One suit at a time,

Helping women toward employment and independence

By Kristen Forbes

The Lake Oswego Review, Oct 16, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

KRISTEN FORBES / Lake Oswego Review

Barb Attridge, Lake Oswego, helped start Dress for Success 10 years ago. Now she has a Nancy Lublin Founders Award by her side and a 10,000th client on the horizon.

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More than a decade ago, Lake Oswego’s Barb Attridge, a former CPA, longed for a career change.

“I was looking for something more meaningful,” she explains.

A friend of her’s, Karen Fishel, was also seeking a change. When Fishel read an article in “People Magazine” about Nancy Lublin, founder of Dress for Success, she shared the story with Attridge.

“When we saw that article, I instantly knew that’s what I wanted to do here in Portland,” says Attridge, now the executive director of Dress for Success Oregon.

Dress for Success is an international nonprofit organization that provides donated business attire to disadvantaged women seeking employment. Women who are referred to the organization are provided with professional suits and accessories to wear on job interviews. Dress for Success provides additional business attire, as well as a support network and career development tools, to women who then become employed.

The two friends called Lublin and let her know they wanted to start a Dress for Success affiliate in Portland. After researching to make sure there wasn’t already a similar organization in the area, the duo co-founded Dress for Success Oregon, which got off the ground in July of 1998 and opened its doors to the public in February of 1999.

“It just took off immediately,” Attridge recalls. “When I look back, it’s like everything just fell into place.”

They started the organization in Northwest Portland in a small space with 900 square feet to work with. Clothing donations flooded in and they helped 400 women in the first year. Attridge says some women even mailed in donations to the organization from throughout Oregon.

From her years as a CPA, Attridge had the skills necessary to run a business. Beyond that, she had a passion for fashion. Fischel’s marketing and sales background, as well as her experience on boards for other nonprofit groups, proved very useful.

“We really had the perfect blend of skills,” Attridge says. “We had no idea what we were getting into; it was pure passion, just wanting to help women with a simple mission that can make such a difference in their lives.”

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