It all started with a dress.
California woman Blythe Hill was a college student at the time.
Feeling stifled by her academic routine, Hill decided she needed acreativeoutlet.
Instagram/Dressember
She’d always lovedfashion, so she thought it would be fun to embark on a personal style challenge.
That was seven years ago.
The next year, friends of friends did the same.
Slowly, Hill’s personal style challenge grew into something bigger.
“People liked it and wanted to be a part of it.
So I started dreaming of what it could be.”
It only took five years for Hill’s style challenge to evolve into a full-blownphilanthropic effort.
In 2014, Hill decided to team up with theInternational Justice Mission, an organization fighting human trafficking.
She’d always been passionate about the cause.
“I felt this urgency to do something,” she says.
Hill knew pairing with a cause could be risky.
What if people wanted Dressember to remain a fun style challenge, instead of becoming something more?
Or what if people didn’t take Dressember’s activist efforts seriously because they were raising money through fashion?
But Hill didn’t let it derail her.
She set the total fundraising goal to $25,000.
Dressember hit $25,000 on the third day of the month in 2014.
It was then that Hill discovered she was really onto something.
After the unexpected success of Dressember 2013, Hill filed for nonprofit certification.
The challenge nearly doubled in size every yearwithout much of a marketing strategy.
“It’s really been organic, natural, person-to-person growth up until this point,” Hill says.
And as the challenge has continued to grow, so has Hill’s vision.
Several bloggers and influencers have joined the movement, too.
And Hill has ideas about partnerships with designers brewing already.
“We have a unique Dressember exclusive dress collection that comes out each year,” she says.
And there’s amazing potential in commercial and fashion arenas."
Worried it’s too late to jump in?
I mean, December started a week ago, right?
Hill says it’s no big dealpeople join at all points in the month.
Change into a dress todayor throw one on tomorrowand set up a crowdfunding page.
“The amount of money we can raise directly affects the number of women we can help.”
Learn more about the Dressember challenge byvisiting the website.
See some Dressember Instagram posts below.
This content can also be viewed on the site itoriginatesfrom.
Related:
Also:Iskra Lawrence Tells Herself She’s Beautiful Every Single Day (SELF)
