Milan Style

Students at Fort Hays State University soon will have a new resource to help them dress for success.

Tailored for Tigers, an initiative started by graduate student Felix Albl and Scott Jones, instructor of business education, still is in the planning stages but is now accepting donations of men’s and women’s professional clothing that students will be able to rent for job interviews, presentations or other occasions.

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The need for the professional dress closet became apparent to Albl after he did a survey of presenters at an FHSU career fair. The survey was part of an undergraduate project he worked on to create posters for high schools comparing professional dress and business casual dress.

Originally from Germany, Albl received a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from FHSU last spring. He’s pursuing an MBA with a concentration in marketing and sports management.

“I did an interview at the career fair, and the feedback we got wasn’t the best in terms of how students dressed,” he said.

The fair was in a gymnasium setting, and appointments were not needed, so students might have had a more casual attitude toward the career fair, Albl said.

“But it’s still kind of a concern,” he said.

Students also sometimes need professional clothing for class presentations or events such as an etiquette dinner last semester that gave students a chance to meet with community business leaders and practice networking and dining etiquette.

“We don’t want students missing out on opportunities just because they don’t have clothing in town, or it’s something they can’t afford at this point in their life. That’s the main goal behind all this is to give every student the same opportunity,” Albl said.

A second goal of Tailored for Tigers is to help students learn professional “soft skills,” such as networking, pitching business ideas and social media use.

Albl and Jones plan to work with other campus entities such as Jana’s Closet, Collegiate DECA and Career Services on their initiatives.

“We’re trying to supplement and not duplicate,” Jones said.

Albl said he thinks the educational aspect of the project will differentiate it from similar offerings.

“We’re not the first to bring a professional dress closet to campus, but putting those educational initiatives in, I do think that we are becoming somewhat of a model for other schools that want to bring this to their campus as well,” he said.

Albl and Jones started on the project in November and got a boost when Deborah Ludwig, dean of Forsyth Library, offered space for them to use in December.

The library already offers a space for a food pantry, Ludwig said, and Albl’s enthusiasm for the project was catching. She said her husband already has donated several suits.

“Here’s another need that students have, and we happened to have some space we could give them,” she said.

The basement location originally was where new books were brought into the library and sorted. It most recently was used to store instruments and other equipment while the band room in Malloy Hall was renovated.

Albl said he hopes the “store” in the library will be open for students by March. A small rental fee will cover the cost of cleaning the clothing.

The project is so far proceeding with no budget. Plans are to operate it as a non-profit, but Albl said the project is not yet at the stage where they can secure funding or accept monetary donations.

Clothing donations can be made at a station with a clothing rack near the west entrance of Malloy Hall, and Albl said he would like to work with Big Creek Crossing to have a donation drive. In addition, Couture for Men and Women, 1109 and 1111 Main, offers a 30-percent discount on a new suit if an old suit is brought in to donate to Tailored for Tigers.

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