#TheGoodTribe Interview with Blythe Hill, Founder of Dressember

Did you know that according to the International Labour Organization, human trafficking is a $150 BILLION dollar industry? We often hear of big global issues and may feel powerless when it comes to doing something about them. But what if I told you there was a way to help tackle this one.

Let me introduce you to the Dressember challenge. This style challenge begins every December and participants all over the world pledge to wear a dress or tie for the whole month. Since 2013, over 32 000 people have joined this challenge! The amazing part of this challenge is that you can do it however you want. You can create your own outfits throughout the month or even vow to wear the same tie or dress throughout the whole challenge. The world is your oyster!

After registering for the Dressember challenge, you’ll have your own campaign page to help fundraise money! You’ll be joining over thousands of advocates that have already helped raise over $13MM in funds.

All funds raised directly benefit trafficking victims and survivors as they go towards programs to help them receive support. These programs are also vetted by Dressember annually to ensure that their resources are channeled to designated impact areas!

This week on #TheGoodBlog, we got to talk to Blythe Hill, the founder of Dressember. Not only is she super stylish, but she’s also super inspiring. Her one-person challenge that started in 2009 has now become an international movement to helping fight human trafficking! Check out this week’s must read to learn more about Dressember and how wearing a dress can help raise awareness to human trafficking.

1.Tell us about your journey and how did the first time you challenged yourself to wear a dress come about?

I started wearing a dress every day in December in 2009, and came up with the name Dressember (dresses + December) without any fundraising or campaign element attached to it-- it was purely for fun, and honestly, it wasn't something I planned to do annually. In 2010, some of my friends wanted me to do it again so that they could join in. In 2011, some of my friends' friends wanted to join in, and at that point-- when people I didn't know personally wanted to join in-- I realized there might be potential for this silly style challenge to be something more. 

In 2013, I aligned Dressember the style challenge with an issue I'd been passionate about for years--human trafficking-- and wondered whether we could raise a few thousand dollars, or whether it'd totally flop. We ended up raising over $165,000 USD, and at that point I realized it was a much better idea than I'd imagined.

So, it wasn't that I chose to start a dress-wearing campaign for anti-trafficking, but it is interesting to have conversations with people about what dresses symbolize to them, and how that can be leveraged (or in some cases, reclaimed as a previously oppressive symbol) in this fight for the dignity of women around the world. 

2. Can you tell us about how the Dressember style challenge works for readers who may be interested in participating?

It can be so overwhelming when you first learn about this issue-- it's a thriving criminal enterprise that preys on the world's most vulnerable people. Before someone reroutes their life and career, we encourage them to consider the possibility that we can have a significant impact right where we are. We often downplay our own influence and resources, but the truth is that we have a unique amount of relational influence with the people we’re close to, work with, and related to. 

Dressember is the single best on-ramp to tangible impact and engagement in this cause. We give even the busiest person an easy, fun way to engage in the fight, start conversations, spread awareness and reliable data, and be part of a community of people across the world raising money to dismantle this industry from every angle. Through participation in Dressember, you can meet others passionate about this issue, discover key players and organizations, learn innovative strategies based on new data, and find your voice and path as an advocate. 

www.dressember.org/fundraise or dressember.ca/fundraise for our Canadian advocates!

3. Can you tell us about how the Dressember style challenge works for readers who may be interested in participating?

It can be so overwhelming when you first learn about this issue-- it's a thriving criminal enterprise that preys on the world's most vulnerable people. Before someone reroutes their life and career, we encourage them to consider the possibility that we can have a significant impact right where we are. We often downplay our own influence and resources, but the truth is that we have an unique amount of relational influence with the people we’re close to, work with, and related to. 

Dressember is the single best on-ramp to tangible impact and engagement in this cause. We give even the busiest person an easy, fun way to engage in the fight, start conversations, spread awareness and reliable data, and be part of a community of people across the world raising money to dismantle this industry from every angle. Through participation in Dressember, you can meet others passionate about this issue, discover key players and organizations, learn innovative strategies based on new data, and find your voice and path as an advocate. 

www.dressember.org/fundraise or dressember.ca/fundraise for our Canadian advocates!

 4. As a sustainable fashion brand, I love that you have an ethical fashion directory! Why do you think it’s important for people to shop ethically?

Early on in the Dressember journey, it became clear to me that, being such a fashion driven campaign, it’s important for us to educate our audience about the unfortunate overlap between the apparel industry and labor trafficking. We don’t want to be declaring freedom for all but wearing dresses produced through exploitation. We never want to shame anyone who is early on in their journey toward ethical fashion-- it’s a complete overhaul of the way you think about shopping, after all-- so we provide baby steps, tips and tricks, our directory of trusted brands, and encouragement for people at every stage of their journey. 

5. What are some of your favourite outfits you’ve worn for Dressember?

What a unique question! I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that. I loved the sweatshirt dress we produced as part of the survivor-made line in 2018. There was a day I wore it in navy with tan leather boots, a gold collar necklace, and gold earrings-- I still think it was a great look

I also wore ties every day last year for the first time in all my years of dresses. I loved this look: 

6. It’s so inspiring that you’ve raised over $13MM USD for things such as advocacy, intervention, and survivor empowerment programs. How do you go about choosing which programs donations are allocated to?

I’m inspired, too, by the collective Dressember community that has raised over $13MM USD for anti-trafficking programs around the world. We have a formalized process to choose programs for Dressember partnership annually. We start by hosting collaborative conversations with experts, survivors, and leaders in the space to discuss trends in trafficking and discover the current areas of greatest need and communities experiencing the highest levels of vulnerability. We then identify the most impactful organizations doing this work and invest in them financially to help scale their impact. We vet our new and existing partners internally and in collaboration with Dressember’s survivor-led Grant Advisory Committee. We are in ongoing contact with Dressember Network partners through field updates, program audits, and financial reports, ensuring that resources are channeled to the designated impact areas. 

You can learn more about the impact behind each of our pillars here. And finally, when we see gaps in anti-trafficking programming, we initiate strategic efforts like our Survivor Justice Initiative and Survivor Scholarship Fund.  

7. What is Dressember working on for 2021 and beyond that you could tell readers about?

We were so excited to finally share the release of the Dressember Documentary in November 2021! I’m looking forward to inviting new people to Dressember through the documentary as well as sharing with our community all we have made possible thus far. 

As mentioned earlier, we’re also growing our newly launched Survivor Scholarship Fund and look forward to supporting more survivors in pursuit of education and vocational training. 

8. For those unable to be apart of Dressember but want to stay involved, what are some other ways they can raise awareness to help fight human trafficking?

Follow along at @dressember on Instagram, subscribe to our email list (sign up at the bottom of our website: www.dressember.org). We provide resources and education all year long. We also host a spring 5K walk/run where people can make an incredible impact for a specific program. This year’s run is on April 9th and will benefit the Survivor Scholarship Fund-- participants can run from wherever they are in the world. Also, consider making a commitment to shopping ethically. Check out our Ethical Fashion directory here !

Wearing a dress in the winter can be a tough-y especially if you live somewhere cold AF! But The Good Tee’s got your back. Stay stylish and warm during Dressember and beyond with the everyday long sleeve pocket dress. 

Want to learn more about Dressember and the amazing impact they’ve created? Check out their links down below!