What’s that, you say? The very lovely ladies of The Frock Exchange will be giving away copies of a cloth-covered button at their Swap to Shop event tonight? Alongside champagne and nibblies, and an array of Melbourne’s finest second-hand clothing? Surely it doesn’t get better than this?
Well, um, no, it doesn’t. Maybe if you squeezed Christopher Walken in there somewhere, but I digress. The Frock Exchange, that bastion of stylish environmental consciousness, is holding one of its vaunted clothes-swapping nights tonight, and everyone’s invited. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it’s bloody brilliant – everyone brings clean, stylish clothes in good condition that for whatever reason they no longer wear, and then they swap. Attendees exchange their old jeans or shoes or dresses for buttons, and then use these buttons as currency to “buy” new shoes/dresses/jeans/whatever. It’s a way of feeding your hunger for sartorial novelty without sending existing items into landfill, and without putting a strain on your credit card. Like we said, brilliant.
So where do we come in? Well, the organisers want to give away a few things as goodie bags, but are wary of “providing a bag full off useless objects to add to land fill.” They’ve decide to give away reading material instead, including ac-cb, as a way of giving gifts that fit with their ethos of sustainability. We’re thrilled, and have already started rooting through our wardrobes for those lovely bits and pieces that we fell in love with at the shops but only got around to wearing once or twice. You should, too.
What: The Frock Exchange
When: tonight, 7pm
Where: The 3rd Class Club, Duckboard Place (off Flinders Lane), Melbourne
Why: to support environmentally sustainable consumerism and prove conclusively that there’s truth in the adage of one man’s trash being another man’s treasure .
How much: $25 inc. nibbles and champagne.
