iSwish STYLE TIPS
by SUSANA TUYA SARMIENTO ... as seen bi-weekly on Breakfast TV
Now you can find Susana's style tips on our blog.
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iSwish is delighted to be supporting Dress for Success Auckland. You can help by donating ANY good quality, nearly new and fashionable items to the donation wardrobe, contact us to arrange. Please read more about this initiative on our blog.
"Now a donated cocktail dress can help Dress for Success getting women interview-ready and back into the work force".
Thanks so much for all your donations to date. We already have over 100 items ready for swishing!
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In the News
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iSwish on fashionz - Eco-chic: Update your Wardrobe the Sustainable Way
There are many things that we can do to minimise the negative impact of our modern lifestyles on the environment; we all know about the importance of conserving energy, water and other resources. But did you know there is a way we can help the environment through our wardrobe choices? Victoria Penney and Karin Sjosten, of clothes swapping website iSwish tell us how we can ‘winterize’ our wardrobes the sustainable way. So we get to shop and help the environment - now that's what we call guilt-free! read more
iSwish on NZ Herald Designer Garage Sale
The New Zealand Herald Designer Garage Sale returns as part of the New Zealand Fashion Festival for the first time featuring our longest and hottest season – summer. 30+ designers will be putting their end of summer garments on the racks at dramatically discounted prices.
The Designer Garage Sale is a fun day out – grabbing some bargains from New Zealand’s favorite designers; including Sabatini, Lonely Hearts, Ed Hardy, Deborah Sweeny, Lonely Hearts, Federation and MORE!
The Designer Garage Sale runs on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21 >st March at the Viaduct Harbour village. Entry $10. Tickets can be bought through www.iticket.co.nz.
iSwish is inviting garage sale visitors to bring along stylish items they are no longer wearing and would be proud to pass on. Many of us have wardrobes bursting full of clothes, but still feel we have nothing to wear.
Put them to good use by donating good quality clothing, shoes or accessories at the Garage Sales Drop off point. Clear out your wardrobe to make room for new designer bargains from the Garage sale that will survive the test of time and may be swapped in the future.
All donated clothes will be listed on the iSwish website to be swapped for specific items required by Dress for Success. iSwish will have a stand at the event offering the opportunity for all keen swishers to register for FREE along with “at the event” promotions.
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iSwish is recommended in the Autumn edition of Fashion Quarterly. Check out "We Care A Lot" article on page 144.
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Check out iSwish's interview with Ecostore on FINZ (Fashio es/advanced/langs/en.js" type="text/javascript"> n Institute of New Zealand)
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iSwish in herbusiness - Feb Edition
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TVNZ's Global Self-Image Expert Susana Sarmiento offers her expertise as iSwish resident stylist
Susana Tuya Sarmiento, is a Self
lf-Image and Identity Branding Expert who appears fortnightly on TVNZ's Breakfast Show. With her expansive knowledge in the industry, together with her experience on running marketing programmes and her fabulous Latin flair for style, she delivers innovative cutting edge techniques th
at are so simple yet so effective. iSwish is delighted to have Susana on board to share her innovative, quick and effective techniques with iSwish members on how to look good and feeling great!
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Reader mail in Woman's Weekly 23 November from iSwish member N Alexander, Napier - THANK YOU!
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Swishful thinking - NZ Women's weekly 9 November 2009
Swishing on iSwish discussed in womens weekly:
Aidan Thomson "Swapped black Cue bag bought for $400 for Marc Jacobs heels" with Julie Downes
Cecilia Lambie, Origional owner of Trelise Cooper turquoise silk dress, swapped for BCBG black dress" with Sarah Reiher
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Retail Therapy - Swish it - NZherald 30 September 2009
Swish it
Swishing is so hip right now and a new site is set to make it even easier. But first things first - what the heck is swishing? It' ;s a fancy word for swapping clothes, shoes and accessories, enabling you to be eco friendly, clear your wardrobe of unwanteds and get something new at the same time. Aucklanders Victoria Penney and Karin Sjosten have launched the iSwish website, with a "mirror match" tool that helps people connect and swap clothes with their body doubles throughout the country. The best thing is that joining is free and easy -see www.iswish.co.nz.
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"Retail Therapy", "Swish it" - VIVA 28 October 2009
Woman's day 26 October 2009
Editor's choice - with fashion editor Shona McKechnie
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Trade Clothes on Swapping website - Front Page of North Shore Times 18 September 09
People are swapping everythi ng from Trelise Cooper dresses to clothes designed by pop-icon Madonna.
Birkenhead residents Karin Sjosten and Victoria Penney have just launched a clothes swapping website called iswish.
The pair met at a mothers’ coffee group and wanted to get back into the working world.
After exchanging clothes during each other’s pregnancies and hosting swap parties they decided to expand
their swapping circle.
"Our children are six months apart. I swapped an Anne Klein leather jacket for a Fancy Mummy’s Tummy maternity skirt," says Mrs Penney.
The pair, originally from Sweden and England, knew websites in the United Kingdom and the United States existed and thought the time was right to start one in New Zealand.
"Everyone comes out better off and you still get that shopping buzz," says Mrs Penney.
Mrs Sjosten says the website caters for men, women and kids’ clothing, and is about swapping quality items.
"This is for goods you have brought on a whim and they don’t fit well, the heels too wide for your foot or the dress doesn’t fit," says Mrs Penney.
They say a lot of the people who are swishing are well travelled, so lots of overseas labels are being swapped.
It costs nothing to swap and you can meet the swapper or post the item.
Sarah Coddington
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Interview with Suzy Cato - BIGfm 30 September 2009
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Virtual swishing - Thread 11 September 2009
New Zealand women now have the chance to save time, money and the environment while adding to their wardrobe.
It's called swishing and it's made its way to our shores in the form of www.iswish.co.nz. Described as the online community to join if you love to shop but hate to throw away, it allows fashion-conscious Kiwis to swap unwanted clothes, shoes and accessories with others.
Swishing parties were first created by English woman Lucy Shea who believed it was important to consider ethical fashion when shopping. "The Swishing Party concept came from a desire to give women who love both shopping and the environment the thrill of retail therapy without contributing to increased consumption. Save money, save the planet, have a party."
Fashionistas around the globe are joining in on the phenomenon, from America to China, p;prefix=imagemanager_" type="text/javascript"> South Africa to Brazil and now in New Zealand.
Created by Aucklanders Victoria Pe nney and Karin Sjosten, iSwish is the virtual version of Swishing. It's an online swapping party where you can de-clutter, upgrade and restyle your wardrobe without making a dent in your wallet.
iSwish is free and Ms Penney said it was also an eco-friendly way to look great without dumping tonnes of textiles into landfills each year. "The more we talked to friends and family about our idea, the more we realised that people are increasingly concerned about both their personal finances and the environment."
Ms Sjosten also said that many people were guilty of buying too much. This is a way of getting rid of those unused items and giving them a loving home. "My wardrobe is bursting full of clothes and accessories that I don't wear. Some have never been worn thanks to impulse buys and unloved gifts! Our site is the place where people swap fashionable items they have lost interest in wearing but would be proud to pass on to others."
A unique feature on iSwish is the "mirror match" function which came about after Ms Penney, who is a 170cm tall hourglass and wears a size 12, tried to swap clothes with Ms Sjosten, who also wears a size 12 but is a 186cm tall column shape.
Ms Penney said this feature gave members the opportunity to, in-confidence, provide more detailed body measurements. "T hese are used to create networks of ‘mirror matched' people with similar body sizes for easy one-to-one clothes swapping."
The site has only been running for a month and already has 183 members. One member Nyki Grove-Eades is already a huge fan. "Guilt-free, environmentally responsible, and low budget shopping. Need I say more? I love it!"
Alexandra O'Hara
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Swap until you drop on new website - Scoop 9 September 2009
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Andrew & Jacque’s Classic Breakfast - Auckland's Classic Hits 97.4FM 8/09/2009
"Cool website #2 - and a huge craze that's now in NZ...its SWISHING! Swishing is clothes swapping on-line...you get to clear out your wardrobe, save time money and the environment and get cool new clothes! No money changes hands - you swap stuff using credits to get the clothes you want and membership and listings are all FREE. Also, we all know that not all size 12's are created equal, so this site lets you find the right clothes by body type - so if you're an hourglass, a pear shape or a column you can swap with the right body type as well as size! The website is www.iswish.co.nz. Its only a month old but growing by the day!"
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Mel Homer on Easy Mix Mornings - EasyMix 98.2FM 08/09/2009
"Here's a website I predict I will be spending as much time on as I do on Trademe! Iswish lets you swap clothes with other kiwis. It's definately going to be the new black. Check it out for yourselves... iswish.co.nz"
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New Zealand embraces swishing - Stuff.co.nz 03/09/2009
Swishing, or clothes swapping, has arrived online in New Zealand.
Iswish.co.nz is a website which allows users to swap unwanted clothes - think of it as the ultimate way of updating your wardrobe with designer brands and quality items without forking out for new clothes.
The brains behind iSwish are Aucklanders Victoria Penney and Karin Sjosten.
"The more we talked to friends and family about our idea, the more we realised that people are increasingly concerned about both their personal finances and the environment." Penney said.
Sjosten adds that although many people are reluctant to admit it, most people are guilty of buying too much.
" My wardrobe is bursting full of clothes and accessories that I don't wear. Some have never been worn thanks to impulse buys and unloved g ifts! Our site is the place where people swap fashionable items they have lost interest in wearing but would be proud to pass on to others."
A unique feature on the site is a 'mirror match' tool that helps people connect and swap clothes with their body dou bles throughout New Zealand.
The idea came about when Vicky, who is a 5'6 hourglass and wears a size 12 tried to swap clothes with Karin, who also wears a size 12 but is a 6'1 column shape.
"Mirror match gets around this age-old problem by giving iSwish members the opportunity to provide more detailed body measurements. These are used to create networks of 'mirror matched' people with similar body sizes for easy one-to-one clothes swapping".
After a month of operation the site already has 183 members.
Joining iSwish is free with no listing or end of transaction fees .
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Swish shirt a ladykiller - Herald on Sunday 30/08/2009
Nick Talbot claims he has a shirt that pulls the ladies. And now he's ready to pass it on to help other men - courtesy of a new website.
Talbot is selling his "pulling shirt" on a recently launched swishing website called iswish.co.nz.
Clothes swapping by swishing - in which clothes are swapped between people, usually at organised parties - is already proving popular here and overseas.
Talbot, 35, bought the shirt in his native Manchester five years ago and claims he's had success with women in eight countries. He credits Fiji as the most successful in the shirt's travels.
"On the day I bought it I wore it the first night and I got lucky. It's worked in every country I've been in."
He's wanting to swap the shirt for 10 credits, under the website's swapping system.
Website creator Victoria Penney puts the success of swishing down to a change in people's attitudes towards pre-loved clothes.
"Second-hand wasn't as glamorous but now it's in the top magazines and it's very environmentally friendly."Penney and business partner Karin Sjosten came up with the idea of a website so people can swish for clothes 24 hours a day.
"They're unique, you're not going to see everybody wearing them in the high street," Penney said.
In its short life the website has had 2191 visits and signed 153 members selling 350 items so far. For swisher Jane McDonough, t he website offered her the opportunity to part with her sexy blue dress. So clingy is the fabric, that McDonough nearly exposed herself in the dress during a night out.
The 38-year-old fitness instructor decided to try a handstand. "I was only up for a second but my dress fell back and I nearly flashed everyone," McDonough said.
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"Swishing Grows in Popularity" www.stuff.co.nz
"Invented before the credit crunch but becoming more popular as a free substitute for shopping and entertainment, welcome to swishing".
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"Clothes Swapping" www.nzgirl.co.nz
"Clothes swapping is not about making money for your old clothes; if you want to do that, sell them at a market or to an op shop. It's also not about getting rid of your old and out of fashion clothes. If that's what you've got, donate them to a clothing bin. Instead the idea of clothes swapping is that you swap the clothes you don't wear anymore - for whatever reason. We all have them".
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"at least once a week, I tell myself I really need to buy some more clothes, and then I remember that budget I'm trying to organise and stick to and it doesn't involve new clothes all the time; especially when my wardrobe is full".
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"Hard Times brings barter back into vogue" www.stuff.co.nz
"As food and fuel price inflation takes ever larger chunks out of tightening family budgets, bartering has swiftly turned from an idea prompted by a desire to be environmentally aware or join the vintage fashion trend, into a basic necessity".
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Testimonials
"Swishing - an earth-conscious way to look great!"
Wictoria Markula
"What a great idea - update your look, save time &
money by recycling your clothes online - highly recommended!"
Nicole van Santvoort
