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The Wardrobe has grown to help many populations, including those in the LGBTQIA+ community and veterans (Photo courtesy of The Wardrobe) <\/p>\nThe Wardrobe is on a mission to eliminate clothing insecurity in and around Philly. For the organization\u2019s program director, Mars Sharrock, this means providing a unique avenue for high-quality clothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cClothing makes a difference for folks in different ways,\u201d they said. \u201cSo we talk about clothing insecurity, which is basically not having the right thing to wear or not having anything to wear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Sadiyyah Young, discovering The Wardrobe almost 30 years ago helped her land a job. She said she was shocked when she discovered the resources the store offered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBack when I started attending, no one really knew that you could go get nice, quality interview clothing and you could get it for free,\u201d she said. \u201cI was floored. I thought, \u2018Are you really gonna give me these nice, name-brand clothes that will help me put my best foot forward to go to a job interview for free?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Young returned to the Wardrobe several years later as a volunteer and has been helping with the organization ever since. She said the nurturing environment the organization creates motivated her to return.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t like they just gave me the clothes and I just walked out of there,\u201d she said. \u201cThey gave me the clothes, and they gave me a sense of security, and a sense of \u2018I\u2019m here for you.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Wardrobe has grown to help many populations, including those in the LGBTQIA+ community and veterans (Photo courtesy of The Wardrobe) <\/p>\n
\u201cRelationships beyond clothes\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Young is not alone. While the Wardrobe was started as a way to aid women returning to work, it has evolved into much more, Sharrock said. It is now helping groups like transgender and nonbinary customers, veterans, youth, job seekers and others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a practice to invite people in,\u201d they said. \u201cThere are folks who maybe weren\u2019t sure if The Wardrobe was for them and maybe weren\u2019t sure if they were going to be welcomed here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find it\u2019s really a good strategy to point directly at people and say, \u2018You, specifically, are welcome here. You belong here. We want you here.\u2019 And so that\u2019s the goal of these events, to point directly at different people and say, \u2018We want you here.\u2019 \u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sharrock said the organization is equipped to serve many niches.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went from sort of business-ready-only and business suits to any sort of clothing that you could think of,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we have scrubs, we have casual things, we have pajamas, we have underwear, we have all that stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Beyond clothing, the organization offers a variety of support services (Photo courtesy of The Wardrobe) <\/p>\n
In addition to the clothing that is always available in stores, the Wardrobe aims to provide a \u201cvariety of support services at events,\u201d such as tables from the William Way LGBTQ Community Center or Mazzoni Center at LGBTQ events.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the organizations assisted with these resources is Hopeworks Kensington, which works to set up young professionals for high-paying careers through technical training and resources, said Onna Jones, Hopeworks\u2019 site director.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith The Wardrobe, it feels personal,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s the personal touch of, \u2018you see me as a person, you see who I\u2019m trying to be, and you\u2019re helping me envision that and embody that through what I\u2019m wearing.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jones said The Wardrobe helps her program participants feel empowered and confident in their job search.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can feel very uncomfortable to be in a suit or slacks or to have a sports coat on or fitted in a tailored dress when you come from a community that has told you that maybe you don\u2019t deserve a seat at the table or you aren\u2019t professional because of your environment,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what originally started as a partnership to help boost the confidence of our young professionals by giving them the confidence to dress has morphed into such a huge collaboration to the mission and vision of Hopeworks itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones said The Wardrobe\u2019s relationship to its community partners is helpful and specialized.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur relationship is beyond clothes,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re supporting our young professionals who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and helping them identify with clothes that feel fitting for them. They\u2019re helping them change their names and doing legal name-changing clinics with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re helping some of our returning citizens who are really trying to come back into the community on a fresh start \u2026 it really is setting the tone for what their opportunity of rehabilitating themselves and their communities looks like.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For people like Young, The Wardrobe extended into career choices. She now runs a life-coaching business \u2013 which she said was inspired by the job training and life skills The Wardrobe taught her while she was in the job search.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said the organization is unique \u2013 as it continues to offer clothes, in combination with supportive resources, to storegoers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t just fit them with clothing, we fit them with confidence,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Far-reaching impact<\/p>\n
The organization is the largest of its kind in Pennsylvania, Sharrock said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of our programs have really dignified and respectful services, because all of our objects are priced to sell,\u201d they said. \u201cSo we wouldn\u2019t put anything on the floor that we wouldn\u2019t sell to someone. We are sure that all of the clothing that people who are coming for free things receive is good quality, is unstained, and doesn\u2019t have smells or anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The store has expanded to multiple locations for a further reach (Photo courtesy of The Wardrobe) <\/p>\n
The Wardrobe has free clothes available to anyone who is referred there through its network of partners. For those who are able to pay, he said, the money is used to support further programming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe provide free clothing to anyone who needs it, and for those who can\u2019t afford to pay for the clothing,\u201d he said. \u201cThey can also come to any of our locations and shop, and all of the money that we make in our thrift endeavors also goes back into our programming to help support the free clothing program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donation types can vary, Sharrock said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vast majority of our clothing comes from individual donors,\u201d he said. \u201cIt comes from individuals who are cleaning out their closets.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said corporations will also do clothing drives or offer donations. Overall, Sharrock said there is a need for unique clothing types.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always need menswear,\u201d they said. \u201cWe always need varying sizes. We always need plus-size womenswear, and extra small menswear and womenswear.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Philly-Menswear.jpg\")
In terms of the donations, The Wardrobe appreciates everything but is most in need of extra small and plus sizes, as well as menswear (Photo courtesy of The Wardrobe) <\/p>\n
Shookar explained that clothing is not always thought of as a \u201cnecessity.\u201d He hopes The Wardrobe\u2019s programming and style can rebuke this.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think about clothing as a basic need, and it\u2019s in the hierarchy of needs,\u201d he said. \u201cYou need food, clothing and shelter. And we have organizations that cover the shelter, we have organizations that cover the food, and now we are the organization that covers clothing. So we want to be in that conversation as much as possible, not canceling any of the other needs out, but being included.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Young emphasized that she has been able to touch many lives through her volunteering with The Wardrobe. She said none of it would\u2019ve been possible without the initial, welcoming environment from the store.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gave me the confidence that I needed to walk out those doors with the right wardrobe and with the right clothing lineup to go into a corporate interview and give it my all,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Donations are welcome at any of the Wardrobe\u2019s locations from Monday to Saturday, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wardrobe is on a mission to eliminate clothing insecurity in and around Philly. For the organization\u2019s program…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4877,60,21632,94,2594,69,71,70,21633,21634],"class_list":["post-34678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-arts","tag-business","tag-careers","tag-history","tag-jobs","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-stores","tag-the-wardrobe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}