Dress For Success celebrates

Dress for Success Hamilton's 10-year anniversary gala ball will be a huge celebration, say organisers.

The organisation's journey and its many success stories will be celebrated on November 17 with the ball and dinner at The Meteor theatre, says executive manager K-M Adams.

Hamilton News joined K-M and founding member Margaret Fraser last week as they discussed where the organisation began and how it's grown during the past decade.

Margaret said if she knew how much work there would be establishing the organisation she might never have got involved. "It took longer than the gestation of an elephant," she says.

She says the set-up involved bringing "lots of strands together", including arranging donations of clothing, obtaining racks, premises, referrals of women, buy-in from referrers such as Work and Income and community groups and, of course, funding.

"You'd get one part of it organised and something else would fall through."

While the organisation has grown exponentially and is now "more structured", what hasn't changed is its purpose.

Its aim is to promote the economic independence of disadvantage women by providing them with work-appropriate clothing, career development tools and support them to thrive in work and in life.

But K-M says it's more than fitting women out for new clothes. "We try to make everyone feel special when they come in. These women are taking care of other people - children, family members - and they don't often take time for themselves."

Margaret is proud to see DFS Hamilton continuing to "change lives". She says the stories she's heard along the way about women's journeys are heart-warming and inspiring. "You realise there are people who are struggling.

"We're not just providing clothes - we're providing an ear too."

A table for 10 at the gala ball costs $1300 and includes a three-course meal and open bar, guest speaker Tina Cross and plenty of entertainment. Tickets from Ticketek.