Matt Tenaglio and Isabella Anderson are first-year law students at WVU, so they’re already working the marketing, in fine fashion.
“We’re gonna have to wear something different every day,” Tenaglio said, with an arch of his eyebrow.
“Or,” Anderson offered, with an insider grin, “we could make it look like we’re wearing something different every day.”
Tenaglio, of Weirton, and Anderson, who hails from Thousand Oaks, Calif., are readying for some serious job interviewing in the weeks ahead.
That’s what first-year law students do, as they line up those summer jobs at the big firms and scrappy nonprofits.
About 400 of their fellow students at WVU had the same idea Sunday night, as they queued up at the entrance to J.C. Penney for a fashion savings event called Suit Up, which is exactly what it says it is.
Students came out to the Morgantown Mall store for substantial discounts on suits, dresses, shoes, neckties — all the accessories they need when it’s time to make a serious first impression during the serious job interview.
J.C. Penney does such events at more than 200 colleges and universities across the country.
Morgantown’s event was the third such collaboration between the local store and WVU Career Services.
Staffers from both were on hand for fittings and fashion advice.
Store manager Steve St. Clair said the Morgantown Penney’s was bursting as the seams this fall as some 500 Mountaineers lined up for a collec-tive makeover.
“Some things really don’t go out of style,” he said. “That classic look with take you far.”
“You always want to go with what stands the test of time,” said David Durham, the director of WVU Career Services.
It looked as though the students bustling past were agreeing in fine fashion.
One coed cradled a black suit as as she considered a pair of just-right heels.
Another was about maximizing neckties to dress shirts, as he chronicled his choices to a female companion.
“Look at this,” he said. “This one tie is gonna go with, like, three shirts.”
Joseph Hobba was arming himself for battle. The Charleston native graduates this spring with a master’s in finance. And he’s already got interviews going.
He was buying a couple of white dress shirts and a blue suit.
“I’ve already got a black suit,” he said. “I can go back-and-forth. And I’ve got a nice pair of brown shoes for the blue suit. You can do that, right?”
