Clothes Call

Nothing beats the winter blues quite like shopping. And so when I was invited to a fundraiser held at an upscale boutique I couldn’t RSVP fast enough. The price of admission was easy — bring gently used accessories, jewelry, shoes and handbags to donate to a local non-profit that helps women move from welfare to work. In return, the boutique would donate a percentage of its sales that day to the non-profit organization.

Did I mention the raffle for a New York City shop-til-you-drop day trip with the boutique owner?

The theme was ‘black and white’ so I threw on a white top that hadn’t turned yellow yet and hurried over to the boutique after work one cold afternoon. My (black) backpack held a zip-lock baggie with ‘gently worn’ jewelry — i.e., I was tired of wearing it and my sisters-in-law didn’t want. Still, it could work for someone else and might help make a good first impression for a struggling woman applying for a job.

The boutique was located inside an art gallery that featured some pretty creative wall hangings and a bunch of ladies scurrying about, all wearing black and white. There were several tables of black and white food ñ white and dark chocolate dipped cookies, black and white M&Ms, crackers and cheese (almost white) and pasta in their original colors (thank God.)

Along the far wall were bags of donated items. I peeked into them discreetly, I hoped – and saw a few things I would have loved to have taken home myself. I hid my baggie of jewelry in a bigger bag bulging with worn designer shoes and headed toward the boutique.

I’ll admit at this point that my personal style runs the gamut from shopping in department stores to shopping in department stores online, so I viewed the clothes and jewelry there with the same wonderment as my trip to India a few years ago — novel, kind of strange, and completely out of my comfort zone. Honestly, I couldn’t figure out how to wear some of those things! But it was great fun to listen to the ‘ladies who lunch’ exclaim and fuss over the clothes, pleather handbags and costume jewelry while I self-consciously compared it to my catalog clothes and $8.00 white shell necklace that I bought from a peasant in Croatia last fall.

I’d love to say that I came home with bagfuls of trendy new stuff but instead I left empty-handed. However, I made a few important discoveries. First, ‘pleather’ is a real word. Second, I need a stylist. And finally, next time I’m clearing the closets for my own makeover, I’m giving my clothes, handbags and accessories to a non-profit that helps women move from welfare-to-work.

Try it – maybe you’ll even win a shopping trip to New York!

Get out and give back.