The Evolution of the Dressember Challenge
Can a piece of clothing change the world? Dressember CEO and founder Blythe Hill, who sparked an international anti-trafficking movement with what started as a personal style challenge, would say yes. She set out to wear dresses for the entire month of December 2009 after learning about the horrors of human trafficking—that there are an estimated 24.9 million victims of human trafficking in the world, that about 1 in 4 are children and that the human trafficking industry generates about $150 billion annually.
How did Dressember come to be?
By harnessing the power of the dress. It started as a fun experiment in college—wanting to challenge herself creatively, Blythe committed to wearing a dress every day in December of 2009. Over the next five years, her challenge caught the attention of friends and acquaintances and snowballed into a growing movement. By 2013, Blythe attached the challenge to an issue she’d been passionate about for a while—human trafficking. Armed with the power of everyday advocacy and a passion for freedom, thousands of participants donned dresses and ties with the aim to eradicate human trafficking. Dressember raised $165,000 in its first year of partnership with International Justice Mission.
The movement has continued to grow since then—so much that the community has cumulatively raised more than $12.6 million since its inception, with the dress as its flag for the inherent dignity of all people. Today, the Dressember Network has fourteen partner organizations, and Dressember has more than one hundred thousand supporters and tens of thousands of advocates all over the world.
The growth of the Dressember style challenge is a testament to the fact that one person can make a difference. And when one person becomes many people, they collectively move closer toward radical change.
But why a dress? How can a dress change the world?
Historically, the dress has been a symbol of patriarchal oppression; the Dressember challenge purposefully reclaims the dress as a symbol of freedom and power. People wear dresses every day, but this movement ultimately turns the dress into something more than a piece of fabric.
The dress is a vessel for each advocate’s fervent desire to fight human trafficking. What truly gives the dress power to make a change is the person wearing it and utilizing fashion to outwardly express their inner vision of a world without exploitation.
The dress is a conversation starter. When thousands of people make a small sacrifice and wear a dress for 31 days, others are bound to take notice, ask questions and get involved themselves by advocating or donating.
The dress is a uniform that unites advocates for freedom. Dressember demonstrates fashion’s ability to create community. The style challenge allows advocates to rejoice in victory together and validates the immense sorrow that comes with the knowledge of human trafficking.
Since 2013, Dressember has given individuals a platform to advocate for victims of human trafficking in at least four ways. First and foremost, the annual Dressember campaign allows people to unite with fellow dress-and-tie-wearers to raise money and awareness for the fight against human trafficking. Second, Dressember also gives people the opportunity to contribute monetarily to the movement with the knowledge that their donations are going to support Dressember’s programmatic partners in fighting trafficking holistically through prevention, intervention, protection, awareness and education. Third, some advocates have even chosen to devote a special day such as a birthday or wedding to Dressember; in lieu of gifts, they ask friends and family to donate to Dressember. Fourth, advocates also have the opportunity to join the Dressember Collective and be year-round supporters of Dressember through monthly giving.
But there are more than just four ways to fight for freedom. As Dressember has grown and changed over the years, advocates have found creative and personal ways to participate. Here are a few examples:
The best part of Dressember, however, is that anyone can become an advocate and change the world—all it takes is a dress. This month, we’ll publish more articles highlighting the Dressember community. Stay tuned!
About the Author
Emma Pitzl is a senior at the University of Minnesota pursuing a degree in English with a minor in psychology. Her happy place is anywhere with a lake. Outside the classroom, she enjoys reading, running, playing volleyball, and curating too many playlists.