A little suit can make a big difference

NEW YORK -- The instructions read: The day before the job interview, decide what you will wear and check that it is clean, pressed and not missing buttons. The night before the interview, decide what you will be taking in your handbag and set it aside. The day of the interview, don't wear flashy jewelry; keep it small and simple.

These tips come courtesy of Dress for Success Worldwide, an international organization that provides not only free job hunting advice but also free interview suits to low-income women making the transition to the work force.

For an organization that receives approximately 70 percent of its donated clothing, most notably gently used suits, from the closets of women across the nation, its standards may seem surprisingly selective.

"If you are going to donate to Dress for Success, the question you have to ask yourself is, 'Would I myself wear this if I were called on an interview tomorrow?"' says Joi Gordon, executive director of Dress for Success in New York. "The buttons have to be there, the style has to be there. For a woman walking through our door, who struggles with self-worth, this suit that we give her really symbolizes our faith in her ability to succeed. So it is important that this suit really be something be very special.

"The feeling a woman gets when she walks into a Dress for Success is that she is in a boutique," she added. Most Dress for Success offices have an inventory of approximately 200 to 300 suits and 300 to 400 business separates.

It's easy to cultivate a boutique ambiance, especially when the remaining 30 percent of inventory typically comes directly from manufacturers offering new clothes, such as Sag Harbor, Brooks Brothers and Dress Barn. Many handbags come from Coach.

"I've seen it happen in our shop that a donor has given us an Armani suit -- this has really happened -- with a beautiful blouse, and Avon gives us faux pearl earrings and a necklace set. And the (client) is looking absolutely amazing," says Gordon.

Shoes are sometimes in shorter supply, though Payless ShoeSource is a footwear sponsor. "I have seen our volunteers take the shoes off their feet to let the woman walk out with a suit, knowing she doesn't have $10 to go to Payless to buy a pair of shoes," Gordon says.

Kamille Boyer in Wichita, Kan., said she went from the Dress for Success branch there to a job at a bank, where she is a home specialist, closing mortgage loans. As a single mother with two small children, she began her foray into the job market through a computer-training program for people on assistance.

When it came time for job hunting, "I really didn't have the clothes for interviews, and I was worried about not getting a job without having the clothing," Boyer says. "I just love Dress for Success. It's the best thing they have come up with for women in need."

Through a contact at the computer program, she learned of Dress for Success and arrived at the branch to find an array of clothes in a variety of sizes, styles and colors, in addition to makeup and other cosmetics, she says.

"They had a lot of designer clothes, like Liz Claiborne, Lane Bryant, Old Navy, Eddie Bauer," Boyer says. "Some of the clothes still have the tags on them, they're brand-new." For other clothes, "some people may have worn them once or twice."

That is the magic of the match, says Gordon. "One woman could really change the life of another woman. What's really exciting about Dress for Success is that you could go through your closet and pull out three suits you like and choose to give them to someone else. That is so simple, but the significance is great. Women really leave looking like a million bucks, and it cost them nothing."

Through a comprehensive program that also includes career coaching and mentoring, no fees are charged to clients who use Dress for Success services, says Gordon.

Since its start in 1996, Dress for Success has assisted nearly 150,000 women, she says. Approximately 75 affiliates assist about 40,000 women annually.

Verna Joseph of Metairie, La., has worked her way up to become a mentor in the organization. She said that after an injury led her to unemployment and welfare, she visited Dress for Success, then obtained a job as a receptionist at a law firm in New Orleans in 2001.

"I received a suit for the interview and another suit for my first day on the job," says Joseph, who also received pearl earrings, a necklace and pantyhose.

"It makes you feel great that someone thought of you, to give you these things because you can't afford them."

Dress for Success was founded in 1996 by Nancy Lublin, then a law student, with a $5,000 inheritance from her great-grandfather Max Usewitz, an enterprising Polish immigrant who came to the United States.

Members of the public help in many ways beyond just making tax-deductible donations of clean, contemporary women's suits. Some make financial contributions, others become volunteer "personal shoppers" who help clients select their interview suits, and still others organize community suit drives or fund-raisers, or ask companies to become corporate sponsors.