Hi my name’s Bec and I’m a Hoarder… that is until I discovered the joy of swapping!

You see, I used to cram new shiny things in my wardrobe on a daily basis, in fact I even starting taking over my boyfriend’s space. Rapidly ripping the tags off, hiding the ugly evidence of my shopping addiction. And the lies spilled from my mouth quicker than I could say “stock take sale”…. “Oh this old thing, I’ve had it forever“, “It’s been on lay-by for months“, “it’s a hand me down from my sister”… blah blah bladiblah!

Then one day in a tangle of strained, broken coat hangers and credit card statements in shreds on the floor, I decided to face up to my addiction. 14cm Peeptoes, mis-fitting eBay dresses, Alice McCall pants that were never going to fit, last season’s playsuits, and a leather mini that I desperately wished still suited me, were flung high and far until I was buried in a pile of unwanted clothes. Some with tags still on. Most with the lingering whiff of guilt-from-purchases-past.

Four garbage bags later and two trips to Vinnie’s, I was left with a pile of clothes I was finding hard to part with. Separation anxiety.

I’d loved them all. Picking up a sparkly gold Shakuhachi mini I could have cried at the nostalgia. Okay, so I’d never actually worn it but it’d looked so good in Vogue, and Kate Waterhouse had been spotted in a look-a-like version. How could I throw all this out? Who would love them now? I suddenly had a vision of passing the crazy bag lady that talks to herself, and watching my favourite vintage pea coat flapping in her wake. I just couldn’t bear it.

Or what if they were all thrown in with all the patchouli-smelling hippy throwbacks at a suburban charity shop? No, it wouldn’t be fair.

So I delicately boxed them up and decided that I would one day sell them on eBay.

And there they sat…

And waited…

eBay quietly ticking away in the forgotten part of my brain.

Three house-moves later, still my pretty and shiny and mostly new boxes sat there. Unloved, but too loved to give away.

Then I went to Fashion Week in Melbourne. A ‘clothes swap’ event on the program, I was intrigued! Free clothes – um, yes puhlease! A designer sample sale without any price tags! I’d seen this on Twiggy’s Frock Exchange, you get free Manolo’s!!! I was in heaven.

But something wasn’t quite right. The venue was dark and crammed, the girls were more Supre than Sass & Bide, my hopes of swapping a handful of Seduce dresses for the new Camilla & Marc trench were quickly dissipating, plus my patchouli nightmares had returned. And wait, where were our free cocktails? My friend and I exchanged nervous glances…

After an hour and a half, we had to admit, we were having fun. Once home, a few glasses of bubbly and an impromptu fashion show later, we were in hysterics. It was really fun, and I ended up with some cute little items to add to my wardrobe (plus one fugly floral vest, but we won’t go there). No Manolo’s but a great night out with a girlfriend and some free clothes play with.

Back home in Hobart and confronted with my ‘to-sell-on-eBay-one-day’ boxes, the truth finally dawned on me. eBay was never gonna happen. Way too much effort. I started to see all the new clothes that I could get for free in their place.

I wondered why we couldn’t have a swap event here in Hobart too. Only better. After my Fashion Week experience I realised that the most important element of a successful swap event would be to guard against ‘Swappers Remorse’. An exchange must be a fair transaction. You can’t go in with Bluejuice and Sportsgirl and come out with Stella McCartney. And if you swap Willow, you don’t want to come out with Country Road. But Cue = Seduce, and Alice McCall = Lover. This is the Swapping Equation. Make sense? Good.

So Swap ‘Til You Drop was born.

And now I’m a reformed hoarder. Now I’m ruthless. I ‘spring clean’ my wardrobe every few weeks, because I discovered a wonderful way to get beautiful new clothes for FREE!