I’ve got no less than 30 dresses in my closet — I know, I have a problem — and I’m hauling them all out for December, or, should I say, Dressember. The goal: Wear a dress every day to raise awareness for modern day slavery: Human trafficking. The national goal is to raise $2 million (mine is just $1000!) but more importantly, awareness for the $150B industry that is Human Trafficking. Houston —a big, happy, seemingly safe city — is not immune as Texas has over 300,000 enslaved people among its population, and that’s why I’ve chosen to join the Dressember Houston team.

What is Dressember?

Dressember is a nonprofit raising money and awareness of human trafficking. It’s a society of women taking a stand against this awful industry, and we’re doing it in dresses.

The dress is our uniform, the flag of our movement. Dressember is an opportunity to reclaim and reappropriate  the dress as a symbol of freedom and power; a flag for the inherent dignity of all people.

In 2005, Dressember founder Blythe Hill, a fashionista, trend analyst and blogger (hey, me too!), challenged herself to wear a dress every day of December. “The next year, a few friends joined in,” according to the website. “By the third year, her friends’ friends began to participate, and it occurred to Blythe that there was more to this challenge than she originally thought. By 2013, the movement blossomed into something completely unexpected — an international campaign to aid the fight against sex trafficking.”

Now, several years later, the nonprofit has raised over $3 million.

We work with our grant partners to bring relief, restoration, and resources to victims around the world. It is our hope that through a growing, collaborative community of advocates, we ultimately dismantle the human trafficking industry from every angle.

My plan

• Wear a dress every day (obviously), but specifically a different dress every day.
• Post to social media every day (sorry, y’all, about to get really annoying). I’m thinking a Snapchat, Instastory and tweet daily. Maybe a FB post weekly and a smattering of Instagrams.
• Raise $1000, again, obviously.
• Host a series of events with my team:
  • 🍺 Dressember Houston Happy Hour 🍺
    12/6 at Eureka Heights Brew Co
  • 👗 A Week of Dressember👗
    12/8-12/14: raise awareness and money by wearing a dress (or tie for the guys) every day for a week! (Less commitment if you’re lukewarm about a full month.
  • 🛍 Dressember Houston’s Holiday Shopping Event 🛍
    12/14 at Forth and Nomad⠀
  • 🧘🏼‍♀️ Dressember Pilates & Flow🧘🏼‍♀️
    1/10 at Atrium with Control Studios⠀

How you can get involved.

Donate. Whether it’s $5, $15 or $50, every lil bit helps. Head to my page and hit that “Donate” button.

Join my team. If you’re reading this, you’re probably in Houston and, if I’ve kept your attention this long, you’re probably a lady for freedom. Join us — hope you like dresses.

Spread the word. Share a Facebook post, email a friend who wears a lot of dresses, call your mom/aunt/grandma — women for women!