Feb 20
sample screenshot from ThredUp Kids web site
Although I’ve written previously about not having an excess of clothing in MY closet, the same cannot be said for my kids. Having thoughtful friends and family with kids a bit larger than my own has assured that both of my boys have plenty of great-looking hand-me-downs filling their drawers and closets. Unfortunately, my boys keep growing (pesky kids!). But buying lots of new clothes just isn’t in the budget right now. I’m sure I know plenty of people in the same boat, so I’m thinking some clothing exchanges may be in order… kind of a modified version of TGAAD for kids.
Coordinating exchanges amongst lots of different people with various aged kids can be a challenge, though, so I’m going to try using ThredUp for kids to accomplish this task. Those of you with growing children may be interested in giving it a shot too. I know some of us have blogged about the ThredUp adult version not working out for some, but I’ve decided to give the kids’ site a go.
One thing I like about the kids’ version is that they will even coordinate swaps with your LOCAL friends for you at no cost. You can browse online to see what items & sizes your friends have available and grab them when you want… no need to pay for shipping! However, if you don’t have any local friends with whom to swap, ThredUp will have a nationwide network of participants sure to have clothing that suits your needs.
If the concept interests you, click here to find out more about their upcoming seed phase. The seed phase (which will populate ThredUp with clothing to prepare the site for launch) should begin in early March and anyone who signs up for the launch will be the first on board. Participating in the initial seed phase also has perks and benefits not available to the general population.
Happy swapping, everyone… I’m looking forward to hearing how this works out for people!
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Nov 11
I just read Sally’s post regarding ThredUp and I have to agree that it’s not for everyone… although my reasons for it not working for me are very different than Sally’s.
I, too, registered for ThredUp, believing it was a wonderful concept. I think it may even work for some women as well as for men. However, once I took a peek in my closet for items to exchange, I realized it’s not going to work for me. You see, two conditions need to be met in order for a ThredUp exchange to take place:
1) You need to have “extra” shirts in your closet – ones that are in style and almost-new condition, but that you no longer want. This is a problem. I’m probably one of the few TGAAD dieters that doesn’t have much in the way of surplus clothing in their closet. If it fits me and is remotely in fashion, I WEAR it. To send a shirt I actually wear away in hopes that I get something back which fits me and that I like seems a little foolish. (Especially after reading Sally’s description of the shirts she received being ill-fitting and not to her liking.)
2) You need to have “brands” in your closet – In my post-ThredUp-registration excitement, I ran upstairs to do a little shirt inventory. Sadly, I found that, other than 4 shirts (which I currently wear), the tops in my closet aren’t even ON ThredUp’s list of accepted brands. So, even if I did have “surplus” clothing, it’s not even of a high enough caliber for ThredUp… sigh.
I still do LOVE the ThredUp concept though, so I’m doing some creative thinking on how I can make it work for me. Since I have friends who likely DO have surplus name-brand tops in their closets, I may ask a few to donate one to my cause. I’m not the same size as most of my friends but, if I exchanged a donated shirt or two, I could actually get back a top that may work for me. I’m pretty sure this does not constitute “cheating” on my diet… what do you think?
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Nov 11
O.K. two topics today…
1. ThredUp. Last Friday I recevied two packages from ThredUp. For those of you who don’t remember what ThredUp is it is netflix meets clothing swap (see www.thredup for more detailed info.). Anyway, clothes come to you from all over the country. From other women who are looking to rid themselves of unworn items in their closet in return they get your unworn items. This is a great idea in theory. The people who started it did a pilot program last year with men’s dress shirts and it was wildly successful.
Anyway, getting back to my packages…I received two corporate looking blouses. One a pink striped Pink brand oxford shirt and the other (a brand I didn’t recognize) was a newly drycleaned white blouse, both size medium. While in my preferences I put a size medium both of these blouses were too small. As you well know, one brand’s medium is another brand’s small, etc. Also, while these are lovely blouses I would never wear them. I work in advertising where funky chic is the norm. If I showed up in a tightly fitting corporate Pink blouse no one would take me seriously. So here I am with two more blouses I will never wear. I may turn them around and send them onto someone else but frankly I am not sure I have the energy. I am not sure the incentive is there to go through the motions. I think this program works beautifully for men…after all there aren’t that many options for guys. But for women we’re too picky, too too. I would love to hear from any of the others in this group who have also done the Thredup experiment. Perhaps it’s just me.
2. The second thing I want to mention is Schmatta, the HBO documentary that Jean turned us on to earlier this week. It is a must see for all. I found Schmatta to be both enlightening and depressing. It really hit a nerve for me as my father and my grandfather were in the garment business when it was a thriving and exciting place to be. If you love New York and you like fashion or if you are worried about our present day economy you need to see this! If you don’t have HBO I think you can rent it at the video store.
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Tagged with: clothes, Consumerism
Oct 06
Today I thredUpped (that is a verb). For those of you who don’t know thredUP is a great new program for swapping clothes. I say great because I like the concept but I can’t honestly say that for sure until I get my first package. You see, it’s like the age old grab bag concept. I am sending off three perfectly good shirts: One black short sleeved Emmanuel shirt size M, one super cute Euro brand shirt that I bought from the Saavy dept. at Nordstrom and one 100% all cotton, white wrap hoodie I bought from Etsy that I wore once. All are too small for me or just don’t fit right. They are items I never wanted to get rid of because I paid too much for them (news flash, apparel doesn’t increase in value the longer it stays in your closet). I put these three items in the three envelopes that thredUP sent to me (they sent postage too). In return I should be receiving three new items from other women with similar tastes (nothing garishly floral please). I will let you all know what I get. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I would love to hear if any of you decided to thredUP too. 
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Tagged with: thredUP
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