Jackson Free Press

Pat Chambliss is the perfect spokeswoman for Dress for Success, the international nonprofit organization whose Jackson chapter she helped to found.

Chambliss, 48, who is wearing a crisp blue business suit during our interview, clearly grasps the potential a suit has to inspire confidence. In fact, this is the mission of Dress for Success, which seeks to provide economically disadvantaged women with new clothes and accessories for job interviews. Chambliss estimates that Dress for Success in Jackson has already provided new suits to 350 women.

"I love the look on a woman's face when she puts on a suit and thinks, 'my goodness, I didn't know I could look this good,'" Chambliss says. "If you don't feel good about what you got on, then you are not going to go into that interview with the confidence that you need to pull this off."

Chambliss is a native of Greenville, Miss., who attended Mississippi State University before settling in Jackson. She first heard of Dress for Success in 2002, after running across a magazine ad that was calling for new affiliates.

She had just endured a bout of cancer that left her struggling for new direction in her life, and she felt that opening a branch of the organization in Jackson would be a good way for her to engage with the world beyond her day job at an insurance company.

With the help of five friends and her pastor, who allowed her to run the office in the administrative building of Pearl Street AME Church, Chambliss created a decorative space housing a dressing room and provides resources for building professional skills.

Because many of the women that come to Dress for Success have recently been incarcerated or living in battered-women's shelters, Chambliss is fervent about keeping up with monthly seminars that help women transition into the work force. She explains that landing a new job can mark the beginning of a whole new life. She points to the women featured in pictures hanging in the main office and explains that one woman, whose name is Tiny, was one of the first women to benefit from Dress from Success.

"If you saw her now, she looks absolutely nothing like that. She's lost weight, and she's totally changed," she says. "To see a suit making a difference in being able to get on a computer and help you gain some skills that you did not have before, that is overwhelming."

For more info about Dress for Success in Jackson or to make a donation, call 601-985-9888.