Looking for a designer wardrobe without the over the top price tag?The Centre Against Abuse has recently partnered with Cell One to open a thrift boutique with the aim of providing people with just that.Dress for Success on Old Military Road, St George’s, is hoping to offer high quality work attire and formal wear at low prices. The thrift boutique will open its doors for the first time on Saturday.The centre is also planning to use the chic new space to advance its mission of educating and raising public awareness of its programmes.“Some clients come to us [after leaving a violent situation] and they don’t have anything but the clothes on their backs,” Laurie Shiell, the centre’s executive director, said. “They don’t have any appropriate clothing to search for jobs — and that is both the males and the females.“By opening the boutique, it’s a way for us to also generate income and generate awareness of our services because we are going to have a couch where you can come and sit and relax and even have baked goods.“We want to make it so that you can come and relax, browse what we have in store and we can pass on information about something you can do. [Likely] if abuse isn’t something that has happened to you, you know someone who has [been in a domestic violence situation].“We just want to educate the public on what they can do to assist that individual because [statistics show] the victim will come to a friend or family member before they come to us.”Over the past three months local business workers have been generous in giving new or lightly used clothes to get the thrift boutique up and running.It has everything from blazers to formal evening gowns, some items are even named brand.Ties will sell for around $2 or $3; designer shoes from Banana Republic and Emilio Pucci will cost between $10 and $20; while high quality men’s suits will go for $50.The idea for the thrift boutique came from the centre’s programme director Rosana Vickers.She was at a job fair at the Hamilton Princess last year when she noticed scores of people coming in dressed in “inappropriate attire”.“I though maybe because of the economic climate they couldn’t afford to go out and purchase so I thought of my office space in St George’s and said, ‘Maybe we could turn it into a second hand shop’.”As fate would have it lead sponsors Cell One were also looking for a worthy project to back.Over the past two weeks the company’s 45 employees have been hard at work, painting, designing and organising to get the boutique in top shape for its opening.“We have been debating for quite a long time at the company how we could mobilise the staff around a single project to get them out and to give back to the community,” Frank Amaral, the Cell One CEO, said.“Then this project came up thanks to a lot of research by [our human resources team] Rachael Rance and Julia Gibson.“The Centre Against Abuse do a vital job in the community and we also think there may be an opportunity to continue to assist them as this continues to run.”The Centre Against Abuse’s vision is to end domestic abuse in Bermuda. It offers a safe shelter, anger management support and a 24 hour hotline; they also work with the victim, abuser and the witness to provide counselling and support.The centre is looking to offer seminars at the thrift boutique — perhaps once every three months — tackling a range of issues from dressing properly for the office and resume writing to improving self esteem.Dress for Success was made possible thanks to donations from AS Coopers, Gibbons Company, Pembroke Paint, Sousa Carpets, English Sports Shop, Signworx, Island Electrical Maintenance, Mambo, Baptiste, BR&CT Trucking, Glenn Douglas and Ed Ball.The store will officially open its doors to the public on June 23 at noon. It will be open on Mondays and Saturdays from 10am until 3pm.If you are interested in volunteering or donating clothing items e-mail info@centreagainstabuse.bm or phone 292-4366.