Dressember 2013

Yesterday, as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, I came across this post from Cut and Chic vintage, and it sparked my interest. I have been thinking about more ways to utilize blogging in positive ways, so I did a little more research about it. The campaign she posted about is called Dressember, and it is an awesome way to use an interest in fashion to impact the world for good.

For the entire month of December, women everywhere can wear a dress every day of the month to raise money and awareness in alignment with International Justice Mission that will help rescue victims of slavery, sex trafficking, and other forms of violence.

Now, recently I have been looking for and praying for more ways to use my blog in positive ways. I love being able to encourage women of all shapes and sizes to be confident in who they are, and to inspire pregnant women not to feel trapped in maternity clothes, but I have also been yearning for something more. I’m not very bold in sharing my faith on the blog, but lately I’ve felt led to be using what I have to share God’s love more.

Dressember is not a religious campaign, but here’s the thing: I’ve been praying for a better way to use the blog, and this popped up. And after a little more research, I discovered that IJM takes a stand against violence in response to the biblical call to help those in need, citing this verse: “(Isaiah 1:17): Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” They help victims regardless of race, religion, or gender.

Answer to prayer? I think so.

You can read more about Dressember here, and International Justice Mission here. My personal page in the campaign is here, or if you want to come back to it I have a button in the left sidebar! Anything helps, so read around, share the page, join the campaign, or donate if you feel led to do so! And as a bonus, any $10+ donation this month will snag you a 200×75 sponsor ad in my sidebar! If you take part, just email me a screenshot of your donation and a 200×75 sized ad along with the site you want it linked to, and up it goes!

My personal goal is to raise $150 by the end of the month. 100% of these proceeds go directly to those in need, and you can see how it all helps here.

I think this campaign is an amazing way for fashion-minded people to use their skills and social media to help people in need! I mean, I wear dresses 75% of the time anyway. To be able to use that to positively affect someone’s life in this way seems like a no-brainer!

I will be posting my daily dresses either via blogging or Instagram, and all of them will be added to Facebook as well. I’ve thought about trying to actually blog a dress every day this month, but that might be too much. So, you know, I can commit to Instagram shots when I can’t blog a dress, at least!

And what better way to start out than to wear this gorgeous dress sent to me by Liza of Better Dresses Vintage? When I saw this dress, it was love at first sight, and I only fell more in love when it got to me. We weren’t sure it would fit my belly, but the fabric is slightly stretchy and the cut is roomy enough that it fits perfectly! It’s not a wintery dress in color, but I can’t resist beautiful florals, so this was my official December 1st outfit and Dressember dress. I’m really excited to style it in more ways; I think it will work beautifully for winter, so long as I pair it with tights! And then once we get to spring, I’ll be able to style it in lots of new ways!

I almost didn’t get to photograph this outfit, because it was raining by the time we got done with church, and then I broke the heel of my boots for the second time. But after a few hours, the rain let up! So I decided to brave possibly falling over with the broken heel, and get some pictures before I toss the boots!

I’m so excited for the weather this week; it’s supposed to be around 30 degrees all week, so I finally went to get a few pairs of tights that fit while I’m pregnant! Here’s a secret: can’t find good maternity tights? Size up in regular ones! I grabbed a few 1x/2x pairs from Target that were on sale, and they’re perfect for going over my belly. I already wear the med/tall size due to height alone, so I was a little bit unsure as to whether it would work! But it did. And I am now stocked up with a few colorful pairs of tights to weather the… well… weather…

Back to Dressember: I’m really excited to be part of this campaign, not only to help those in need but also to take up the challenge of wearing only dresses for a month. I may end up wearing only a fraction of the dresses I own, partly because, you know, pregnant, but also because I want to try remixing outfits in more ways. So we will see how creative I can get!

Dress c/o Better Dresses Vintage | Target tights | Thrifted boots and belt | Handmade flower crown

I am also feeling very inspired not to let myself fall back into routine with outfit pictures. I’ve been lazy lately in just taking pictures in the middle of my driveway, and not scoping out better locations on my property or out and about, when I can, so this month my goal is to make better use of my surroundings, and take advantage of locations whenever we go somewhere interesting!

Lots to do this month! So again, if you want to help out with the Dressember campaign, you can share my personal campaign page or donate there, or join up yourself and become more a part of raising money for those in need!

I hope you all have a fantastic Monday!

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Here are a few other pretties from Better Dresses Vintage:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7