Dressed for Success

Student-run closet offers essential professional attire, formalwear.

Six out of 10 surveyed Northwestern students report that they’ve had to borrow formalwear or professional attire for interviews or social events. A quarter of those surveyed said they skipped an event because they did not have access to appropriate apparel. To help meet that demand, a group of students launched NU Threads, a closet that rents professional attire and formalwear, including suits and ties, dresses and briefcases.

“If you get to an interview and can’t present yourself properly, if you literally don’t have access to the correct clothing, then you’re not going to feel as comfortable in that situation as you can. It’s already stressful, so why add extra anxiety?” says senior Pooja Mirchandani, CEO and co-founder of NU Threads. “There should be no barriers. We want it to be a resource for students so that the socioeconomic barrier to participation is alleviated.”

The closet, which grew from a fall 2013 Sustained Dialogue conversation about socioeconomic diversity and economic inequality on campus, launched in January after two years of development.

NU Threads, located at the Northwestern Career Advancement headquarters on north campus, has collected donations from NU Club of Chicago alumni as well as parents, faculty and friends. The group is continuing to collect clothing donations of all sizes for both men and women. It was also one of the first four student groups to launch projects on Catalyzer, a Northwestern Alumni Association–sponsored crowdfunding platform.

For more information on NU Threads or to schedule a clothing donation or rental, email threads@u.northwestern.edu.