News

Because layoffs are one of the most profound and unfortunate consequences of these uncertain times, I devoted a column last December to dressing for job interviews.

Among my many suggestions was one that advised against wearing the old "job interview outfit."

But I was assuming that most people have a standby suit, even if it dates back to the days when Madonna was happily in love with Sean Penn. How can someone be expected to dress for a job interview if buying new clothes is not an option and there's nothing suitable in the closet?

This is a frequent problem for women who have been out of the work force and live below the poverty line. Consider the conundrum: They need money to buy appropriate clothes that will make a good impression and may help them land the job, but they won't have enough money to put toward clothes until they get the job.

Enter Wear 2 Start, a Victoria-based non-profit organization that acts as a work wardrobe fairy godmother (www.wear2start.com).

Any woman with a referral (which typically comes through community colleges or retraining programs) can receive a starter ensemble - including any necessary alterations - plus hair and makeup styling at no cost. That's right: zip, zero, zilch.

This remarkable service takes its cue from Dress For Success, which launched in New York 12 years ago and has affiliates in Halifax, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver (Dressforsuccess.org).

Wear 2 Start is a smaller operation and succeeds because the local community believes so strongly in its cause (even the modest downtown space is provided rent-free).

"It's always been my philosophy that if you think you have a good idea and you take it into the community and they think it's a good idea, they'll help you do it," says immediate past president Kathleen McMullin, who founded the volunteer-based organization with four other women in 2001. Since then, Wear 2 Start has helped more than 1,000 women and, last month, added a third day to its "store" schedule to accommodate demand.

Ms. McMullin says that Wear 2 Start has no plans to broaden out to helping men, primarily because there may be issues around the female volunteers feeling uncomfortable with men undressing but also because "if women can help women, we feel men should help men."

Personal experiences motivated Ms. McMullin. She found herself "in a panic" more than a decade ago when she was raising her three children on her own and needed to re-enter the work force but realized she had nothing to wear. Two mothers of her daughter's friends came to her rescue, right down to the nylons.

Upon retiring from her job at a community college, the idea for Wear 2 Start surfaced. "I remembered my own need and panic, and I thought, all these years have gone by and no one has filled that little link in our community," she says. "There are a lot more single parents now than when I was one."

Clothing is provided by private donations or from retailers at the end of each season. Anything is accepted as long as it's in good condition and looks current; Ms. McMullin says they turn down pieces that are at least five years old.

"No one feels really good and confident in clothing that is out of style and out of date."

In some cases, wardrobe advice is as important as the actual wardrobe. "We don't just give them one outfit. We give them the basic interview outfit - jacket and skirt or pant - then we co-ordinate other items to it," she explains. "So we teach them how to build a wardrobe by purchasing items [they] can co-ordinate. ... We show them what works and why it works and what doesn't and why it doesn't; we talk about length of jackets, the importance of colour and what colours to avoid."

Ms. McMullin is particularly excited about a recent grant from Victoria Foundation that will allow the Wear 2 Start team to produce a pocket-sized book on "how to look like a million bucks on a small budget."

But the best moment is what Ms. McMullin calls "the spark" - when the transformation registers on the women's faces. It doesn't take much, she points out - even a proper-fitting bra will ignite the spark. "Sometimes they're a little shy when they get into the shopping thing, but when they get the bra on and the top on, [they will] say, 'Oh my god, I can't believe this.' "

For Kristine Sacco, the moment of change came upon getting the haircut (by long-time volunteer Ben Shum). Having been out of work for nine months because of illness, she says she hadn't visited the hairdresser for half a year. Until last week.

"That was hard on my confidence - going out and looking shaggy," the 32-year-old admits. "[Ben] cut it all off and gave it a new look."

Her issue had less to do with understanding office attire 101 than lacking the means to get herself into interview shape.

The Wear 2 Start experience, she says, has given her a much-needed boost in morale. "Three women kept throwing clothes over the curtain. They know what will fit your body type and they want you to feel good in what you're putting on," she says. "I probably have a combination of 12 or 13 different outfits now. It was a collaborative process. We had fun with it."

Which is, according to Ms. McMullin, what the process is all about. "We don't do measurement outcomes," she says, explaining that Wear 2 Start receives no government funding so it is not obligated to compile statistics, "but we do have our own and that is this: Every woman leaves here happier than when she arrives. And I can't think of a better measurement outcome than that."