Let's Party! We're Hosting a Holiday Dress Swap and You're Invited

How many sparkly dresses do you have in your closet? And how many of those are you unlikely to wear again because you’ve already posted them on Instagram? Before you toss another mound of sequins in the Goodwill pile and head to Zara to reload, we’ve got a proposal to get you a new look and save money this year: Rockyt is hosting a dress swap.

We’re partnering with our friends at SilkRoll and Amy Kuschel to help you find new party clothes on Saturday, December 7 from 1 pm-5pm at Amy Kuschel’s studio (23 Grant Avenue, 6th Floor). And, unlike the clothing swaps you may have done at a friend’s house, you don’t have to worry about bringing a designer frock and walking away with a Forever 21 castaway. 

Let’s Talk About SilkRoll

SilkRoll does swaps differently thanks to its value-for-value trading system. Through its website, anyone can send in clothes, which SilkRoll experts assign with point values, photograph, and post online. SilkRoll members can then “shop” with their points or pay a cash value for pieces. The idea is to make the resale economy more equitable for both buyers and sellers. 

Let’s put this in real world terms. If you take your J Crew sweater to a traditional resale shop, the value you get back is either approximately 50% of what the shop will sell it for, (if you accept store credit as payment), or 30-35% of the resale price, (if you ask for cash). That means you would have to sell 2-3 sweaters to buy a new one. Instead of absorbing the value of your wardrobe, SilkRoll assigns each piece with a point value. If SilkRoll gives you 100 points for your J Crew sweater, and you can buy another J Crew sweater—or something entirely different!—with your 100 points. In other words, you retain the value of your wardrobe.

How Our Swap Works

We’ll be setting up in Amy Kuschel’s Union Square studio, complete with three dressing rooms, so you can actually see, feel, and try on each piece before making a decision. You bring your cute, gently-used party looks, (see the full guidelines here), we’ll bring wine from JaM Cellars and clothing swap-organizational pros. It’s the holidays, so we’ll even throw in a few prize drawings—because who doesn’t like free stuff? And if you spy something from Amy Kuschel’s collection that speaks to your soul, she’s offering $25 off purchases from her line during the swap.

The event is free and open to the public—register here on Eventbrite—but you must bring at least one party piece to participate in the swap. We’re calling it a dress swap, but we’ll accept party dresses, skirts, pants, tops, bags, and outerwear, too! No shoes or jewelry, please.

When you arrive, the SilkRoll team will process your item and get you set up to shop with your points. Go-getters, you can even bring pieces in advance: Amy Kuschel will have a drop off point inside her studio on Thursday, December 5-Friday, December 6 between 11:30 am and 6 pm.

Unclaimed items at the end of the swap can be (1) reclaimed, if they haven’t been snatched up by another guest, (2) listed on SilkRoll, or (3) donated—we’ll take care of the heavy lifting for you. Pro-tip: If you don’t find something to spend your points on during the swap, and you choose to carry those points over to the site, SilkRoll will give you double credit to shop later.

More Discounts

SilkRoll’s monthly members pay a fee to shop with their points on the site: $99 on a month to month basis, or $69 monthly on an annual basis. That fee covers shipping, returns, and all those behind-the-scenes logistics that SilkRoll handles to make your closet refresh happen. Guests at our swap, however, can try out the entire process for free during the party. 

Swap guests will can also score a discounted 30-day SilkRoll membership ($50, fully refundable within 30 days if you’re not feeling it), plus an extra 200 SilkRoll points, so you can keep shopping the platform if you don’t find a perfect match on Saturday. Either hold onto your points and discounted membership for a later date, or sign up at the swap and walk away with an extra $25 Amazon gift card. If signing up for memberships isn’t your thing, you can also enjoy some JaM Cellars wine and peace out. No commitment, no problem.

Register on Eventbrite, dig out a cute look, and get ready to trade. We’ve already got pieces coming in from some of the most stylish people in the city, so the selection is going to be good.