Items of make up and donations to purchase such items were collected, and Victoria (BLC chair), Armelle (BLC events manager) and Wendy (BLC PR manager) met with some of the DFS team on Thursday 24th March to deliver these in person. Also present was Eileen Cotter-Larson, presenting make up collected by BlackRock.
Jill Griffin, DFS president said that the organization is clothes rich but cash poor. She went on to say that “Adem recognized our success at getting women into work. While they couldn’t support us financially, they were able to provide a dressing room in which clothing and accessories could be stored and tried for size. They also provide rooms for both training and 1-2-1 consultations, as well as working with Isabelle Ringard of DFS to source women for our Work Readiness program.”
Isabelle dedicates a lot of time to classroom events and guiding women to the best outfits for interview. “If you are a woman, unemployed and have a job interview, you are eligible to contact DFS for a 1-2-1 session,” she explained. “While we have many suits, we are in need of plain tops and tights to wear with them, so some financial donations are used for this purpose.” In addition, certain of the designer clothing or donated items that are inappropriate for interview, such as floral summer dresses or evening wear, are sold to raise money to purchase the basic staples. “Statistically, the most successful interview colour is navy blue,” reflected Jill “as it projects loyalty and confidence.”
DFS relies on the support of between a hundred and one hundred and fifty volunteers at any one time. Mentors from a variety of backgrounds including legal and finance, teach modules of the Work Readiness program covering a variety of essential topics such as CV and cover letter writing, dress code, body language and interview techniques - and depending on the attendee profiles, the program can be run in English, French and German.
For more information on Dressed For Success and the services available go to luxembourg.dressforsuccess.org
