Boxes packed full of donated clothing, and some waiting to be filled with the clothing once sorted, fill a large room in New Plymouth. It's a mammoth task to sort it all, and will be another rmammoth task to move it all to the shop itself.
I never realised how much fun sorting laundry could be.
Last Sunday I helped sort what was, by my reckoning, the biggest laundry pile ever seen.
Actually, it wasn’t laundry as such. It was clean quality pre-loved clothing that has been donated to Taranaki Women’s Refuge for the upcoming annual pop-up shop fundraiser.
While it wasn’t laundry, it was a massive pile and it took the team of five talented, thorough and knowledgeable volunteers, plus me - the newbie who prefers to ignore the laundry pile at home - a good two hours to even make a start on clearing it.
The pile of clothes had already been pre-sorted by volunteers who had pulled out designer, high-end high street or brand new items from the bags of donations that they had sorted through over the past week or two. Sunday’s job was to sort through the labelled or new clothing and separate it out into types - skirts, dresses, coats, etc, before starting to price each item, then pack them into boxes by size.
It seemed like a mammoth task, and I could barely see over the top of the pile as we started sorting. I found myself coming across a Trelise Cooper dress and passing it over in the vague direction of the pile of designer dresses, hoping I didn’t hit event manager Katey Kat in the face with it. I don’t think I did, or maybe Katey was just too nice to tell me, but either way, we slowly started getting through the pile.
As the pile reduced in size, I began to get a real awareness of just how big a task Katey has in getting this event together, and ready to open in early October this year. From setting up donation drop-off points where people can donate their pre-loved or new fashion for the pop-up (the Stratford Press office on Broadway is one of the places you can do this by the way), to getting those donation bags to the sorting location, to pricing and boxing, there’s lots to be done over the next couple of months. Not to mention then getting all those boxes, and we are talking hundreds if not thousands of banana boxes of clothes, to the pop-up shop location and then hanging everything up.
It’s an incredibly large task, but it’s one the 2023 pop-up shop committee are ready and willing to take on. Coming from a range of backgrounds, they all have a few things in common - a passion for fashion and a deep-seated desire to make a difference to the lives of the many women, children and families who have accessed the support and services offered by Taranaki Women’s Refuge.
Their shared passion for fashion isn’t just about loving clothes. These ladies know their stuff. While I am desperately searching for a label on the seams of a tunic - or is it a dress? and trying to work out how much to price it at, Sue Jameson, people person and volunteer manager, takes one look and tells me it’s a $30 designer top (not dress or tunic) and I should price it and put in the size 12 box. By the time I have done that one task for that one item, she has a pile of about 10 items she has sorted, priced and are now ready for packing.
As I reach for the next item - a rather smart-looking coat (yes, this one I am sure on), it’s (politely) snatched out of my reach by Gemma Alderdice, the committee’s visual merchandiser and stylist, who wants it to use for a photo for social media. She moves a plant pot, hangs some other similar hued items alongside the coat and snaps a quick picture, that when I see it a day later on Instagram looks like it belongs in a high-end glossy magazine.
It’s not just Gemma who is grabbing clothes from the pile with an incredibly honed eye for the best items, Hannah Whiteman, a pop-up patron who is volunteering for the day, is also busily curating a rack of clothing she is putting aside for one of the community influencers the committee has signed up this year.
A range of men and women from across Taranaki, and spanning all possible clothing sizes and tastes, have been invited to be community influencers for the pop-up shop this year. They have each been given a selection of clothing sourced from the donations, and asked to style and wear it in their daily life, sharing their photos on social media and helping showcase the incredible range and quality of clothing to be found at the pop-up shop each year.
The idea came about after Rebecca Johnson, marketing and community engagement manager for the committee, took up the challenge in 2022 of modelling pre-loved items available at the pop-up shop and created a campaign across social media which really captured people’s attention and imagination. The Stratford Press featured Rebecca’s outfits in a weekly feature last year, and this year we will be showcasing more outfits as modelled by some of the community influencers.
It might sound easy, to get handed clothes and wear them, but as one of the aforementioned community influencers, let me tell you - it’s harder than it looks. I’ll write more about that next week, but for now, just trust me when I say I do not foresee a modelling career in my future!
Back to the clothes sorting. While I am not exaggerating in my description of the size of the pile we sorted through, don’t take that to mean more isn’t needed. The team are still seeking more donations of clean, pre-loved clothing in all sizes and styles. I noticed a definite lack of male clothing, especially around business shirts, trousers and suit jackets, and the team tell me this always sells well at the event so they would love to have more come in.
As we were pricing items, well the others were, turns out my skills with a pricing gun are less than stellar, so after a failed attempt or two I stuck to the safer option of sorting and packing, I realised I was going to have to get in quick when the pop-up shop opens if I wanted to snag some of the bargains coming.
With designer brands, dresses that still have all their original price tags on, alongside some wonderful vintage items, I could easily fill my wardrobe with the clothing they will have there, and for a fraction of the cost it would be should I have bought it brand new. There are winter boots, branded trainers, designer coats, handbags, everything I could ever want to give me the kind of wardrobe even Carrie Bradshaw would be jealous of. I could even buy a wedding dress - I saw two just on that one day - and totally channel a Sex and the City vibe by strolling along Stratford’s Broadway in it perhaps?
The Taranaki Women’s Refuge committee would love to hear from anyone interested in volunteering, be it in sorting clothing, helping at the shop itself, or if you have items to donate. Take it from someone who has done it, volunteering for this project is great fun, so why not give it a go?
The Details
What: Taranaki Women’s Refuge Pop-Up Shop and Pre-Loved Clothing Sale
When: Saturday, October 6-Sunday, October 15
Where: La Mer Lounge New Plymouth Raceway
Details: Find Taranaki Women’s Refuge Popup shop on Facebook and Instagram.