Bippity, Boppity, Boo: Cleared Out Closets Help Share The Style

Cinderella may have had a fairy godmother who showed up the night of the ball to turn her drab dress into a haute couture creation, but that only happened once in her lifetime. While I may not have a fairy godmother to turn a pumpkin into a carriage fit for a princess, I do have my very own fashion godmother. Who along with her sister-in-law send me dashing designer duds every few months.

Many women wish that the clothing they desire would be free, especially in a downtrodden economy. As a rule I always pass on my unwanted clothing, making this wish a reality for a lucky few. This began when some lovelies began sending me their unwanted fashions. Kicking off a true chain reaction of fashion where passing on is a good thing and makes for a much prettier and well dressed world. Making high end fashion possible in the world of poor college students.

Once upon a time,one sent me an entire bag filled with nothing but sweaters, most of which were my favorite fabric: cashmere. Upon receiving this generous gift, I cleaned out my own sweater drawers, putting six sweaters of various color, style and brand into a bag which I brought to my friend's dorm room. Her roommate gladly accepted several of the sweaters, then took the rest to the local Salvation Army. Continuing the tradition of passing on.

My uber stylish aunt started this tradition long before green was a pop culture trend. One of the more recent items sent to NEPA by my aunt was a burnt orange Ann Taylor cashmere sweater that yes, I wear with skinny jeans and cowboy boots. She is always willing to lend her two cents on a subject. I have had my mother ask her on multiple occasions what she thought of something I was planning on wearing and vice versa. She is basically a style prophet.

Like my stylish aunt, her sister-in-law dresses to kill the hearts of the fashion obsessed. I.E. She has to clean out her closet every four months to purge herself of those items that are "out of style" so she can make room for the new designs. Upon putting the unwanted in a bag (sometimes from Neimans, sometimes a Hefty) she sends them to my aunt's house where my aunt adds to the spoils then sends it from the trendy suburbs of Philly to NEPA.

Handbags, sweaters and tops! Oh my! All of course top of the line and all begging to be worn and seen. While sometimes standing out, yes I mean you beyond gorgeous Catherine Malandrino blouse, these clothes fit with ease into my wardrobe and allow me to give new life to no longer wanted clothing.

In a world consumed with going green, there is no more of a stylish way than recycling clothes. Even the university I am enrolled at embraced this mentality this past spring, holding their own clothing swap, where students and faculty could bring their unwanted clothing and trade it for someone else's fashions. Similar to raiding your best friend's closet except you get to keep what ever you take. While some made out wonderfully, one woman left with a tan pea coat and another left with armfuls of tee shirts and some skinny jeans, others only took one or two items.

Having an eye for the expensive, I made away with an olive Michael Stars top and a white and gold striped button-up tunic.


The Michael Stars top (seen above) would have retailed for around $90 if I have bought it online or in a store, but at the clothing swap it only cost me the $2 cost of admission to the event and nothing more.