Profiles

How do you face the credit crunch if you're a lady who likes to shop? Constantly updating your wardrobe can of course prove an expensive business, but one woman from York has come up with what she thinks might be the answer.

Katie Wilkinson, mum of three and self confessed "shopaholic", and her friend, Nikki Gilmore, have decided to set up "Get Frocked" - effectively it's a clothes exchange.  

But how does it work? 

Katie says, "It's simple really, we book a location, ladies then bring along up to five items of clothing and that can include shoes and bags that they don't want.  All women have wardrobes stuffed full of things that we never wear or no longer fit, so why keep it?"

Why do women keep those clothes they never wear?

Once they've checked their items in, women receive a "Get Frocked token", one for each item they've brought. The ladies can then browse through the items on display. If they see something they like, they "pay" for it with their tokens. 

So what inspired Katie to set up this new venture, perhaps its her own bulging wardrobe? She says she loves shopping so much she has even conditioned the children to enjoy it. Her youngest son loves to go out and look round the shops with his mum, which must be a first.

"My wardrobe is full. I have to store clothes in the loft and in boxes under the bed and I am a real shoe lover. I've got over a 100 pairs!", explains Katie.

She thinks the idea of swapping clothes will appeal to other women like her. "Women already often borrow things from friends and relatives, Nikki and I have been doing it for ten years, so why not swap items formally? You might not like or fit those hipster jeans anymore, so why not swap them for something you really want and will actually wear?"

Katie's not the only one to be inspired. Journalist turned business woman Jacey Lamerton, who lives just outside York, has also set her own company up. "Get Your Frocks Off" works on a similar exchange basis, women bring along their unwanted items to a party where they can swap them.

Sixties fashion icon Twiggy Lawson

Dress exchanges aren't new, they have been popular in the United States for many years, but with the credit crunch and soaring prices they are becoming more and more popular here.

Now a new television programme is examining the trend. "Twiggy's Frock Exchange" invites women to bring along their unwanted items and gives them a makeover. Presented by, sixties icon, Twiggy Lawson the series begins on BBC 2 this autumn.

Katie Wilkinson is one of the women appearing on the programme. "It was great fun, we had a terrific day. We all brought our items that we didn't want and then Twiggy and her stylists made us over using other people's unwanted clothes. It really prompted me to set up 'Get Frocked'".

Businesses like this are springing up all across the country and it looks like dress exchanges are here to stay.