I don’t exactly remember how it all happened, but around sophomore year of college I realized that I wore a lot of dresses. Maybe it was that time that I visited home and my mom handed me a wad of cash with her usual “don’t tell dad. Shhh!” Except this time she also added “and don’t go buy dresses with it!” They just became part of my self-expression. About a year and a half ago, I decided to do a dress challenge in April. I had no idea that Dressember existed, even though International Justice Mission has always been a group I admired. I was well aware of their work and mission, just not Dressember.
The following November, I stumbled upon Dressember through a Facebook post. My first thought was “I could do this again but for a good cause?” Because quite honestly, at times I felt a little vain during my first dress challenge. In fact, sometimes I wonder if people in general think I’m vain because I wear so many dresses. But Dressember allowed me to focus on an overwhelmingly large global problem. The fact that millions are currently enslaved is heart-breaking. Yet here I am with my comfortable life in the United States. Furthermore, I really didn’t need anything for Christmas. Any gifts I would have been given, I could just redirect to my Dressemeber fundraising goals. Dressember seemed like such a simple thing I could do to do my part.
At the end of December, I had raised $510 for IJM through Dressember. I had simply asked my friends and family to give what they could if they could. Each bit added up. I also had a blast doing it! I took pictures throughout the month. I’ll have to dig them up and share them on here.
This Dressember I’m planning to participate again. However this year, I want a team of women to join with me. All you have to do is commit to wearing a dress each day of the month. You can of course repeat dresses too. I plan to blog every day the entire month about Dressember. I plan to use my blog as a platform to highlight stories of people who have been trafficked.
The video above is a TED talk from the founder of Dressember. It’s so neat to hear the story of how it all started. So, will you join me in Dressember this year?
