Well-Behaved Riot at Frugal Festival Summer Swap

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We didn't quite get to the Frugal Festival in time to snap any "before" pictures, but we did get there in time to see about 200 swappers rush the doors at 1pm. Like a herd of charging (but friendly) cattle.

The Frugal Festival isn't the kind of affair where well-heeled women come toting bags of last season's Miu Miu, and it isn't filled with vintage or hipster treasures, a la the Rose Bowl. It's an actual, literal swap: normal people bringing normal things to trade with other normal people. The Festival is the brainchild of Bargain Babe Julia Scott, who developed the event to help people save money, with the periphery benefits of giving women the opportunity to play with fashion and take risks without dinging their budgets—and showing everyone a good time. Early on, we saw people making a mad dash for goods from A&F, Express, American Apparel, and Nike, but the labeled stuff didn't last. The Festival is guided by an implicit Golden Rule: swappers should leave the janky stuff at home, and only bring goods in decent condition. After about an hour, the piles wear dwindling and many of the zealous swappers were sitting on the sidelines, but almost everyone went away feeling like they'd made an equitable trade.
· Bargain Babe [Official Site]