“There’s always going to be a diamond in the rough. I think that’s with any swap like this.”
This is what Anthony Castello, a 20-year-old business major from Millstone, had to say about the selection of clothes offered by events like Brookdale Fashion Club’s clothing swap, held 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 8 in the Wellness Center.
“My best clothing find isn’t even for me today, but I did find a vintage Juicy Couture hoodie that I gave to my really good friend,” he said. “Overall, it was a very positive experience. Last year, it was fun coming as someone who wasn’t in the (fashion) club and wasn’t participating behind the scenes. But to be behind it this year was really cool.”
Danielle Turner, a 20-year-old fashion design major from Old Bridge, talked about her favorite discovery from the event, saying it “…wasn’t the clothing but rather the fabric.”
“There’s some good clothes, but I have enough,” she said. “I’m making a look for the fashion show and I found yards of this beautiful gold fabric. I can’t wait to make my look.”
Since these two are in the school’s Fashion Club and take fashion classes, they were given tasks in the behind-the-scenes process of the event.
“For the clothing swap, me and a bunch of other students were on the marketing team,” Castello said. “We were in charge of making the clothing swap poster as well as making any social media posts for advertising the clothing swap today.”
Turner was assigned a different job. “I was quality control. I was behind the scenes sorting clothes to make sure there’s no stains, no rips, to make sure that it was good quality,” she said. “I like seeing something that I worked months on come to life and seeing so many people enjoy it.”
The swap proved to be beneficial for them, serving as a way to give away clothes they had but
never used.
“It was good to clear out my closet and see clothes that I didn’t need to wear anymore, especially
some that still had tags. I always appreciate doing a swap like this and finding good clothes,”
Castello said.
“I bought clothes of mine, and I was really happy. I feel like as a fashion student, I get a lot of clothes, and sometimes I can’t make them all work,” Turner said. “So I was donating a lot of them to clear out my closet. It made me feel really happy at the end. My favorite thing is seeing everyone enjoy themselves, to see so many people here.”
Milan Ghosh, a 20-year-old biology major from Red Bank, and Andriena Chapana, a 19-year-old nursing major from Eatontown, were among two students who came to the event.
“I was clearing out my closet and thought to myself, ‘I can benefit the SLC and the fashion club by providing them with my well loved clothes,’” Ghosh said. “The staff and the clothing really made it a magical experience. It was just a 10/10, 11/10.”
Chapana was especially satisfied with one of the pieces she found. “I have this really cute jean skirt. I really wanted one but never wanted to pay the $30, now I have one,” she said.
Look out for more fun upcoming events hosted by Brookdale’s Fashion Club, especially the fashion
show happening on May 1.
