Dressed for Ivy League

Standing in front of a full-length mirror at the Costa Mesa boutique La Belle Armoire one recent morning, 22-year-old Kimberly Snodgrass examined the elegant silhouette she cut as the shop owners fussed over her black cocktail dress and black, patent-leather peep-toe Escada pumps.

“It was made for you — it looks perfect,” La Belle Armoire co-owner Karla Carroll gushed as Snodgrass turned and posed in the mirror.

A former foster child, Snodgrass was 8 when her birth mother left her and two of her four siblings in the mountains near Palm Springs with nothing but peanut butter and crackers to eat for two weeks.

Despite the fact she didn’t attend school regularly until the middle of sixth grade, Snodgrass just graduated from UC Irvine with a bachelor’s degree in social science. Now she’s headed to Harvard University in the fall to get her master’s degree in education, where she’ll do research on how to help foster kids like herself get college degrees.

La Belle Armoire, a second-hand clothing boutique specializing in designer and couture clothes, is donating a new wardrobe to Snodgrass when she goes off to school this fall.

“She needs warmer clothes when she goes to the East Coast, and she also needs things that will make her feel good about herself,” La Belle Armoire co-owner Dolly Henderson said. “We’re enjoying doing this for her a great deal.”

Used to wearing jeans and sandals, Snodgrass said she is thrilled about her new La Belle Armoire wardrobe, which includes a few sophisticated dresses and blazers, as well as more casual pieces.

“I thought I was ready to go to Harvard, but this is the part I forgot about,” she said.

A methamphetamine user, Snodgrass’ birth mother would leave her and her brothers and sisters to fend for themselves for days at a time when she was a child, she said. Snodgrass took care of her younger siblings and scrounged for food to feed the family when her mother wasn’t home.

Now a Harvard-bound graduate student who has already published two books on foster children, Snodgrass and her brothers and sisters were in and out of foster care 10 different times as children. She and her siblings were placed at Orangewood Children’s Home in Orange when she was 11, and she was eventually adopted and earned good grades in high school and college.

Snodgrass met Carroll and Henderson after she was supposed to meet with some prospective benefactors who were interested in helping pay her college tuition at a swanky Orange County country club for lunch.

Unaware of the club’s dress code, Snodgrass showed up for the meeting in jeans and was turned away at the door.

“My first thought was ‘what do I have to wear in the trunk of my car,’” she said.

Snodgrass called a volunteer from the Orangewood Children’s Foundation who was also attending the lunch, who in turn called a couple of friends she knew had just opened up a new clothing store in Costa Mesa.

Henderson and Carroll opened La Belle Armoire at 230 E. 17th St. about a month before. The store offers deals on designer shoes, like a pair of Manolo Blahnik sandals for $125, Deals on other labels like Badgley Mischka and Giorgio Armani also abound.

The women picked out a Burberry sundress and a pair of dressy sandals for Snodgrass, and the meeting with the prospective donors was saved.

After hearing Snodgrass’ story of her early childhood in and out of foster care, the store owners decided to put together an entire wardrobe for her.

“It’s so great of them to do this, because normally, I wouldn’t be able to afford anything in this store,” Snodgrass said. “This makes me feel a little more prepared for Harvard.”

How To Help

Contributions to help Kimberly Snodgrass pay for college can be made to the Orangewood Children’s Foundation designated for the Children’s Trust Fund/Kimberly Snodgrass.

Mail contributions to:

Orangewood Children’s Foundation

1575 East 17th St.

Santa Ana, CA 92705

(714) 619-0200

La Belle Armoire

230 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa.

Boutique hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

For more information, call (949) 548-8000 or visit www.LaBelleArmoireLLC.com