The Clothing Swap is being restructured! March 23rd will be our Clothing Swap’s final day in its current form – at the end of the day, all remaining donations will be removed from the shop.

Is this the end of the Clothing Swap?

Far from it! Instead of dedicating year-round storage space to the Swap, we’re keeping the monthly Clothing Swap events going; at the end of each swap, we’ll clear out any remaining donations until the next event. These new Swap events will also each be themed: April 27th’s theme will be Activewear!

This means that after March 23rd, we will no longer accept clothing donations on non-swap days.

The Clothing Swap was perfect as it was! Why is this resource being reduced?

The Clothing Swaps worked beautifully back in 2015, when it was treated more as a social event and an excuse to check out a brand new queer space at no charge. Since relocating, however, we’ve had lots of folks donating massive amounts of clothing in, with a very small handful of folks actually taking clothing donations home. In practice, the Clothing Swap has been creating unpaid labor for our staff and volunteers far more than it has clothed our trans community members! The need for constant access to the donations simply isn’t there, and in its current configuration, our service has been used more like a full-time thrift store than we’ve had room to house. It is our hope that with our themed swaps, people will be more inclined to drop items off and find new items that appeal to them!

Will these events offer anything else besides donated clothing?

Local seamstress (and fellow ’08 VanTech grad, along with Jessie and Brianne) Anastasia Vogl will be available on the afternoons of Clothing Swap days to offer feedback on how to alter the garments you find to suit you best! We are also working on setting up by-donation workshops with Ana immediately after the Swaps to educate folks who are interested in learning more about mending and alterations!

We look forward to seeing you at our new n’ improved Clothing Swaps!