While I was aware of Movember, the movement started several years ago that encourages men to grow out their mustaches during the month of November to call attention Prostate and Testicular Cancer, Men’s Health and Suicide Prevention, I was not aware of the Dressember movement until recently.
The Dressember Foundation is a community of international advocates utilizing fashion + creativity to help end human trafficking. To call attention to victims of human trafficking, the Dressember movement encourages women to wear dresses every day during the month of December and men to wear neckties.
I was introduced to their mission at a dinner party recently when a woman I know was sporting a button that indicated that she was participating in the movement. Not being aware of Dressember, I asked for more information and was directed to the foundation’s website https://www.dressember.org/.
In 2005, Dressember’s Founder, Blythe Hill began hearing about the issue of human trafficking. Despite her deep sense of urgency to help, Blythe felt helpless. She wasn't a lawyer or a doctor or a social worker; her interests and talents were in fashion, trend analysis, and blogging. She didn't think she had much to offer to the fight, until four years later. In 2009, Blythe challenged herself to wear a dress every day of December (hence: Dressember).
Every year since then, more people joined in until Blythe’s one-person challenge blossomed into an international movement to fight human trafficking.
Since 2013, Dressember advocates have raised over $7.5 million to fund vital anti-trafficking work worldwide.
While only a few days remain in the month of December, it’s still not too late to make a contribution, wear a dress or sport a necktie for each of the remaining days in this month in order to call attention to the issue of human trafficking that has become a plague in our society.
To view Blythe’s TED Talk “How a Dress Can Change the World” please view below or click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGuTpWTcSE8