Families spend hundreds to gear up for school. A St. Johns clothes swap aims to trim that price tag

Micailyn Williams spent several hundred dollars on each of her three daughters last year for back-to-school provisions.

“Half the stuff,” Williams lamented, “they never wore.”

That’s why Williams found herself at a St. Johns clothing swap Sunday afternoon, picking through children’s garments for the best price: free. In accordance with the rules of the swap, she brought a bag of her kids’ clothes, in good condition, and planned to leave with just as much.

The reuse event hosted outside Wonderwood Springs café and mini golf gave roughly 20 families a breather from the expectation to spend big ahead of the first day of school, which lands on Tuesday for most students attending Portland Public Schools. According to data analytics firm Statista, the average family spent $418 on back-to-school clothes and shoes in 2025.

Williams, who lives in Southeast Portland, found out about the St. Johns event thanks to a social media campaign advertising Environment Oregon’s clothing swap, thought up by state director Celeste Meiffren-Swango.

As a director with the environmental group, Meiffren-Swango’s duties include finding ways to get Oregonians to reduce waste. She has two kids of her own in first grade and in fifth.

Rising public consciousness around the vast environmental effects of the fashion industry — which produces millions of tons of waste and consumes trillions of liters of water annually, according to one review — inspired Meiffren-Swango to hold the event this year.

“It’s an environmental issue that people are starting to grapple with,” she said.

The swaps are nothing new, Meiffren-Swango said, but now is also the perfect time for one because of the intense pressure on parents like her to spend in the runup to the school year every year. She lives in St. Johns and says she participates in a local “buy nothing” group where community members trade or receive goods for free to contribute to Portland’s sharing economy.

“There’s a lot of expectation of buying a lot of stuff for our kids,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be that way. There are other ways that parents can be sharing resources with one another.”

Ronecca Norvell’s son will become the proud new owner of a Captain America T-shirt and a black hoodie thanks to the swap. Norvell also examined a Spider-Man T-shirt — great for a Marvel fan like her incoming fifth grader.

“All of this stuff is my son’s jam,” she said.

Norvell, chief executive of Portland-based financial education nonprofit Financial Beginnings, said that even though parents feel like they have to buy new, they should expose their kids to options to acquire used items when they can. This type of event, she said, teaches kids at a young age the value of finding what they need at a price they can afford.

Kids grow so fast, several parents said, that they often leave behind clothes with little to no wear. The clothing swap is a chance to extend their life.

Children’s clothing prices remained largely unchanged since last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, with boys’ apparel rising about 2% and girls’ decreasing by about the same. But as of May, the latest data available to the Bureau, the cost of textbooks and other educational supplies increased by more than 9% from the year before.

After purchasing clothes and shoes, U.S. parents will likely spend an average $144 on school supplies this year, Statista reported.

Down the street from the clothes swap at Two Rivers Bookstore, a regular stop for students from elementary school to the nearby University of Portland, the back-to-school rush has felt a bit muted so far to owner Christine Longmuir. But she suspects sales might soon pick up.

“They all go on vacation the week before the school year and then panic rush in here,” Longmuir said, though she also noted many parents are likely feeling financially pinched.

Two Rivers sells many of the titles recommended for the Oregon Battle of the Books statewide reading and comprehension program for students. Longmuir said she wants to instill a love of the written word in the next generation.

“Owning a bookstore at this time of where we are in history is an act of revolution,” she said. “If kids learn to educate themselves, not just take information as it’s handed to them, and do a little more digging, we’re going to have a better world.”

Back at the clothing swap, Matthew Altman and his daughter, Miyuki, perused folded piles of shirts. Miyuki was getting ready for fifth grade at Richmond Elementary. She didn’t find a ton, rejecting a shirt that says “Long Live Cowgirls,” but decided a black-and-white plaid button down made the grade.

“You like this one?” her dad asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

The Altmans are Meiffren-Swango’s neighbors, which prompted them to stop by the event. By midafternoon 20 families had cycled through, and Meiffren-Swango said she planned to host the exchange again next year.

In fact, other times of year could occasion such an event, she added.

Meiffren-Swango said, “I was thinking about doing a Halloween costume swap.”

— Jonathan Bach; [email protected]