Your Wardrobe at Work

 The Working Wardrobe is a great addition to local charity, Works for Us, and has been ever so popular with the people of MK, allowing it to be continually funded for over 12 years! 
Susie heads the area and was able to talk us through its colourful history and the way it meets the needs of today’s employees with the ever-changing fashion trends and workwear attire.  
For example, the pandemic has pushed a culture of casual clothing, working from home boosted sporting PJs from the waist down, and pushed employers to be ever more fashionably flexible.  
Although this shift made the daily work wear more relaxed it has undoubtedly raised interview expectations (gyms being the exception to the rule as they require a more athletic interview dress code) so it’s even more challenging for us to know exactly what to wear, when and, who for. 
Susie was first approached to host a pop-up shop with a small group of volunteers at the MK Rail station, which quickly became a small boutique offering on-the-spot interview clothing and support. The project ran for 12 weeks and was so popular, not just with daily commuters but citizens from all over the city, that more funding was offered, and Susie soon found a place within the team to help drive it forward to today.  
With a wealth of experience and a background in fashion and art, attending elite colleges such as Manchester’s Institute of Fashion and Design, completing Petals level 4 tutoring and An Intro to Fashion and Design course, plus eBay and Merchandising course, Photography, and Styling – clients are indubitably in good hands.  
“I am only a small part of someone’s journey, it is them who does the work and gets the best results.” Susie. 
The Wardrobe constantly adapts to meet the needs of the City’s employment scene and is driven by the passion of the people who access it.  
The appointments are centred solely around every person who attends, with a small amount of obtained information prior such as height and age, Susie and her fashion-forward team of volunteers can expertly prepare a range of clothing choices ready for the appointment. Freeing up valuable time to discuss and work on styling, self-esteem, budgeting tips and even looking at how to dress like your icon.  
Earlier clients may have heard of the Working wardrobe as; Women without Boundaries, Dress to Impress, This is Me as it adapted, but all with the exact same agenda ‘To see the potential in someone and work with them until they feel at least twice as good as they did when they entered’. 
Working with great partners such as MK College offering beard trims and haircuts in the past; the wardrobe is there to help people understand what’s appropriate for clients and employers.  
Susie sums it up in one great analogy – “As a child, you may have placed a buttercup under your chin to see if it lights up and you like butter. That’s what the right colour pallet does for us, it enhances the skin tone and brightens up our attire. This is what I aim to do for my clients.” 
Conversations on what to have handy in your bag, planning your travel to work, and what to expect in the days leading up to your interview are great ways to help remove anxieties so that on the day of your interview you can calmly sit and enjoy a cup of tea.  
The process is about enabling each other to see what we already have to offer, including what’s in our wardrobes already. There is no need to spend a lot of money or rush to purchase something we might never wear again or do not feel comfortable in. The capsule wardrobe is a technique used to help minimise your wardrobe so you can effectively learn to mix and match what you have.  
Top tip – Fashion revolves on a 12-year cycle and so with the right basics you can refresh your look without going out of style.

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The wardrobe relies on voluntary support and partnerships from high fashion retailers. If you would like to get involved or attend the wardrobe, contact the team at Works for Us for more information.  ​