Women’s Center Hosts ‘Naked’ Swap

This weekend, over 40 ladies dug through black sparkly cocktail dresses, fluffy pink gloves, and green velvet jackets—all in the name of charity—as the Harvard College Women’s Center held its “Naked Ladies Brunch,” the fourth since 2006.

In addition to a spread of English muffins and crème brûlée French toast, hundreds of articles of clothing were up for exchange at the transformed Women’s Center, which was styled to mimic the feel of a trendy thrift store. There were plenty of semi-naked ladies trying on clothing in the makeshift dressing room.

As a part of the event, women bring their own clothing donations in order to exchange it for what others have brought. Whatever is leftover is donated to charity.

“In the spring, people are excited to get rid of a lot of their wardrobe,” said Sandra L. Ullman ’07, program administrator at the Women’s Center. “You see people coming in with multiple suitcases.”

Natasha S. Alford ’08, an intern at the Women’s Center and a veteran organizer of the event, revived the clothing swap after hearing about the idea from one of her past teaching fellows, Amanda M. Bagneris ’99.

Bagneris was part of a group of women at the College in the 1990s who put on a similar event with the same name, before Harvard had a Women’s Center.

“This event is a good example of links from the past, in terms of women’s activism,” Alford said. “It was just two years ago that people were fighting over the establishment of the Women’s Center.”

Another intern at the Women’s Center, Nikki A. Johnson, a student at the Graduate School of Design, said the event was a “very low-key and friendly way of inviting a lot of different people into the space.”

“It helps people to see that we put on a whole range of events, some more serious than others,” Johnson said.

Ullman said that over the last couple of years, the brunch has become much more of a signature event for the Women’s Center and it has appealed to a larger community and gained momentum on its own.

“I’m having a great time,” said Jenna M. Mellor ’08, as she tried on a tank top. “I think clothes are really self-expressive and fun to play with, but not fun to spend money on.”

Katherine Y. Tan ’10 said she was new to the brunch but had been wanting to come for a long time.

“I think it’s a really good idea. Since we’re all a community, it’s really cool to pass things on,” Tan said.

“And I found a really cute black dress,” she added.