Helping Tigers Dress the Part: LSU’s Tailored Tiger Professional Clothing Closet Supports Student Success
May 02, 2025
Helping Tigers prepare for their future careers is a key mission of LSU and the LSU Olinde Career Center. The Tailored Tiger Professional Clothing Closet plays an important role in that effort, empowering students to feel confident and career-ready as they step into interviews, internships, and professional opportunities.
“Our mission is to help students build their professional wardrobe and confidence by offering every student access to free professional clothing,” said Megan Elliott-Smith Rainwater, Operations Manager for the LSU Olinde Career Center.
Liv Tees has seen how the program can make a huge difference for students. As lead student employee, she helps her fellow Tigers find and style the clothing.
“I see many of the students’ faces absolutely light up when they first walk in and learn they can keep the clothes they pick out,” Tees said. “Sometimes students come in with an exact idea of what they need, in which case I can pull pieces that I know will go with their vibe. Other times, students will come in not knowing what makes an outfit business professional.
Then I get to guide them in what to look for, how to pick out items that are neutral colors or super versatile, so that they can use them for a long time.”
An LSU student tries on clothing at the Tailored Tiger Professional Clothing Closet.
But students aren’t limited to just one visit. They can return each semester they’re enrolled at LSU. The closet is open to all students regardless of financial status, and they can schedule 45-minute shopping appointments to select up to four items of clothing per semester to keep.
“Often, students don’t realize they get to keep the clothes once they pick them out. They usually ask for the return date, and I get the privilege to tell them it’s theirs to keep forever – that’s my favorite part,” Tees said.
The closet, which opened in September 2024, has served 347 students as of April 2025. In that time, more than 1,000 items of clothing have been given out. Tees recalled working with a first-year LSU veterinarian medicine student who moved to LSU from another country and didn’t bring any professional clothing with her.
“She was preparing for an interview, and when she came to try on clothing, she explained her predicament and was so incredibly happy when she found out she could keep the clothes,” Tees said. “She was hoping to get a fellowship and didn’t feel super confident since all she had were scrubs and casual clothing.”
The Vet Med student said seeing herself more formally dressed gave her the confidence to believe in herself more.
Rainwater said most clothing donations come from LSU alumni and retiring professionals, “but anyone in the community can donate their gently used business clothing to our office in the Student Union.”
Tailored Tiger student staff members sort the donations, tag the clothing with sizes, restock the closet, and store additional clothing for future restocking.
“We do small repairs on items, such as sewing on missing buttons or removing small stains. Any item that doesn't fit our current need but is still in good condition is picked up by Purple Cow thrift store,” Rainwater said.
In addition, the Ashley Grant Career Closet Fund assists with buying supplies for the closet, like hangers and bags, as well as filling any clothing size gaps.
“One of our biggest challenges is scaling our services. We currently operate by appointment, so students will have the closet to themselves for 45 minutes to shop, but that has led to students having to wait a month to get into the closet,” Rainwater said.
This semester, they implemented Tailored Tiger Express, a drop-in appointment that does not require scheduling. Multiple students can shop simultaneously, making it easier for students looking for one of two items to add to their wardrobes.
Rainwater hopes the closet can help students find what they need to be successful.
“Any student who may be hesitant should reach out to us and let us know what would make them feel comfortable,” she said. “We have had students ask ahead of time about size ranges we carry or if they can bring a friend—the answer is yes—and we will always work to make our students feel welcome.
If, at any point, a student needs to access the Tailored Tiger but can't schedule an appointment, they can always contact us at career@lsu.edu. We do our best to fit in every student we can.”
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