We all have clothing tucked away in our closets and dressers that we no longer need and could better serve someone else. Professional attire is costly, and not everyone has the money to dress to impress, which creates hurdles when they need to make a good impression, like attending job interviews. Dressing nicely or professionally can also help improve your mood and make you feel more confident. Find out how you can donate your old professional attire to help someone in need.
Sort Through Your Closet
You’ll first need to look through your closet to determine what items you can part with to help someone else. Next, create an organized pile of suits, dress shoes, and other work attire you no longer wear; this clothing may be too small or no longer fit your style. Although some of the apparel may have been expensive, you don’t need it if it no longer fits. Fortunately, these items will serve someone else and make them look and feel fantastic, just like it did for you. Pass that joy on!
Evaluate the Condition of Items
Once you’ve set all your professional attire into a pile, closely examine each item. Are there holes or stains on it? Remember only to donate gently used belongings, so donating isn’t the best option if the item appears timeworn or damaged. Instead, you should repurpose these items or seek out a service that recycles material. Many companies that do this can make new clothing out of something old.
Create three piles: items with holes or tears, items with stains, and gently worn attire. Most charities advise you to recycle or throw away any outfits with a lot of visible wear.
Place items with small stains into another pile so you can try removing the stains to make them donatable. If you can remove stains from clothing, add them to donation pile. However, if you cannot get rid of those stains, place the attire into the pile unfit to donate.
Organize Your Donatable Belongings
Now that you have a mountain of donatable clothing, it’s time to organize it! If you have any suit sets, keep them together. Create piles for:
- Professional jackets
- Dress pants or skirts
- Dress shirts or blouses
- Ties
- Belts
You’ll want to keep any sets together by placing them into their own bags. This allows you to give everything one more look over to ensure it’s okay to donate.
Donating Shoes and Accessories
You should also set aside space for shoes, accessories, and handbags as you organize your items. Totes and briefcases are great items to donate, and individuals can use these to carry their laptops and important paperwork they may need.
Charities also accept gently used shoes. Evaluate the dress shoes you no longer wear and check for scuffs, tearing, and frayed laces. Tie each pair together with a piece of string. This prevents sets of shoes from separating once the charity sorts through items.
Preparing Items for Donation
Now that you’ve decided what you’ll give away, the next step to donating your suits and professional attire is preparing the clothing. Although it may seem odd, you should clean some of the apparel before donating so that it appears as good as new to the recipient! If you’re unsure about which items to wash, give it the smell test. Anything with an odor, even slight, will need a good washing.
Seek Out Donation Services
Now that your clothing is clean and ready to donate, it’s time to find a donation service. Note that you can do this before picking out items to give away. If you don’t know of a charity in your area, ask neighbors, look online for “charities near me,” or type in the name of your town or city before the word “charities.”
Some donation services, like homeless shelters, often give the clothing directly to individuals, while others partner with non-profits. Neither one of these options is better than the other. Charities giving straight to the individual and services donating money tremendously impact those in need of assistance. Services that resell items help in two ways—they sell that clothing at a discounted rate, making it more affordable, and donate money to charity.
Donate to Project B Green
Project B Green is a donation center operating in Northern Virginia, the District of Colombia, and Maryland. You can drop off your professional attire or schedule a pickup with us! We resell donated items for profit after rewarding nonprofits with value from the donation.
We also recycle old items. So, place any clothing that’s too worn to wear into a separate bag and label it “recycle.” By getting rid of all clothing the right way, you help make our world a greener place for everyone!
Reasons To Donate
There are so many reasons to donate. If something no longer serves you, there’s no reason to keep it if it can help someone else. Helping those in need is a great way to build generosity, no matter your age. Plus, when you get rid of old belongings, you have room for something new that you’ll love even more!
Professional attire is expensive, and unfortunately, everyone cannot afford it. This can make job interviews more stressful or lead to lower confidence.
Let’s face it, we all have that one piece of clothing that never fails to make us feel incredible! It’s our go-to attire when we’ve torn everything out of the closet in search of the perfect thing to wear. Make your old suits and professional attire someone else’s go-to outfit.
You Help Our Environment
Throwing away perfectly good attire is wasteful and bad for the environment. By donating and shopping for used clothing, there’s less need for manufactures to make new items. Don’t let those gently worn items end up in a landfill when it can serve someone else.
Helping Others Feels Great
Knowing you’re aiding others in your community feels amazing. Your donation makes a difference and helps these fantastic charities and donation services continue their mission. Go through your wardrobe to pick out some professional attire you can part with to help make a difference in someone else’s life.
