Dress for Success Phoenix: More Than Just a Suit

By Monica Avila

Lisa Doromal – Director
Jessica Gonzales- Program Manager
Mary Crawford- Program Coordinator
Tamra Garrido- Office Manager

Driving to Dress for Success Phoenix’s boutique in south Phoenix gave me a chance to think about that person who gave me my first chance, who believed in me and who encouraged me to live out my dreams.  Without that person, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today.  Ok, I totally get that was a strange way to start a fashion article, but seriously when the topic of said article is a program as fantastic and empowering as Dress for Success Phoenix, one can’t help but ruminate on where one got her start.  Dress for Success Phoenix is a non-profit organization that helps suit women who are starting over.  They take women from other non-profit work readiness programs like Welfare to Work, domestic violence shelters and Chicano’s por la Causa to name a few, and provide these women with an entire suit, from shoes to handbag and accessories to help them look the part in an interview. Director Lisa Doromal explains that, “We style and suit women so that they are ready to go out and land a job, but we are more than just a suit.”  Oh, Dress for Success Phoenix is definitely more than just a suit; it’s an entire system of female empowerment. It’s women helping women in the most glamorous and exciting way.

Boutique Style

Now, ladies and gents, I have been in some pretty upscale boutiques and have spent some time chatting up some fabulous designers in this column, and I have to say there are very few boutiques I have enjoyed more than the one Lisa Doromal and her team have fixed up for their clients.  Picture a Paris salon with a truly high fashion twist, I mean luxury is the name in this boutique and some high fashion styling is going on for women who really deserve a brand new start.  

High Fashion Make-over Status

“This is where the magic happens,” gushes Doromal as she leads back to the dressing area.  Each of the Dress for Success Phoenix clients is assigned a personal shopper who leads the client through a style education process.  Her personal shopper will help transform the client’s look to one that is more polished, more work ready and more confident.  “We outfit everything, from shoes to even accessories and handbags because the last thing we want our clients to worry about when they are going into that interview, is about how they look.”  Recently Dress for Success Phoenix welcomed the one and only Oscar De La Salas into their boutique to offer one of those fabulous makeovers to a very deserving lady who participated in the World Wide Dress for Success Leadership conference this past week.  In the words of De La Salas, “there is more to looks under Dress for Success Phoenix…It is not only a jump/start to these females, as many of them have families to support, and care for. The program itself creates a valuable source of community awareness about how by simply lending a hand, you are able to clear a path for others to continue walking and create a better society for all of us.”

Once a deserving client is styled to perfection, it is on to the make-up counter.  OH! What a make-up station it is.  Rivaling any backstage fashion show counter, the Dress for Success Phoenix make-up area is stocked with Bobby Brown make-up; it’s truly a make-up artist’s dream and, get this, it was all donated by Bobby Brown herself.  Yes, the famed make-up maven even visited Dress for Success Phoenix in its infancy.  “Back then we were in a small space very generously donated by Chicanos por la Causa,” explains Doromal.  In fact, even the gorgeous new facility that Dress For Success Phoenix occupies today was donated by Chicano por la Causa and other community partnerships.  Lisa Doromal began the program in Phoenix in 2010 with a vision.   That vision is coming true; it combines a love for fashion with a desire to help women: Which is really at the heart of Dress for Success Phoenix’s mission.

Beyond the Suit

Yes, Dress for Success Phoenix suits women returning or beginning work, but it goes beyond just the suiting process and takes women through the entire journey toward self-sufficiency. There are four core programs within the Dress for Success Phoenix model, the Suiting program, The Career Center, The Going Places Network by Wal-Mart that is a job readiness cohort led by Mary Crawford, that teaches women how to reenter the workforce, and The Professional Woman’s Group.  Which is a networking opportunity for women who have gone through the suiting program to get together to learn how to keep employment and as well as land even better employment.  “Once a client is referred to our suiting program they receive life long support from Dress for Success Phoenix, the best part about our program is not just the fashion, though that is fantastic, but it is the support we give our clients so they know they are not in this alone,” says Doromal.

So, beyond the fashion is a passion for helping women succeed at Dress for Success Phoenix.  If you want to get involved, make-up artists, clothing donations and stylists are always needed.  All you need is a love for fashion, an eye for style and a desire to give back to a mujer starting out or getting back out there….Fabulous!

For more information contact: www.dressforsuccess.org/phoenix