its businesses.
Gucci Group recognizes the importance of using innovation to create new and dynamic ways of consuming and to develop commercially viable solutions that at the same time respect nature and mankind. The future holds a new palette of options that could provide sustainable directives to influence our company and beyond.

About Textile Futures Research & Consultancy:

Using a variety of research methods and partnerships, TFRC brings together staff working in different colleges of the University of the Arts London, other national and international academic, research and cultural institutions, industry and commerce. TFRC is building on staff and student textile work in the areas of fashion, product, environment, architecture, medicine, well-being as well as history and theory. The research feeds back into current and future graduate and postgraduate programmes and provides through its activities and outputs (products, publications, patents, conferences, etc.) a creative profile that constructively counterbalances the proliferation of technology driven textile research. www.tfrg.org.uk

You may have heard of the term swishing and wondered whta on earth it means? Swishing is a relatively new term used to describe a clothes swap party. It can be a small party amongst friends arranged at someones house or a large scale party with hundreds of swappers. The term was coined by Futerra Sustainability Communications in order to promote the recycling of clothes.

The general idea of a swish is that each attendee brings along at least one piece of clothing that they no longer want but would be proud to pass onto someone else. All of the clothes are laid out and guests are given the opportunity to browse, perhaps whilst enjoying a glass of wine or some light refreshments. A warning is given 5 minutes before the beginning of the swap and then the swap begins. Everyone can choose which items of clothing they would like. Things can get quite heated a bit like in the sales with everyone grabbing for the stuff they want.

Each swishing party is different, some have stalls, beauty treatments, entertainment of refashioning where party goers can adjust and change an item of clothing that they love some aspects of but is not quite right.

Swishing is proving o be immensly popular in the UK and all over the world, which is understandable, it is eco friendly, a great way to refresh your wardrobe without spending lots of money and best of all it is really fun.

If you fancy going along to a swish, find out about Posh Swaps Clothes Swap parties. Alternatively you can swap your clothes online at www.posh-swaps.com.

Glove Love is an initiative by Green Thing, where they take lonely single gloves that have lost their original partners, wash them and then pair them with brand new glove lovers. You can either donate single gloves, or buy a matched pair for a fiver. This shirt film/ commercial featuring the voie of Emma Thompson was filmed by Michael Wright and Mustard. A really fun way to recycle and cut down on waste, we love it. Alternatively, you could swap your old gloves on Posh-swaps.com.

Green Thing is a public service that inspires people to lead a greener life. With the help of brilliant videos and inspiring stories from creative people and community members around the world, Green Thing focuses on seven things you can do - and enjoy doing. Join people from 202 countries doing their green things and making a difference

This week we have lots of green goodies, natural beauty products and sustainable style.
Factio Magazine Meets Fabrice Penot, the Co-Creator of Le Labo at Barneys New York
College Candy gives Fashion Pulse Daily some tips on fashionably living the green life.
Vivienne Westwood dedicates her Spring 2010 Red Label runway show to rainforest protection, and Fashiontribes has the exclusive video!
My Beauty Bunny is giving away free Tropical Traditions tea tree oil and coconut soaps!
Posh Swaps finds some great sustainable shoes in her post Nina Dolcetti – a step in the right direction
Get your Detox on! Find out how Karissa at Prissy Green uses her bath and natural recipes to Detox and fight cellulite!
Quinta Trends talks to Indarra. DTX eco and high tech clothes.
Runway To Retail checks out London as they are celebrating 25 years of fashion!
The Fashionable Gal reviews Yes to Carrots – a soothing skin care line that is cruelty free and uses organic ingredients.

estethica at London Fashion week seems to gaining pace. This time the British Fashion councils ethical initiative has added 13 new designer and 9 new labels making a total of 28 designers. estethica is all about fashion which is ethical but also achieves design excellence. Great news, we don’t think that just being ethical is enough, we want the clothes to look great as well.

We have already posted about North Circular the new label by top models with knitwear knitted by grannies using locally produced ethical wool. Other exciting new additions to estethica for this season are AJNA with a collection inspired by natures beauty and crafted by indigenous textile artisans in Peru, Nepal, Bolivia, India, as well as locally in New York in a range of eco friendly materials including The materials used are organic cotton, hemp silk, ahimsa silk(vegan wild silk), biodegradable viscose, bamboo, sasawashi(bamboo leaves and paper), pina(pineapple), abaca(banana leaf), organic wool, himalayan cashmere and indigenous alpaca. Beryl Man, designer at AJNA is also the former knitwear design director at Donna Karan.

All estethica designers adhere to at least one of the three estethica principles of fair-trade and ethical practices, organic and recycled materials. It is great to see support of recycling in the fashion industry. We love clothes swapping but there are also lots of innovative labels finding new ways to recycle and create beautiful clothes.

picture from www.londonfashionweek.co.uk

Nina Dolcetti is the label started by Elisalex Grunfeld de Castro in 2008 after she graduated from Cordwainers in 2005. The high end shoes that she makes are both luxurious and sustainable. The upcycled materials used for these design led, avant garde shoes are off cuts and remnants and unwanted pre consumer waste. They are hand made in a work shop in East London.

The label which showed at Esthetica, London Fashion Week, recognises the waste within the fashion industry and the environmentally unfriendly effects of leather tanning. Yet another exciting development in our search for luxurious but sustainable style.

picture from www.londonfashionweek.co.uk

Back in February, we posted about the launch of the Government’s sustainable clothing action plan during London Fashion Week and how Posh-swaps.com is supporting the action plan by promoting and enabling the reuse and recycling of clothes through swapping, buying and selling second hand clothes.

Shared Talent India, one of London College of Fashion’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion’s (CSF) key projects of 2009 funded by Defra and supported by the Indian Government, was showcased on the Monsoon stand at Estethica at London Fashion Week. The project is one of a series of actions being implemented by the clothing and fashion sector under the Defra-led Sustainable Clothing Action Plan and Roadmap process to improve the environmental and ethical performance of clothing.

Born out of a collaboration between UK and Indian designers and London College of Fashion (LCF), Pearl Academy India and AMFI Amsterdam Fashion Institute students, the project has explored and promoted the design applications of a range of sustainable Indian textiles. Earlier this summer the group took part in a ten day workshop in Delhi to produce concepts to showcase Indian sustainable textiles and share their skills and designers and makers. After being showcased at London Fashion Week the collection will go to Indian Fashion Week in October 2009.

The award winning Shared Talent project model, developed to find transformative solutions through collaboration, has already been successfully applied to communities in Ghana and South Africa. Shared Talent India kicked off early in 2009 with a call out by the CSF for applications from UK-based designers and liaised with Pearl Academy to recruit India-based designers* to take part in the project. The designers along with selected AMFI and LCF students travelled to India to engage in a programme of activity including workshops and active design collaboration to produce concepts to showcase the sustainable textiles.

Accompanying the group were members of the Monsoon team; Head of Design, Kim Elliott commented, “This is an exciting collaboration between fashion students and designers in the UK and India which reflects our heritage and we are proud to be involved with it. The students brief for this project will showcase some quite directional design work demonstrating the fashion potential of sustainable textiles, the outcome of which will be displayed on the Monsoon stand at London Fashion Week in September.”

further information can be found on http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2009/090918b.htm

Yesterday, we were really pleased about getting a mention in the Mail on Sunday. The article which was on page 67 entitled ‘Junk? thats my wedding dress’ was about people buying, selling and swapping second hand clothes or swishing. It explains how fashionable it now is to swap, buy and sell used and second hand clothes both because of the recession and environmental reasons.