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Haberdasher
dresses Detroit
teens for success.
FREE Home Buyers Seminar Every Wednesday, 6-7:30pm
Shari S. Cohen
Contributing Writer
-ÊÊnnäÈÓx
33200 Woodward Avenue | Birmingham
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3270 WARDS POINT DRIVE
MON THRU FRIDAY 9:00am - 3:00pm
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Classes begin June 20th and continue
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email: pycjrs@gmail.com
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24 June 23 • 2016
Project
Pinstripe
Student Chris Triplett gets measured for a
suit by Rob Wachler of Project Pinstripe.
ob Wachler dresses his cus-
tomers for success with cus-
tom suits made of beautiful
materials and well-coordinated shirts
and ties. But once a year, instead of suc-
cessful business people, his clients are
graduating seniors from Detroit-area
high schools — teenagers who need a
suit for their graduation, prom or a job
interview.
Wachler, 62, a haberdasher for many
years with the Tom James Company, a
high-end national custom suit maker,
arranges donations of gently used
suits, shirts and ties from his affluent
clients and others. The clothing is given
to high school seniors, mainly from
Detroit — boys who are referred by
high school counselors for Wachler’s
annual Project Pinstripe program.
In March at YouthVille Detroit, a
Detroit youth center, a group of 64
young men were measured and then
guided to a rack with suits in their size.
They each chose a suit, shirt and two
ties — all with the help of adult vol-
unteers, many Tom James employees.
Then each teen was fitted for his suit,
often with Wachler pinning them while
dictating notes to a volunteer. Over the
next few months, the suits were profes-
sionally altered, cleaned at no charge
by Huntington Cleaners, and delivered
with the shirts and ties to 12 high
schools.
Clothes are only one step of Project
Pinstripe.
“We want to encourage confidence
and self-esteem with tools for making
a positive impression,” Wachler says. To
accomplish that, the annual program
includes motivational speakers, etiquette
tips, mock job interviews and informa-
tion about effective use of the internet.
Project Pinstripe was started by a Tom
James corporate executive and held in
multiple cities, including Detroit, for
a number of years. Wachler was very
devoted to the program, and after the
company ended its participation, he
kept it going here on his own, contacting
Detroit high school counselors and men-
toring groups to invite participants.
While pre-registration is requested,
Wachler never says no to anyone. Many
have financial need and this may be their
first suit.
Fortunately, his clients and friends are
generous. This year, Wachler had 500
gently used suits so he needed ware-
house space.
One of his clients, Frank O’Mara,
owner of O’Mara’s Restaurant in Berkley,
donates hot lunches for Project Pinstripe.
O’Mara is a member of the Detroit A.M.
Rotary Club, a service organization, and
this Rotary chapter provides volunteers
for Project Pinstripe. Other partners
are Detroit nonprofits Don Bosco Hall,
Franklin-Wright Settlements and Alpha
Phi Alpha, an African American frater-
nity. This year, they were joined by eight
young volunteers from City Year Detroit.
Josh Breshgold, 28, of West
Bloomfield, a former intern of Wachler’s,
has volunteered at Project Pinstripe for
eight years. “I try to interact one on one
with the students, help them select a suit
and take measurements,” he explains.
Wachler’s daughter Amy, a 28-year-
old event planner who lives in Boston,
helped with logistics, along with his
wife, Judy, an educator. Last year, he and
his family started a scholarship fund
to award $1,000 annually to a Project
Pinstripe participant recommended by
counselors and principals.
“I am so proud of what he is doing. I
am so pleased at how inspired the young
men get from those who have come in
previous years and now have jobs and
are in college,” said Barbara Wachler of
Southfield, Rob Wachler’s mother.
At the end of the program, the teens’
evaluations of Project Pinstripe were
overwhelmingly favorable, Wachler said.
They left with some useful handouts
about making a favorable impression
through good clothing and grooming
choices, as well as real-life insight into
the business world, and the promise of a
well-fitted suit ready for prom, gradua-
tion and job interviews.
*