Sustainable Fashion Finds at the Restoration Club’s Clothing Swap

Loyola students went to classroom 111 in the School of Environmental Sustainability Sept. 30 holding anything from a single t-shirt to a trash bag full of clothes. The small classroom was bustling with students as they rummaged through the piles of clothes to the welcoming background music.

Once a semester, Loyola’s Restoration Club hosts a clothing swap, where students are invited to donate and take pieces of clothing as they please.

As students shopped through the tables of clothes, community buzzed between donors and perusers. Students took advantage of what was essentially a free thrift exchange, exploring new looks and inviting others to participate.

Restoration Club President Mack Shenker, a fourth-year environmental science major, said the event provides students with a sustainable way to get rid of clothes they don’t wear anymore and find new pieces for their wardrobe. 

“I brought an entire backpack and a trash bag full of clothes,” Shenker said. “I love this event because it’s a way for me to clean up my closet, and after the clothing swap, my closet feels much better.”

Shenker said this is the Restoration Club’s third time hosting the clothing swap.

At the end of the event, all remaining clothes are packed into trash bags to be donated to Labre’s Homeless Ministry. 

“In the past years we’ve just put it on the free table, but we thought it could go to better use,” Shenker said.

Throughout the night, an estimated 50 students came and went through the clothing swap. 

Ian Sloey, a third-year environmental policy major, said this was his first time attending the campus event, and he was hoping the event would help him expand his wardrobe.

“I kind of just came here because my wardrobe is very bland,” Sloey said. “Everyone else at the clothing swap seems to have great fashion, so I was like, ‘Why not look at the clothes here?’”

Sloey said he liked seeing how he could incorporate other student’s styles into his own. 

“It gets your mind thinking about what you can combine things with and how they would look good with your own style,” Sloey said. 

The clothing swap also gave incoming students an opportunity to learn more about the Restoration Club. First-year nursing major Maya Chandler said she liked finding a sustainable way to receive new clothes. 

“It’s like a cool way to reduce waste on campus,” Chandler said. “I like that somebody else’s clothes that they would have just thrown away can be given new life.”

Chandler attended the event with her friend first-year Mia Obernesser, who said she loved the clothing swap and hopes to attend again in the Spring semester. 

“I came in with a t-shirt and a pair of pants, and I’m leaving with something fire,” Obernesser said while displaying a ruffled green tank top she picked out. 

The event also allowed attendees to recognize the value in the clothes they already wear. First-year history major Evie Stewart had second thoughts when bringing a hoodie she wasn’t quite ready to give up. 

“I brought this hoodie, but I took it back,”  Stewart said. “I need to be more prepared next time and bring stuff that I wanna give up.”

Stewart said she ended up leaving her hoodie at the clothing swap. She also left with a dress and a shirt for her roommate.

Shenker said he thinks the clothing swap is one of the Restoration Club’s most popular events because it allows students to connect with other people, both in the club and around campus. 

“It’s a lot of fun knowing that your pieces may come from your friends or you may walk around campus and see a sweatshirt that used to be yours,” Shenker said. 

The Loyola Restoration Club meets on the first and third Monday of each month in School of Environmental Sustainability classroom 111. Every other Saturday the club hosts restoration workdays at Loyola’s Retreat and Ecology Campus, where they remove invasive species from the local environment. The Restoration Club hopes to host their fourth clothing swap in Spring 2025.