Women From Shelter Get the Gift of Glamour

It was like being Cinderella for a day.

Early Tuesday morning, Tish Armijo and Cali Lafontaine tiptoed in the side door of Natalie’s Threads, an upscale boutique at Main and Chestnut streets, each clutching a pair of their dress shoes.

The two women are staying at the Turning Point Foundation’s homeless shelter in Ventura, and this was their lucky day. They had arrived to receive a daylong Christmas make-over, arranged by several downtown merchants.

In a whirlwind schedule that stretched from 9 to 5, Armijo and Lafontaine rushed from a fashion shoot in Natalie’s second-floor gallery to a styling and make-over session at the Matisse Hair Salon and back to Natalie’s for a dress fitting. After a glamour shoot with local photographer Chris Jensen, the women waltzed out the door, full shopping bags in hand, for a free dinner at the Barefoot Bistro.

The transformation was miraculous, shop owner Natalie Siman said. And the women were speechless with delight.

By afternoon, the pair had shed their jeans and stood, shimmering, in their silk-and-lace dresses. Both smiling smooth lipstick smiles and flashing mascaraed eyes.

“I feel beautiful,” Lafontaine said, fingering her dress.

Christine Stiteler, another woman from Turning Point who joined the two at midday, flaunted her sky-blue lace dress for the photographer and spoke of how much fun she was having. “Taking the pictures was the most ravishing,” she said. “You stand there with the flashes going off. I felt very pretty.”

Siman and her partner, Denise Sindelar, said they hit on their idea a month ago. It was a rainy day and several homeless women were huddling under an awning across the street.

Siman said many homeless women come into her shop, which sells expensive dresses made of silk, satin and lace.

The women stare through the window and browse the store, telling Siman and Sindelar that at one time they too wore such beautiful clothes.

“It was an idea to give something to them and make them feel good about themselves,” Siman said.

So the pair contacted their suppliers and other downtown merchants to hatch the plan. They then contacted the Turning Point Foundation, which provides shelter for the battered and homeless and offers services to the mentally ill.

Warren Gauvin, head of the foundation, selected the make-over candidates.

“These ladies have been great, so we thought they needed a reward,” he said.