THRIFTY ‘swishers’ swapped clothes, shoes and accessories at the East End’s trendy Spitalfields Market on Saturday when they took part in a craze sweeping the nation.

Instead of spending their hard-earned cash on new togs, visitors to the Commercial Street market dropped off their unwanted garments in the morning then returned later in the day to choose someone else’s

Spitalfields Market’s events manager Ellie Barnatt said: “Our swishing events have proven to be really popular with shoppers.

“It’s essentially clothes shopping, but with a twist. It removes the slightest traces of guilt that expensive shopping trips can have and increases the fun.

“In Britain, every year, we throw away more than two million tonnes of clothes and swishing will of course help to reduce this figure. I guess you could say that it’s recycling at its most glamorous.”

Swishers exchanged their items for up to five tickets and, after all their stock had been sorted, were able to browse

before tickets were traded for the chosen items.

Hundreds of swishing events have taken place up and down the country as fashionistas feel the impact of the current economic climate and awareness of the importance of reusing and recycling clothes is raised.