How Far Would You Go For Fashion - Would You Wear Second-Hand Clothes?

I was intrigued today to read about a new site which revolves around "schwopping". This is the term for either swapping, selling or buying items of unwanted clothing which is all happening on www.bigwardrobe.com. I wondered if the site would be similar to eBay, but without the listing fees, so I went on the site to have a look around.

Clothing Is Donated By Celebrities For Charity

One of the main selling points of the site is that it has received donations of clothing from the likes of Russell Brand, Peaches Geldof and the Kaiser Chiefs. However, on the site at the moment it does say "more celebrity wardrobes soon" so it looks like all celeb goods have been "schwopped" out.

Clothing That Is Ecologically Friendly

The idea behind the site is that approximately 1.2 million tonnes of clothing are disposed of in the UK each year and only around 25% at the most is recycled or resold. Bigwardrobe's philosophy is why buy more clothes when you can swap the ones you don't want for something else that someone is tired of.

Ecologically sound but...

There were a couple of things I noticed whilst on the site.

  • When you register it's mandatory to enter three other email addresses belonging to friends - there is no way around this if you want to join.
  • In the ladies' underwear section there seems to be a lot of second-hand underwear which did make me cringe slightly - but am I the one being over-fussy here? I did notice a pair of knickers to be honest which did say "brand new in pack" - new items are listed on the site.
  • Before you can list your first item of clothing you are asked for details such as your bust, waist, dress and shoe size and also literally your inside leg measurement - so its not for those who are shy of disclosing those figures (this wasn't actually mandatory - only recommended as apparently it improves your sales or "schwops").
  • Listing looks fairly easy – a little bit like eBay and you can upload up to three pictures of your item for free at the moment – the site says it’s normally one – so is there to be a charge in future for additional pics?

What about you - have you been on www.bigwardrobe.com - have you joined and what success have you had in "schwopping", selling or buying on the site - let us know?