When I was growing up, going to the thrift store was a huge aspect of my life; my dad and I would spend an entire afternoon at the thrift store on some weekends. I would come home with a bag or two of clothes and I would spend hours putting iron-on decals on shirts, replacing buttons on clothes, altering hemlines, and taking garments from pretty items to ones that better suited my body and style. The sustainable fashion and thrifting community were a major source of education for me about the environmental impact of fashion; it helped me discover an interest in sewing and upcycling and challenged my ability to style clothes in my pursuit for self-expression and environmentalism.
When I decided to go to college in Boston, I worried that the secondhand market wouldn’t be accessible to me since it consisted of higher end consignment stores. Relying on the online secondhand market didn’t fit right either. In my experience as a buyer, I had issues with sellers not disclosing snags or stains on items or mislabeling the size of a garment. I was really yearning for something that was affordable but trendy, and when it comes to the secondhand market you often can’t have your cake and eat it too. I also had a dorm room filled with clothes that had so much sentimental value but didn’t fit my body or lifestyle anymore. I knew that clothing donated to a thrift store is more likely to end up in a landfill than on a rack, and online selling wasn’t accessible to me as a college student who was too busy with schoolwork to list, package, and ship clothing.
Then I found Sustainable Swaps on Instagram, an organization started by Mireya Zellner, a marketing communications major at Emerson College. The goal of this organization is for people to meet up and trade their old clothes for new ones. Sustainable Swaps is an initiative started by an Emerson student, but the event is open to the public. I met students from Berklee, Northeastern, and Lesley with amazing styles ranging from bohemian flowy tie dyes to twee embroidered strawberry sweaters. Fashion isn’t the only category where self-expression and creativity flourished— there was live music from local bands Retrograde88, Ski Club, and Ditto. The venue where the past two clothing swaps have been hosted, The Foundry in Cambridge, is a space dedicated to creating access for people to pursue their passions. Spaces at the venue include multi-purpose rooms, a dance studio, and a demonstration kitchen.
As a vendor, I loved that people could try on my garments. Shopping in person, rather than online, promotes sustainability because people can make intentional choices when they know how it looks and feels on their body. This interactive aspect also made it easier to part with sentimental items because I could tell people about wearing those items to school or a concert and know that someone else would have my memories while making their own new ones. I enjoyed having the choice to trade, purchase and sell items, or donate them to St. Francis House Homeless Shelter, because having options ensures clothes go to someone who will appreciate them.
Sustainable Swaps represents everything that fashion should be about, fostering a community, educating people about fast fashion, and promoting respect for the planet and our clothes. Anyone who loves thrifting and live music can stay updated by following their Instagram @sustainableswapss.
