msmemory_archive (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
msmemory_archive) wrote2003-04-02 02:16 pm
msmemory_archive) wrote2003-04-02 02:16 pm
(no subject)
OK, so back when K thought she needed to get a job outside the house, she asked for cast-off clothes that would be appropriate to wear to work. As opposed to appropriate for chasing toddlers. I started a bag of same for her, which is now overflowing, but now she says she's not going to look for work til the boys are in school. Fine. So what do I do with these things? They're not really junky, so I don't want to just fling them into the Salvation Army box at the firehouse, but they're not designer and they have been worn, so I can't just take them down to some swooshy consignment place.
I need another girlfriend who is about 2 sizes smaller than me. Or we need to revive the Windsmeet Swap but invite several new victims //////guests.
It was easier relegating clothes to the bag when they were going to someone I knew - if they're just going to charity I keep succumbing to the urge to hang onto them instead....
I need another girlfriend who is about 2 sizes smaller than me. Or we need to revive the Windsmeet Swap but invite several new victims //////guests.
It was easier relegating clothes to the bag when they were going to someone I knew - if they're just going to charity I keep succumbing to the urge to hang onto them instead....
no subject
Have you heard of Dress for Success in Roslindale?
The boutique's clientele are single mothers, women who've left abusive relationships, women getting off welfare; all in the process of transitioning from career-training programs into the workplace. They are referred to Dress for Success by certified job-training programs. Each woman who walks into the store for a free outfit has completed her job training and is about to go on an interview, in many cases her first in years.
"The women have done the work and made the commitment," says Schneider. "They just need the final piece of the puzzle - the suit. All the training skills in the world don't matter if you show up for an interview in sweat pants."
Since it opened in July, Dress for Success, one of 72 Dress for Success franchises worldwide and the only one in Greater Boston, has served about 30 women. The boutique provides everything from undergarments and hose to handbags and jewelry. Dress for Success is no thrift shop: DKNY, Liz Claiborne, and Elie Tahari are just some of the upscale designers whose styles for professional women adorn the store's racks, each item donated by individuals, social-service agencies, or retail chains such as Talbots or Dockers. The boutique's costs are covered by corporate and individual donations, and grants.
Schneider recalls one of Dress for Success's first clients, a woman who had been through a series of halfway houses and shelters for battered women. "She'd arrived in Boston with only the clothes on her back," says Schneider. "She had a Master's degree, and she was interviewing for a mid-level position in social work. We dressed her in a black suit with a red scarf. When she stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself, her eyes filled up. And ours did too. She had the ability, now she looked the part."
That's where Dress for Success's own role expands. If a woman is hired for a job, she returns to the boutique for outfits that will get her through at least the first few weeks of work. A business suit is appropriate for a job interview, whether the job is in computer programming or health care, say Schneider and Levine. But Dress for Success dresses women with additional clothes - whether professional attire or more casual ensembles - to fit the job. It's also not uncommon for Levine and Schneider - themselves veterans of the job market and the field of social work - to do a bit of professional coaching while dispensing fashion advice.
The Dress for Success concept is the brainchild of Nancy Lublin, who opened the first boutique in New York in 1996, funded with a small family inheritance. In Massachusetts, there are Dress for Success branches in Springfield and Fall River. Partnering with social-service agencies and job-training centers gives Dress for Success the credentials to attract corporate donors; the store's mission is to target women who've proven themselves committed to a life change.
The biggest obstacle, Schneider and Levine say, is the same one that plagues many women who shop for designer clothing in malls and boutiques everywhere: not enough plus sizes. Dress for Success seeks donations of clothing sizes 16 and up, and hopes to create a separate fund for the purchase of larger-size apparel. Schneider and Levine make no apologies for being picky: they want only clean, gently used, or new clothing that's in style and in season. Their customers, after all, are looking for nothing less than a transformation.
Dress for Success, at 20 Birch Street, in Roslindale, is open Monday through Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call (617) 323-7544 or visit www.dressforsuccess.org.
A Suitable Image, INC.
100 Concord Street, Second Floor
Framingham, Massachusetts 01702
Tel 508-620-3993
Fax 508-620-3966
Web www.suitableimage.org
A Suitable Image provides women with one suit with accessories for their interview. When women get a job they will provide additional clothes-a great start to a working wardrobe. A Suitable Image also offers workshops on practical skills to help low-income women succeed in the workplace. Clients must be referred from an agency caseworker/counselor when they are "interview ready".
------------------------------
SuitAbility is a non-profit organization created to enhance the marketability of economically challenged women. SuitAbility provides support services, appropriate interview/work clothing, an evening Drop-In Center, Mentor program and workshops,at no cost, to low income women
379 Central Street Lowell, MA 01853
Phone: 978-934-8898
FAX: 978-934-8899
suitkh@aol.com
www.suitabilityma.org