Closet Swap marks six years of many happy exchanges

Nadine Kam photos
Contestants in a zany reuse fashion show line up for photos during Fashionista's Market's 6th annual Closet Swap. I give them all a lot of credit for theatrically parading across the stage!

Fashionista's Market 6th annual Closet Swap took place Oct. 21 at the Japanese Cultural Center Manoa Grand Ballroom, starting with the perfect breakfast of scrambled eggs, Portuguese sausage, rice, fresh fruit and champagne from Barefoot Bubbly, fun and games, a reuse fashion show, and finally, the mad dash for clothing donated by participants.

It was all for a good cause as funds raised will benefit the Leeward Domestic Abuse Shelter, and Amanda Stevens, from Goodwill Industries of Hawai'i was waiting in the wings to whisk anything that wasn't picked up by guests away to Goodwill, to raise funds for its vocational and community programs.

Before or after sitting down to breakfast, women could also shop for handcrafted accessories from ccdoodle's Christy Chung, as well as check out make-and-take stations manned by Cassandra Rull and Holly Boulay, who were showing guests how to transform unwanted threads into more desirable clothing and accessories.

By now, Closet Swap frequenters know a little of what to expect in the recycled fashion show, which comprises one item from the swap plus a whole lot of newspaper and tape, so having mastered the art of poufs and pleats, costumes have a lot more details to them. The only thing the women don't know is the theme, and this year it was Disney.

Apparently, everybody loves a beautiful princess. We saw a lot more of those than wicked queens. There were also Little Mermaids and Tinkerbells, and on the seamier side, a drunken pirate of the Caribbean and not only drunk but pregnant Tinkerbell (Kelley Porter), who managed to win the competition, along with a cute 5-year-old Minnie Mouse (Ayla Prather).

For the team effort involved in getting them papered up, their tables won 5 minutes early entry to the swap, a fun way to trade your trash for others' treasures.

I was able to grab a few chunky sweaters no one in Hawaii could possibly want, but that would come in handy during my trip to the chilly East Coast. Unfortunately, my flight Sunday was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy, but I will still try to get out later in the week. In the meantime, I have a half dozen blog posts to catch up on, so I will try to get them done so I don't have to catch up in airports.


Non-flash video link

And the winners were Ayla Prather, 5, as Minnie Mouse, and Kelley Porter as a drunk, pregnant Tinkerbell. For the team's effort in dressing them, their tables were granted 5 minutes early access to the swap racks and tables.

In quite the coincidence, was able to find this Minnie Mouse wallet during the swap.

Fashionista's Market's Alyssa Fung, right, staged the event with lots of help from Anita Clemente and Aly Case.

ccdoodle's Christy Chung showed her handmade creations.

Holly Boulay showed how to stitch up bow ties that could be worn any number of ways. I sewed a blue plaid tie with fabric from a scrap heap on the side with some help from Christy as well.

Putting wings on another Tinkerbell.

Putting the finishing touches on the Little Mermaid.

This Little Mermaid costume picked up dozens of scales before it was completed. You can check it out in the video at top of page.

After the swap, women returned to their tables to try on and trade some more. There were a lot of garments flying through the air as they tossed them to friends who might make better use of their finds.

Tiffany Tanaka, left, and Olena Heu were among the swappers.