The LSU Olinde Career Center has officially launched the Tailored Tiger Career Closet, its newest resource to aid both graduate and undergraduate students in their career pursuits by providing professional clothing items at no cost.
The closet opened in early September and has already helped 65 students find professional attire. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Wednesday to celebrate the Tailored Tiger’s introduction and early achievement. LSU Executive Vice President and Provost Roy Haggarty spoke proudly at the ceremony about the closet’s potential for the LSU student body.
“Public Universities are successful only in so much that they benefit the lives of the people that they serve,” Haggarty said. “The success of the university is measured most of all by the success of the students who come to the university with less opportunities and less resources than others. We are really proud to be able to support those students by providing appropriate business attire to them.”
The Tailored Tiger is located on the third floor of the Student Union. Shoppers can leave the career closet with up to four items per semester at zero cost. To shop at the Tailored Tiger, students must book an appointment via handshake. Each appointment lasts for 45 minutes, and student workers are stationed in the closet to provide assistance if desired.
The closet is a product of long-term collaboration between Student Government, Student Affairs and the Olinde Career Center. Former LSU Student Body President Lizzie Shaw made the closet a passion project during her time in office starting 2022.
Through research and hard work, SG drafted a proposal to get Student Sustainability Funds to cover up-front costs of the closet, and the Career Center agreed to provide the physical space. After the funds were provided in March 2023, SG and leaders at the Career Center could focus on the logistics involved with the closet from its construction to its inventory.
Senior Director at the Career Center Jesse Downs said that the endeavor took effort from many individuals focused on student success at LSU, and their hard work is paying off.
“It was awesome to work with SG to finally get this initiative off the ground,” Downs said. “We’ve had a team of people that have been persistent and operating with urgency to make sure this initiative happens. It’s been such an affirming first month because we were able to see that students are using it. It’s helping them. To be able to help them feel confident in their candidacy is a really awesome thing to be a part of.”
Up until its opening, the Tailored Tiger has been an ongoing operation for multiple SG administrations. At the ribbon cutting, current Student Body President Joseph Liberto praised the closet and its future impact on student’s careers.
“A lot of SEC schools have something like this,” Liberto said. “I’m just so thankful that I’m able to be the one that opens it. LSU has a lot of great resources, and this is just one of them. Never again will a student have to worry about dress code. That changes the game for them. I know it might sound drastic, but it could change their career.”
By providing appropriate, professional dress, the Career Closet prepares its customers for interviews, workshops and other career-related activities. This helps eliminate appearance-related obstacles that prevent students from their professional pursuits.
“We know that sometimes there are financial barriers for students to get what they need to kind of feel confident and comfortable in these professional environments,” Downs said. “That’s a barrier to hundreds of opportunities. That’s a barrier to an internship that might be the springboard you need to be competitive for that full-time job you want.”
Megan Rainwater, the Operations Manager at the Career Center, oversees the daily functions of the closet as well as the students who work there. She said that so far, the Tailored Tiger has been running smoothly, but plans for expanding the closet are already being discussed.
Rainwater said partnering with a dry cleaner and tailor who could provide even more resources for students facing professional endeavors could be in the Tailored Tiger’s future. For now, she is happy with how the closet has operated so far.
Rainwater said the Tailored Tiger is using this semester as as building block for expansion. Making students feel comfortable in key interviews with qualifying outfits is really important.
Students don’t just get to take home fresh clothing items. They can also learn some basics of professional dress from how to find the perfect suit to how to color block correctly. Liv Tees, a student worker in the Career Closet, says that the closet is an uplifting space for shoppers.
“The personal connection is very important,” Tees said. “I like to just ask them their major, why they’re looking for clothing, what are their main goals in life. It’s not a free closet atmosphere, it’s very much a shopping experience.”
The Tailored Tiger Career Closet runs on donations of new or gently used professional attire. The Career Center accepts donations from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at its front desk on the first floor of the Student Union. They are requesting items like ties, slacks, dresses, suits and skirts, but they do not accept jeans, polos or purses.
Downs said the Career Closet marks an exciting new chapter in the student services offered at LSU to break barriers to career development and assist students with career preparedness.
“Professional dress and building your confidence is just one little function, one little service offered in the border scope of the career center. The career center is here to support students from the time they are enrolled through graduation in every aspect of career development. The Tailored Tiger is one piece in that big puzzle of offerings to support students in their career journey.”
