Out With the Old… In With the New-to-You

On New Year’s Eve we had a bit of a spring clean here in the Eagle’s Nest. Well, a lot of one actually. We cleaned out, sorted through, chucked away, reorganised, amalgamated, reallocated, merged and recalibrated just about every single one of our worldly possessions. There was joy, laughter, one or two arguments and even a few tears along the way! Someone recently said merging your belongings is the next logical step after moving in together. It’s all very well having your own domain within a shared space, but to actually integrate your books? Your stationery? Hell, your CDs? Now that’s commitment.

Along with the sort-out came the ritual known as the annual cleansing of the wardrobe. In a constant effort to streamline my clothes (and an excuse to make space for new ones), I like to give The Partner a “fashion show” whereby I try on all my clothes while he calls out “Yuck”, “Chuck” or “I’ve never even seen that before”. Occasionally he agrees a garment can be kept, but mostly it’s down to a battle of the wills that enables an item to remain in wardrobe residence.

I quite enjoy this process as it forces me to evaluate whether I’m keeping something purely for its sentimental value. And when it comes to clothing that’s a pretty dumb reason to keep something. If you’re never going to wear it again what’s the point of it sitting there gathering dust when someone else could be getting good use out of it? And that’s what spurred me into having a clothes swap party, or “Swishing” as it’s apparently now known.

What better way to recycle all those items you never wear/you're saving for a special occasion that never seems to come/that no longer fit/that you're clinging onto for sentimental reasons? Instead of giving them away to a charity shop and inevitably spending more money while you’re in there (and half of them will probably end up in landfill anyway), why not let your friends have first dibs on them? The great thing about giving those long-loved items of clothing to your friends is you get to see them being worn and enjoyed again by the people you love.

Of course it doesn’t always work out that way. Your friends may not want any of your old tat and vice versa, but whatever’s left can still be given to charity and at least you’ve had a bit of fun in the meantime. Tomorrow's the big night so fingers crossed for a successful swish!