Green Recession Tip: Two Ways To Get Free Clothes

Because swapping and clothing exchanges are part of the unofficial economy, it's hard to get a direct statistic on how much so-called "recession chic" has grown since the dawning of the global depression. Clothing and accessory sales have gone down about 6.5% in the last year. But two trends tell a story: the first is growing membership in different swapping Meet Up groups. The second is the rise of sites related to swaps, not only Big Wardrobe with its designer focus but also swapstyle.com, Clothing Swap, and green-oriented Rehash.

And why not? Swapper Suzanne Agasi says women use only 20 percent of their wardrobe 80 percent of the time! So it makes sense to peel off some of that unused portion cluttering the closet, and swap (or in the UK "swish") it.

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