This boutique helps Montreal women feel more confident and independent
CBC
This story is a collaboration between Concordia University's journalism department and CBC Montreal.
As Dounia Belalia slips her arms through the sleeves of her yellow blazer, her memory flashes back to a turning point in her life.
She first walked through the small boutique doors of Dress for Success on St-Denis Street in June 2021.
She had freshly graduated from studying to become an administrative assistant when she received an email from the organization, inviting her to a suiting session.
Her first appointment left a lasting impact.
"I felt full of gratitude and I felt beautiful, something that does not happen often," says Belalia, 32.
A volunteer handed her clothes she would never have imagined wearing — including the yellow blazer.
Under the boutique's warm ceiling light, Belalia's reflection made her shed a tear.
"I felt like I was looking at another woman in the mirror," she says. "I was ready to welcome this new woman."
Belalia returned home that night with a new-found motivation to reconnect with a part of herself she once felt was lost.
Embracing her priorities as a mother made it hard to focus on her own own self care. By "neglecting myself," Belalia says her sense of confidence began to fade.
The yellow blazer that she proudly wears today reminds her of how far she's come and how much further she is driven to go.
Watch | Dress for Success helps women regain their confidence:
Since 2014, Dress for Success has been empowering women to achieve financial independence by providing them with the development tools, training and professional apparel to help them thrive on their career paths.
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