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Debbie Leigh: The joy of swishing
THEY say every cloud has a silver lining and to my delight I've just discovered this even applies to the credit crunch.
If you've been down in the dumps because you've had to curb your shopping habit have no fear, swishing is here.
Looking through the timetable of events for Leeds Shopping Week I stumbled across "swishing" at The Living Room.
It's basically a posh term for clothes swapping, a rapidly growing trend among eco-conscious fashionistas and their cash-strapped sisters.
Even the celebs are at it, as anyone who watched Twiggy's Frock Shop would have seen.
Our organiser explained everyone should take along up to five accessories, lay them on the table, have a good look at everything, then she would blow a whistle and everyone would grab whatever they fancied.
It sounded like a recipe for a full-on hair pulling, face-scratching catfight.
I could just picture two women attached to either end of a scarf, refusing to surrender and insisting they saw it first.
It sounded too good to miss.
I rushed upstairs to dig out anything that had been loitering in the wardrobe, unloved for months.
Then I started agonising over what to take.
I didn't want my possessions to look like remnants of a car boot sale but neither did I want to hand over my Balenciaga-esque handbag that I had only used twice if everyone else was just going to be dumping a load of unwanted, unwearable tat.
There were only around six girls there when I arrived but the table already seemed to be holding a healthy section of SJP's closet.
There were to-die-for shoes by Prada, Dune, Jasper Conran, necklaces and bags galore and a selection of beautiful scarves, one of which caught my eye before immediately triggering a flashback to the tug of war scene I'd imagined.
Uh oh.
Having gathered my goodies to ditch – three bags, a belt and a pair of shoes – I realised there was one accessory I didn't want to be without that night, a girl friend to share the experience with.
And despite going swishing straight from work, with just an hour's notice, she demonstrated one of the many beauties of being a woman – rummaging in her super-sized bag in a desperate search for something she could add to the table she discovered a gorgeous cocktail ring languishing at the bottom and promptly handed it over.
As well as making repeat visits to the table to inspect the latest arrivals most of us shared the same fear: what if no one wanted our stuff?
Battle
To avoid it ending in a Gladiator-type battle we decided you could only pick up one item at a time.
The whistle blew; we sprinted into the adjoining room and grabbed our favourite accessory.
The more items you had brought to exchange, the more times you could storm the table.
It was pure girly, squealing, giggly, glamorous chaos.
One excitable lady even fell over in the scrum but I can assure you, no women were injured in the production of this column.
I ended up with a bracelet, a necklace and three gorgeous scarves – one of which was bought by its previous owner on Broadway.
How SJP!
But almost as exciting as scooping up the items you'd set your heart on was seeing your junk become someone else's treasure.
Not only is it a practical, thrifty way to revamp your wardrobe, it's so much more fun than shopping!
I've never laughed that much in Primark or felt so satisfied after an afternoon in Topshop.
Plus, it's guilt-free because it doesn't cost a penny.
Tied in with the fact we ended the evening with a raffle for Breast Cancer Haven, which opens in Leeds at the end of this month, the whole experience left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
Forget your doldrums.
The future's bright. The future's swishing.
A night to forget
APOLOGIES for mentioning the credit crunch again but needs must.
The second prize for efforts to brighten up a pretty dreary time goes to Morgan's City Living for their Forget the Credit Crunch party.
Guests were told to "relax, leave your negative thoughts at the door" and were banned from using the "c" words (credit crunch) on Friday night.
And it was a storming success.
That's not to say no one discussed the banned topic but thanks to free-flowing booze, live music and a gaggle of guests determined to banish their blues, it was a great way to start the weekend.
I made the elementary error of thinking I could go, have one drink, then drive home but willpower went out of the window within about half an hour.
There's nothing worse than waking up the next morning, looking outside and realising your car is still on its night out.
Thankfully, instead of getting a cab home then having to get back there before 7.30am to avoid a parking ticket I remembered the new Collect a Car service.
A bloke comes out on a fold-up scooter, puts it in your boot, drives you home in your own car then rides off on his scooter again.
It's nothing short of brilliant.
WHAT CRISIS? I figured while we're on the theme of the banking crisis, we might as well stick with it.
So here's my effort to cheer up any readers feeling down in the dumps about their bank balance: a picture of the newest, hottest hunk on the box – Coach Diaz from Ugly Betty. If looking at him doesn't take your mind off your money worries for a few minutes, there's no hope.
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Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
