Swap-O-Rama Roundup

I had fun at the Swap-O-Rama the other night, but most of that came from the social aspect. It was for a good cause (Big Brothers & Big Sisters), and I got to have an evening out with some of my favourite people. But from a clothing perspective, I've gotta say: I don't think I got as good as I gave. Tell me what you think.

These are my fifteen items that I culled from my closet. Some of these were in the giveaway pile, and some were still in rotation or I'd been saving as "too nice to just give away". Every person attending the swap contributed fifteen items and was able to take fifteen items home. I didn't find fifteen items to take home.

Club Monaco trousers (worn here - I've put in links to all of these items in outfits). These are crisp and a good fit and work with flats best (they are a little short on me and I'm 5'4"). The colour is a mid-grey with a slight purplely tone.

The "Are Those Leather Pants?" pants. 'Nuff said.

The Bum Skirt, also Club Monaco. Lovely on, but hard to match anything to the blues and greens.

Tommy Hilfiger skirt with beaded hem (all of the white part of the design on the bottom 4 inches is done with clear beads). Too long on me.
Louben blouse with bow. I like this blouse, but I don't love it. It was a bit too old-fashioned on me.

H&M satin blouse in two-tone grey. Just kind of blah.

Gap velvet jacket. Gorgeous piece...I just love this, but the colour is all wrong for me.

Banana Republic silk velvet skirt. Not my colours, but otherwise I really liked this.
Jacob silk and beaded dress. This is a size 13/14 and is one of the lovely dresses I had when I was heavy.

Here I am wearing it about seven years ago:

My lovely wraparound dress. It was just time to let this go.

This newish grey Mexx sweater dress. Love the shape, the feel, but the colour was not good on me.

I love this purse, but it's another case where I have nothing in these colours to wear with it (I used to have a turquoise skirt that went with it, but gave it away when I lost weight). I have not used it in over two years.

The shoes. My wonderful Bronx sandals that tear the crap out of my heels, my Le Chateau pumps that are too big and my Feet First shoes that rub my heels.

I felt like I'd donated good quality items. Maybe not to everyone's taste, but there's some nice stuff there, I think.

This is what I got, and I really struggled to find items that fit and that weren't ripped, pilled or REALLY out of style.

Stretch denim rock and roll t-shirt (the sleeves are split at the cuff). The design is glittery.

I don't think I'll get more than two or three wears out of this (it's not really work appropriate, even for a casual Friday, but that hasn't stopped me before, ha!).

Slinky red top. This is a little young for me on its own, but it'll look okay under a jacket.

Bluish t-shirt top.

This used to be Ruth's - ha!

Denim skirt with asymetrical stitching:

This is probably my best find. This fit me like a glove and is the perfect length. I was actually looking for a new denim skirt. Of course, these were also Caro's!

And this is the second best find, a plain long black jersey dress:

It has a great V-neckline, is exactly the right length for a heel, and is slit up to just above the knee on each side. I have a party coming up in early August, so I think I will wear this. A good classic long dress can last for years, just by changing up the accessories.

Some Gap jeans:

I have these on right now - they are total hang around the house jeans. They are quite worn, but they fit me perfectly and they feel great.

Caro's khakis, as worn on Friday:

Good weekend pants and I didn't have anything like them.

Worst grab was these black boots:

They fit perfectly and in the dark swap venue, they seemed awesome, aside from a little dinging on the heels, but once I got them home in the bright light, I discovered that the black finish was peeling off all over the ankles (you can see it where the tip of the lace is touching), and the toes are all nicked up. Not good quality. These might be fine to wear out dancing in a dark club or with jeans overtop of them, but for me, these are no good. Into the giveaway pile they go.

And because I'd grabbed one too many tops, I had to get rid of a top from my collection. I chose this navy blue Zara top. I wear almost no navy at all, and it has a little hole in it.Buh-bye!

So, there you have it. I would give the overall experience of the Swap-O-Rama a 3 out of 5. I wish there had been more participants so that there would be more sizes and variety, and I wish that they had been a bit more strict on quality control of the donations. Despite that, as I said, I had a good time and I'm excited to try out all my new items!