CINDY, INCIDENTALLY:

Tamika Bonner, 29, is a personal shopper.

She spends her days putting together the perfect outfit for people. One that won’t mute their personality, an outfit that will bump up their confidence and maybe — on a good day — she might just show them a side to their fashion sense that they never knew about.

Unlike her personal shopping peers at Newport Fashion Island, Bonner works in an unassuming industrial business park at a shop called Working Wardrobes.

The Orange County nonprofit has five locations, including one fairly massive shop in Fountain Valley on Marten’s River Circle.

I found myself here one afternoon, after a friend of mine handed me a brand new men’s suit and asked me to drop it off at a place where they use gently worn clothing to help the unemployed.

After reading about the organization, I rustled up the suit and bagged a few of my own donations and headed to Working Wardrobes for insight on what makes a smart outfit for job hunting during these economic hard times.

Working Wardrobes is an independent nonprofit organization that has been around for more than 16 years. It helps men and women reentering the workforce and who may need a new wardrobe, career development, makeup lesson or help from a personal shopper (volunteer) like Bonner.

“We get everybody,” she says over her shoulder as she walked me through the shop.

“Veterans, students who need work, women who have never worked a day in their life but have been left and have no skills, people who have been laid off and people who are just having hard times.”

But I had to ask, “Does it really matter what you wear?”

She quickly answered with a shake of her head, “Yes, yes it does make a difference… you know what they say ‘the first impression is the best impression.’ ”

As she walked me through Working Wardrobes, Bonner explained how the shop works in partnership with, just to name a few, the Employment Development Department, Orange County Rescue Mission and Arbor (education and training group). The groups send clients over who need clothes or career development training, and volunteers at the shop pick out clothes with them and talk to them about putting outfits together.

Bonner said she helps people pick out a suit, a couple of shirts, a pair of shoes and a few other items — wallets, purses, jewelry that allows people to have two to three different outfits for $25 to $50.

Working Wardrobes is a pretty great organization and one that is ideal for those who may want to volunteer some time as they expand.

The organization has a new resale shop (where it sells high-end clothing to the public) that’s opening in Laguna Nigel. Working Wardrobes is also setting up an eBay shop and is always looking for new personal shoppers.

Bonner, who has the uncanny ability to turn a purple suit circa 1995 into something chic and professional, summed up her role as a volunteer.

“I’m here to help you get on with your life.”

CINDY ARORA is a freelance writer for the Independent.