Real Estate Swap?

While I have been approached by buyers and sellers to swap real estate in the last few weeks instead of buy it, there was a real swap that took place on May 30th! If you weren't there, it was fun as usual. Over 50 people attended the bi-annual clothing and accessories swap.

Every fall and spring, friends/clients de-clutter their closets, drop off a bag of swappable items and we set up my house to look like Holt Renfrew (well...close). On the evening, guests come from the North Shore, the West and East sides of Vancouver to choose a few pre-loved gems. In fact there is a Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress that has been loved by 7 different people and it was swapped again this time. Instead of the travelling pants, it is the travelling red Von Furstenberg!!

These swaps began in 2008 and have taken on a life of their own. They have become great networking evenings for some of the coolest women around. At the spring 2012 swap, interesting entrepreneurs of note who brought items to showcase were:

Shoshana Krell of Shok Jewelry Design, Katie Quinn of Downtown Betty - ethically made, timelessly stylish and most of all, comfortable, Vivian Thom who can tell you everything about natural products including Norwex, Christine Breakell-Lee's beautiful art pieces and Jack Pekarsky (12 yr old future Marc Jacobs) with his fashion line F11.

After guests have gathered their favourite pieces, all remaining clothes, shoes, coats etc go to worthy women's charities who are very grateful for the large donations to help their clients. Charities who have received bags and bags of clothes include Dress for Success, Avalon and Covenant House. It is a win-win-win-win. We recycle, we network, we go home with some free clothes and we help women in our community.