New Image toasts 20th with fashion show

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Twenty years ago, Working Image staged its first fashion show of donated clothes, to show outfits were available to women in need, if they were on the hunt for employment.

This year, the organization celebrates the 20th anniversary of its founding and that fashion show in 1999, with a new fashion show designed to display the range of its in-store attire beyond work clothes. It will feature one model who is now a career woman thanks, in part, to clothes provided by the fledgling charity.

As the organization has aged, it has broadened its definition of necessary clothes for working women.

“Part of it is that nobody knows how specifically to define ‘work clothes’ anymore,” said Martha Olbrych, a member of the re-named New Image’s all-volunteer crew. “We’ll have eight models wearing 16 outfits donated to our boutique to represent the diversity of what we have in stock, from clothing for grocery shopping, raising kids and attending school, to outfits for girls’ nights out and date nights. We even have scrubs and maternity clothes.”

There’s been a hiatus in the annual fashion show these past few years, and Olbrych noted that the organization has focused on its own reorganization during that time, from expanding its line to cover women’s non-work-related clothing needs, to restructuring its operations to run on an all-volunteer staff, as it shifted from Working Image to New Image.

And while Olbrych can’t recall the attendance numbers of the previous fashion shows, she aims to draw at least 250 attendees to the Oct. 11 show, taking place 4-7 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Port Townsend, with the Key City Jazz Trio providing live music, and hors d’oeuvres to complement the cash bar.

“All the volunteers will be wearing black to toast our 20 years,” Olbrych said.

The mission endures. “We receive referrals through charity agencies, churches and even word-of-mouth, and we evaluate them on a case-by-case basis, but if a woman comes in who needs clothes, we don’t turn her away. From divorce to illness to losing your job, there are all sorts of reasons why women might need new clothes and be struggling to get them, which is where the generosity of our community comes in.”

Olbrych would welcome more referrals, as well as more money to cover administrative and clerical expenses, ranging from paperwork supplies to phone and internet connections.

For Christie Apker, this year’s fashion show represents a chance to take stock of her progress.

Apker modeled in one of the first fashion shows of New Image (then Working Image) back when she was a client.

“I was 21 years old, a single mother raising two kids,” Apker said. “I was reentering the workforce, and I needed outfits for job interviews.”

Apker credited the two founders of New Image, Ruth Merryman and Ann Schneider, with providing not only working attire, but also mentorship and moral support.

Since then, Apker has worked for the state Department of Corrections for 15 years as a community corrections officer, raised her two children to adulthood, built her own home and deployed to Iraq twice as part of the Army National Guard.

“I’ve also fought wildland fires for the state, and I’m currently on the local search and rescue team,” Apker said. “And New Image absolutely opened those doors. Without them, I would not be where I am or who I am. They’re all about women helping women.”

You can purchase $25 tickets to New Image’s “Toast to 20” fashion show, and visit their store in the Mountain View complex at 1925 Blaine St. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

New Image serves more than 100 clients a year at that location.

For more information, visit newimagept.org.