The Wardrobe is on a mission to eliminate clothing insecurity in and around Philly. For the organization’s program director, Mars Sharrock, this means providing a unique avenue for high-quality clothing.
“Clothing makes a difference for folks in different ways,” they said. “So we talk about clothing insecurity, which is basically not having the right thing to wear or not having anything to wear.”
For Sadiyyah Young, discovering The Wardrobe almost 30 years ago helped her land a job. She said she was shocked when she discovered the resources the store offered.
“Back when I started attending, no one really knew that you could go get nice, quality interview clothing and you could get it for free,” she said. “I was floored. I thought, ‘Are you really gonna give me these nice, name-brand clothes that will help me put my best foot forward to go to a job interview for free?’”
Young returned to the Wardrobe several years later as a volunteer and has been helping with the organization ever since. She said the nurturing environment the organization creates motivated her to return.
“It wasn’t like they just gave me the clothes and I just walked out of there,” she said. “They gave me the clothes, and they gave me a sense of security, and a sense of ‘I’m here for you.’”
“Relationships beyond clothes”
Young is not alone. While the Wardrobe was started as a way to aid women returning to work, it has evolved into much more, Sharrock said. It is now helping groups like transgender and nonbinary customers, veterans, youth, job seekers and others.
“It’s a practice to invite people in,” they said. “There are folks who maybe weren’t sure if The Wardrobe was for them and maybe weren’t sure if they were going to be welcomed here.
“I find it’s really a good strategy to point directly at people and say, ‘You, specifically, are welcome here. You belong here. We want you here.’ And so that’s the goal of these events, to point directly at different people and say, ‘We want you here.’ ”
Sharrock said the organization is equipped to serve many niches.
“We went from sort of business-ready-only and business suits to any sort of clothing that you could think of,” he said. “So we have scrubs, we have casual things, we have pajamas, we have underwear, we have all that stuff.”
In addition to the clothing that is always available in stores, the Wardrobe aims to provide a “variety of support services at events,” such as tables from the William Way LGBTQ Community Center or Mazzoni Center at LGBTQ events.
One of the organizations assisted with these resources is Hopeworks Kensington, which works to set up young professionals for high-paying careers through technical training and resources, said Onna Jones, Hopeworks’ executive director.
“With The Wardrobe, it feels personal,” she said. “There’s the personal touch of, ‘you see me as a person, you see who I’m trying to be, and you’re helping me envision that and embody that through what I’m wearing.’”
Jones said The Wardrobe helps her program participants feel empowered and confident in their job search.
“It can feel very uncomfortable to be in a suit or slacks or to have a sports coat on or fitted in a tailored dress when you come from a community that has told you that maybe you don’t deserve a seat at the table or you aren’t professional because of your environment,” she said.
“So what originally started as a partnership to help boost the confidence of our young professionals by giving them the confidence to dress has morphed into such a huge collaboration to the mission and vision of Hopeworks itself.”
Jones said The Wardrobe’s relationship to its community partners is helpful and specialized.
“Our relationship is beyond clothes,” she said. “They’re supporting our young professionals who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and helping them identify with clothes that feel fitting for them. They’re helping them change their names and doing legal name-changing clinics with them.
“They’re helping some of our returning citizens who are really trying to come back into the community on a fresh start … it really is setting the tone for what their opportunity of rehabilitating themselves and their communities looks like.”
For people like Young, The Wardrobe extended into career choices. She now runs a life-coaching business – which she said was inspired by the job training and life skills The Wardrobe taught her while she was in the job search.
She said the organization is unique – as it continues to offer clothes, in combination with supportive resources, to storegoers.
“We don’t just fit them with clothing, we fit them with confidence,” she said.
Far-reaching impact
The organization is the largest of its kind in Pennsylvania, Sharrock said.
“All of our programs have really dignified and respectful services, because all of our objects are priced to sell,” they said. “So we wouldn’t put anything on the floor that we wouldn’t sell to someone. We are sure that all of the clothing that people who are coming for free things receive is good quality, is unstained, and doesn’t have smells or anything like that.”
The Wardrobe has free clothes available to anyone who is referred there through its network of partners. For those who are able to pay, he said, the money is used to support further programming.
“We provide free clothing to anyone who needs it, and for those who can’t afford to pay for the clothing,” he said. “They can also come to any of our locations and shop, and all of the money that we make in our thrift endeavors also goes back into our programming to help support the free clothing program.”
Donation types can vary, Sharrock said.
“The vast majority of our clothing comes from individual donors,” he said. “It comes from individuals who are cleaning out their closets.”
He said corporations will also do clothing drives or offer donations. Overall, Sharrock said there is a need for unique clothing types.
“We always need menswear,” they said. “We always need varying sizes. We always need plus-size womenswear, and extra small menswear and womenswear.”
Shookar explained that clothing is not always thought of as a “necessity.” He hopes The Wardrobe’s programming and style can rebuke this.
“We think about clothing as a basic need, and it’s in the hierarchy of needs,” he said. “You need food, clothing and shelter. And we have organizations that cover the shelter, we have organizations that cover the food, and now we are the organization that covers clothing. So we want to be in that conversation as much as possible, not canceling any of the other needs out, but being included.”
Young emphasized that she has been able to touch many lives through her volunteering with The Wardrobe. She said none of it would’ve been possible without the initial, welcoming environment from the store.
“It gave me the confidence that I needed to walk out those doors with the right wardrobe and with the right clothing lineup to go into a corporate interview and give it my all,” she said.
Donations are welcome at any of the Wardrobe’s locations from Monday to Saturday, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The post ‘Relationships beyond clothes’: The Wardrobe celebrates 30 years of community and clothing appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY.
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