Unlike our regular Tuesday morning sessions at St Peters campus, Sunderland we joined a charity organisation called Smart works in Newcastle. I had never heard or Smart work before my visit but what they do is help unemployed women gain confidence through dressing well for an interview. The clothing is free to borrow and if the woman is successful in her interview Smart works loan five outfits out for free for up to one month. In the Smart works office they have rooms filled with clothes from sizes 6-22.
We were separated into groups of 2 and given fictional clients so we could build them an outfit for their interview. Our fictional client was a lady of the age 52. She was a size 18 and applying for a job as a cleaner. She didn’t like patterns, and she preferred black, grey or white suits. We found that it was quite hard to put together an outfit for that description in a size 18 because there was much less choice of clothing and styles in that size. Despite this we finally settled on a white blouse with beautiful detail on. A grey blazer with black speckles on. The client had said she didn’t like the pattern, however this wasn’t an extravagant pattern it was subtle, and we took that as an opportunity to say it’s how we would encourage the client to go out of their comfort zone. This was paired with a black medium-length skirt and white flat shoes to match the top, alongside nude tights and a fashionable black handbag.
Throughout the day a couple tasks were set for all of us fashion students. We got to meet the team at smart works and have an introduction and look around what they do day to day. Right at the beginning of the morning I was allocated into a group of four and our first task was in the stock room. The lady showed us the different rails and how to sort them. Smart works get a lot of clothes donated and the clothes they don’t need get sent to another charity. For this too be diced is if the clothes are bobbled or from brands like Primark as the clothing Smart works donate to clients is often high end such as All Saints. Our first task was to sort out bags of donated clothes. We were sorting them into what was good enough and in good condition to go out onto the railings for clients, what needed to go to another charity and what was to go on the festive rail. The festive rail is basically what they sell at the Christmas fashion markets but because they are a charity they must raise money somehow, so the festive rail had to be something that was worth at least £10.
Something that caught my interest that Smart works mentioned was volunteering with them. Smart works offer multiple volunteering roles such as wardrobe, dressing, coaching and admin. Any of these roles stand out to me but dressing does because it’s getting to know clients to be able to work directly with them about their fashion style and offering support and understanding about different fashion backgrounds. This is definitely something I’d be interested in in the future to gain experience.
