The Business Attire Pop-Up Shop, founded in Spring 2017, is a passion project by the LAS college directors of Multicultural Student Success. It is designed to help students and alumni find cost-free professional attire.
Starting as a once-a-semester pop-up event, the Pop-Up Shop has now opened up a permanent location named the “Closet” in room 2255 of the Multicultural Center on the second floor of the Memorial Union. This space has an accessible entrance and a universal changing table down the hall.
“Part of being able to go to a career fair where you’re already nervous is to be able to put your best foot forward,” Carmen Flagge, current senior director of multicultural student success and founder of the Pop-Up Shop, said. “That has a lot to do with what you have on. If you see all the clothing that you have [that] you really shouldn’t wear to a career fair, then you don’t attend.”
Flagge emphasized the importance of having professional attire for career fairs, as students will likely feel more comfortable and confident wearing dress clothes.
Holly Clemons founded the Closet as a graduate student. After her graduation, she returned to Iowa State to serve as its advisor and also took on the position of program specialist in the student services department of the College of Health and Human Sciences.
The Closet is a student-run organization on campus that allows students to visit twice a week and take five items per day. It stays stocked with professional attire, ranging from suits and dresses to jewelry and shoes. This service is open to all Iowa State students and alumni who have graduated within the last two years.
“I think it’s really important to involve students in resources that are designed for students,” Clemons said. “Students know themselves best. If we’re doing something wrong, or if we’re missing the mark somewhere, I thought it was really important that we make sure that students were able to call us out and to make those appropriate changes.”
The Business Attire Pop-Up Shop will still be held once a semester for two days a week before the first career fair of the season. Clemons said that students would often contact the Pop-Up Shop in between events, asking for professional attire for interviews, internships and presentations. Because of this, she was driven to start the Closet as a year-wide access point for free professional attire.
According to the ISU Pop-Up Shop website, Prince Tut, a junior studying mechanical engineering (at the time of his interview), utilized the Pop-Up Shop on many occasions.
“The access to free business attire, that’s great,” Tut said in his testimonial. “It’s helped me [a lot] in these past few years. It’s helped me keep a budget to make sure I don’t have to spend any extra money on the outside on business attire because we know it is not cheap.”
The Closet and Pop-Up Shop also prides itself on its “no questions asked” policy.
“We always say ‘all students, all majors, no questions asked,’” Flagge said. “It’s really important for students to know… we’re not trying to judge. We’re just trying to make sure that you have everything that you need.”
In order to provide students and alumni with a full range of sizes and styles, the Pop-Up Shop and Closet must collaborate with outside sources for donations. The Loft and Overflow thrift stores both contribute to the Pop-Up Shop by donating clothes that have sat on their shelves for too long.
Clemons and Flagge both emphasized the importance of having supporters to help this dream come to fruition. They wanted to personally thank the following people and organizations for their help and support during their journey: Student Government, The Loft, Overflow, Jordan Brooks, Carah Mabry, Brady Talley, Jarael Madyun, LeQuetia Ancar, Der Vang, Arnold Woods, Monica Howard, Amy Shane-Nichols, PhD., Sara Mejia, Merry Rankin, Gracie Smith, Beverly Lehmann, Bekah Nalker, Josie Olderog and Lanie Smith.
Currently, the Closet is only open on an appointment basis. To make an appointment with the closet, email [email protected].
To donate to the Pop-Up Shop or Closet, visit 131 MacKay Hall from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
To join the Closet, email Holly Clemons at [email protected]. To learn more about the Closet, visit this link. To learn more about the Pop-Up Shop, visit this link.
