Itchy City guide to Bristol. Food, drink, film, music, stage, events, shopping, offers and competitions within Bristol, Great Britain.

Some experiences in life make or break you. Job interviews, court cases, marriage... and swishing. 'What's swishing?' Itchy hears you cry. Well, swishing virgins, it's the practice of swapping clothes. Not like when you swapped your t-shirt for your mate Leila's skirt - swishing is clothes-swapping on a mammoth scale. Cue the inevitable recession reference – it's a credit-crunch means of staying fashionable blah, blah. It's also an insight into the evil of womankind.

Itchy rocked up to a clothes-swap held at Spitalfields market (called, you've guessed it, Swishing) with a cluster of unwanted beauties previously destined for an e-bay sale. We brought a leather bomber (a little too poo-coloured for Itchy's complexion) and three dresses. Itchy must confess most of our items hailed from Primarni – nevertheless, they were quality threads itching for a good home.

Inside the market, organisers collected people's stuff to be swapped and displayed everything on stalls. Itchy handed in our goods and received four stamps on our hand, to show we could take four things.

Having deposited their cast-offs, swappers prowled the borders of the market territory, eyeing up items they liked and eyeballing competitors. Among a mountain of crap, a few beauties shone out, namely a buttery leather jacket and a vintage Russian fur hat.

From 2.30pm, there commenced 30 minutes of 'browsing'. Unfortunately, many participants mistook 'browsing' for grabbing, planting themselves by items they wanted, clutching a portion of sleeve. Itchy began to feel scared.

Everyone then had to leave the marquee. The stench of greed, competitiveness and blood-lust sullied the air. A queue formed (how British) but quickly collapsed as people barged towards the front. Despite the organisers' pleas for the queue to re-form (and their bleated lies: ”It won't affect whether you get the things you want!“) nobody budged. At 3pm, the animals were let into the corral, with people literally sprinting towards the things they wanted.

Itchy relinquished any hope of claiming new-old half decent things and decided to grab back the things we'd brought, which were better than most of the other stuff anyway. In a stroke of divine luck, Itchy reclaimed our leather bomber. So what if it's poo brown? It's Itchy's.

Our conclusion: it's best not to take decent stuff to swishing events; even decent stuff you don't want. This is because most people haven't brought good stuff, they've brought tired old crap, so you won't feel happy about 'swapping' your quality, unwanted items for their rubbish, unwanted items.

However, if you can keep your cool, you may stumble across treasure. Even Itchy managed to nab a decent pair of boots. Our swapping buddy left with a beautiful unworn Sisley dress.

Should you be brave enough to dip your toes in the swishing pond, check out http://www.swishing.org/events/. Swishing events are planned in Glasgow, London, Edinburgh, Nottingham and across the UK. You have been warned.

Sarah Jappy

http://fledglingjourno.blogspot.com/

SWISH & THE CITY:

Cardiff:
Style Swap @ Park Plaza, Cardiff
12 Mar 2009 19:30

Glasgow:
Get Swishy with Fifi and Ally @ 80 Wellington Street, Glasgow
16 Mar 2009 15:00

Leeds:
The Fashion Xchange @ LEEDS UNIVERSITY, Students Union, Stylus Nightclub, Lifton Place, Leeds, LS2 9JT
17 Mar 2009 17:00

London:
Tall Women's Clothes Swap Party No.2 @ The Candid Arts Trust Banquet Room, 3 Torrens Street, London EC1
18 Mar 2009 14:30

Swap don't Shop (in aid of Breast Cancer Charity) @ Keston Lodge Pub
131 Upper Street, Islington, London, N1 1QP 21 Mar 2009 11:00

Greenwich Frock Exchange Party @ Greenwich Community College
Royal Hill, Greenwich, London SE10 8PY
21 Mar 2009 13:30

Nottingham:
The Fashion Xchange @ Nottingham Trent University
Students Union, Byron House, Shakespeare Street, Nottingham, NG1 4GH
20 Mar 2009 19:00

Rainbows Clothes Swap @ The Exchange
High Street, Nottingham
21 Mar 2009 12:00

Bristol:
Swish for Spring! @ Fitness First
Aspects Leisure Park, Longwell Green, Bristol
21 Mar 2009 14:00