Over the past months I’ve dropped a dress size or two. Jogging and hot yoga if you must know. Plus, I’ve laid off the poutine—a monumental feat for someone who once tucked les frites avec fromage et gravy into her oversized purse and snuck it into a fashion show.
In any case, some of the tailored items in my closet just don’t cut it with the new figure, but instead of giving everything away and starting from scratch, a more economically feasible option is this Sunday’s Take Off Your Clothes event, a massive clothing swap taking place at Soho Bar & Grill (801 6th St. S.W. A tip if you’re driving: Soho is actually on the corner of 9th Avenue and 6th Street S.W., both of which are one-ways; to reach the door, approach heading eastward on 9th).
Here’s how it works: for every item you contribute to the swap, you receive a ticket good for one item. Clothing, shoes and accessories are all swap-acceptable, so long as everything’s clean, in good repair and, you know, “fashionable.” Unique and vintage items are definitely a go; in fact, several local vintage dealers (Bonton Vintage, Cat’s Eye, Vintage Pop-Up Shop and Vintage Bliss) are on board with the swap.
You can show up with your swappables the day of the event, although there’s a fair amount of assessing and processing involved, so if you can, get your stuff looked at in advance by bringing it to the Confederation Park recycling depot (just off 10th Street N.W.) on Saturday, June 11 between 10 a.m. and noon, or to Eleven: Eleven boutique (233 10th St. N.W.) during business hours. Take Off Your Clothes runs Sunday, June 12, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; admission is $8 in advance (purchase online at takeoffyourclothes-calgary.eventbrite.com) or $10 at the door. For more info check out theswapteam.org/Calgary. Leftovers will be given to Goodwill.
Speaking of goodwill, I discovered a doozy of a dinner deal the other night when I ducked into The House Coffee Sanctuary in Kensington to get out of the rain. Turns out the folks from The House host a free chili night on the third Wednesday of the month at the Hillhurst/Sunnyside Community Centre (1320 5th Ave. N.W.), just as a nice, neighbourly gesture. Next chili night is Wednesday, June 15, at 6 p.m.
