{"id":208175,"date":"2024-01-04T07:30:59","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T12:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=208175"},"modified":"2023-12-27T11:39:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-27T16:39:16","slug":"uconn-stamford-clothing-pantry-offers-students-range-of-everyday-wear-professional-attire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/01\/uconn-stamford-clothing-pantry-offers-students-range-of-everyday-wear-professional-attire\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Stamford Clothing Pantry Offers Students Range of Everyday Wear, Professional Attire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ralph Lauren might not have visited UConn Stamford<\/a> in person, but he\u2019s there \u2013 along with Gloria Vanderbilt, Liz Claiborne, and Calvin Klein.<\/p>\n

Students can find them in the old gymnasium in the heart of campus, alongside designers from LOFT, Charter Club, and Chaps, on the labels of shirts, pants, skirts, and dresses that are for the taking as part of Husky Clothing for All.<\/p>\n

Started in 2018 as Dress for Success through the efforts of a student club, organizers quickly partnered with Stamford\u2019s Center for Career Development<\/a> to provide students professional clothing to wear outside the classroom for job interviews, internships, or other typically adult endeavors, says sociologist Laura Bunyan, an associate professor-in-residence who was the club\u2019s advisor and who continues to run the program.<\/p>\n

\"Laura
Laura Bunyan, associate professor of sociology in residence, at the Clothing for All closet at the Stamford campus on Nov. 30, 2023. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over two days in the week that preceded the biannual career fair, students would rummage tables to put together an outfit, while workshops to develop an elevator pitch and critique resumes prepared them for employers\u2019 queries, she says.<\/p>\n

Then, Bunyan noticed students needed more than just suits and jackets. People started asking for everyday wear like jeans, coats, boots, sweaters, and sweatshirts, she says, and the dress clothing that fell out of fashion among the masses during the pandemic wasn\u2019t as necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even dress up as much anymore,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, Bunyan and one of her sociology<\/a> classes started a pop-up food pantry<\/a> on campus, which later became part of the University-wide Husky Harvest<\/a> initiative, giving her access to student workers and experience sourcing product.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents in general need social support like access to food and free and reduced-cost textbooks,\u201d Bunyan says. \u201cClothing is expensive and in their time at UConn Stamford, they change sizes and shapes and encounter situations, like new jobs, where they need to step up their wardrobes. We\u2019re just trying to break down barriers so they can access things that will enrich their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a dedicated student worker in spring 2023, Dress for Success became Husky Clothing for All and opened a few hours a week. This academic year, it boasts a handful of workers and is open 15 hours a week Monday through Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Fairfield County is one of the wealthiest in the country, but there\u2019s also extreme poverty here,\u201d Bunyan says. \u201cThere\u2019s insecurity at all levels in all the towns around here, but especially in the schools. People don\u2019t always think of college students as needing help because they are privileged in a lot of ways. But also in a lot of ways, they need help more than any of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karlie Krasowski \u201927 (CLAS) says she doesn\u2019t own a single piece of professional clothing, nor does Tiarra Shaw \u201927 (ACES).<\/p>\n

The only reason Jaret Jimpikit \u201927 (ENG) has a shirt and tie is because he\u2019s attended his fair share of quincea\u00f1aras, and Nicolas Roman \u201927 (ENG) dresses for church.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone starts college it\u2019s a new experience and they don\u2019t know if they fit in or not,\u201d Roman says. \u201cSometimes people need extra stuff to help them fit in and having a clothing pantry like this means anybody can explore any style they want with our very wide range of clothing selections.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four \u2013 all finishing their first semester of college \u2013 work with Bunyan to staff Clothing for All a couple days a week.<\/p>\n

Krasowski says word came a few weeks ago that someone was looking for clothing in extra-large sizes because they didn\u2019t have a cold-weather wardrobe: \u201cWe scavenged through the racks and found a lot of items to give her. There are a lot of things in here to fit just about any taste.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jimpikit holds up an emerald-colored poncho that could be the perfect holiday accessory for someone.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody needs help of some kind,\u201d Krasowski says. \u201cIt\u2019s clich\u00e9 to say someone is going to struggle just because they\u2019re in school.”<\/p>\n

Much of the clothing comes from community donations, primarily the suburbs of the Naugatuck River valley, Bunyan says. A donation box is located at Piper and Dune<\/a>, a gift shop in Southbury, and there are boxes around the Stamford campus.<\/p>\n

In the spring, one student benefited from a donated tuxedo.<\/p>\n

In the fall, many found bathing suits for use at the Stamford YMCA, where students get free admission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have students who take things home for family members, which I encourage just to try to give back to their families and the community,\u201d Bunyan says. \u201cThe community, in general, has been so good to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nicholas
Nicholas Roman ’27 (ENG) and Tiarra Shaw ’27 (CLAS) fold items at the Clothing for All closet at the Stamford campus on Nov. 30, 2023. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the immediate hope is to attract more students to Clothing for All, Bunyan says she would like to find a permanent location on campus and expand it with a sewing machine, a few mannequins, a full-length mirror, some couches, and maybe a computer.<\/p>\n

Perhaps there\u2019s a way to link it to Husky Harvest, she adds, to provide things like can openers, spatulas, food storage containers \u2013 things necessary to make and store food for later, things most take for granted.<\/p>\n

Jimpikit says that as a computer science major he envisions a website for Clothing for All, with pictures of what\u2019s available to entice more people through the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe student body has really evolved over the years,\u201d Bunyan says. \u201cIf, 15 years ago, you told me I would start a food pantry, I wouldn\u2019t have believed you. But I see the shifting needs of the students and I want to help fill the gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continues, \u201cOne of the problems, too, is high schools delivering the message that when you go to college no one is going to help you. That\u2019s one of my biggest obstacles in teaching. Students eventually will come to me after I\u2019ve sent a few emails and apologize, saying they\u2019re not used to someone offering to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaw says that working at Clothing for All has acclimated her to the campus, made her feel welcomed and needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I feel like this place is for also,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monetary donations to Husky Clothing for All can be made to Husky Harvest Stamford through the UConn Foundation<\/a>. For large clothing donations only, contact Bunyan at laura.bunyan@uconn.edu.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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