Bra drive, poverty fight a good fit

A proper-fitting bra will help you get a job. Rebecca Schiering, owner of The Reclothery, a consignment clothing store on Spokane’s South Hill, tells that to women who are struggling out of poverty. Don’t kid yourself, she says, people sneak a peek at women’s chests during job interviews. It’s human nature. And not just the guys do it.

So you shouldn’t go braless to an interview. You shouldn’t wear your boyfriend’s undershirt in lieu of a bra. When your bra fits, your clothes fit. When your clothes fit, you look professional. When you look professional, you get the job.

“If you don’t have the right kind of bra, it takes away from your authority,” Rebecca says.

In December and January, Rebecca is overseeing a community bra drive. The bras will be donated to Our Sister’s Closet, located at the downtown Spokane YWCA. The program helps women in need select professional clothes to be worn to job interviews. So if you get a Victoria’s Secret ensemble for Christmas, Rebecca has a use for the gently used bras you’ll no longer need. And if you feel like buying a bra to donate to this cause, great.

I’ve written about Rebecca before. I met her seven years ago when she was living with her twin 1-year-old boys at St. Margaret’s, a Spokane shelter for homeless women and children. She’d hit a chaotic patch in her life that belied her middle-class upbringing and natural smarts. Poor health, addiction and a bad relationship culminated in temporary homelessness. She was on the way back up when we met, and her success since has never surprised me.

She’s now a small-business owner who gives back to the community in many ways. The bra project is just her latest idea. In her chaos days, she visited Our Sister’s Closet. She received a hair dryer, a black dress, black pants and some nice shoes – clothes she could wear to job interviews.

She got a job at The Reclothery, and bought it from the former owner two years ago. She has maintained an ongoing relationship with Our Sister’s Closet. She donates business clothes that don’t sell at The Reclothery. And she buys from Our Sister’s Closet clothes that have been donated, such as evening gowns, that don’t fit the mission of the clothing bank. She sells these items and donates the money back to the clothing bank.

One day Rebecca was gabbing with Julie Ernest, who runs Our Sister’s Closet. Julie mentioned she planned to write a grant to buy underwear and bras for the clothing bank.

“A grant will take too long,” Rebecca said. “Let’s do a bra drive.”

Rebecca asked in some partners: Audrey’s Boutique, Eve magazine, Vision to Action and the YWCA. They call their collaborative effort “Supporting-R-Sisters.”

An ill-fitting bra – or the lack of a bra – can symbolize the things that get neglected when women suffer. For instance, women in domestic violence situations sometimes flee to safe shelter in the middle of the night. They often can’t go back home for clothes, including bras and underwear. Women who have been in jail or work release – or in drug treatment – will often gain weight. Their bra sizes change, but they can’t afford to get fitted and buy bras that reflect the change. That’s why bigger-size bras are especially needed.

A good-fitting bra might seem a minor way to fight poverty in our community. But Rebecca recognized a need that others might never have noticed. Then she set about to fill that need. It seems a simple thing, but if the right bra and the right clothes lead to the right attitude during a job interview, and the woman gets the job, then the journey out of poverty can commence.

I apologize for ending this column with such a cliché, but it expresses the appreciation I feel when good people try to make our community better. So bravo, Rebecca, bravo.