Dressember + Periscope: Bringing the Campaign to Life

After participating in Dressember last year, I've been challenging myself to come up with new and creative ways to promote the campaign, raise awareness, and share the process with all of you! To help bring my Dressember challenge to life, I'm going to be sharing it on Periscope!

 
If you've never heard of or used Periscope, it's a live video streaming app. That means you can watch live videos of me gearing up for and participating in Dressember. All my videos will remain on Periscope for 24 hours before disappearing, so they're only available for a limited time.

If you already have or decide to download the Periscope app, you can follow me there @MrsEliseMance. If not, you can also watch online at https://www.periscope.tv/MrsEliseMance. All my videos will automatically post to Twitter as well, so you'll know when I'm live and can get a direct link to the video I'm shooting.

Another new feature I've added this year is called "Support a Dress." When you donate $30 or more to my Dressember campaign, you have sponsored a dress.

As a sponsor, you get to pick out a dress for me to wear from my dress catalog (it's toward the bottom of the linked page). When I wear your sponsored dress, I'll send you a photo and give you a shoutout on social media. I think this will be a fun way you can participate by choosing what I'll wear!

For those who choose to donate anonymously or don't select a dress, I will select one for you and recognize you when I wear it.

I hope these initiatives make the whole process more interactive and fun while bringing awareness to a cause that is near to my heart. If you have any questions about this post or Dressember, please leave a comment below or contact me.

Dressember 2015: Let's Team Up to Change the World

 
In a couple months I'll be participating for the second consecutive year in Dressember, an initiative that uses fashion to raise money and awareness for anti-human trafficking work. I know it's early, but I wanted to get started on planning and sharing this with all of you so that this year can be bigger and better than last year!

Last year--and already this year--some of my friends have expressed interest in participating in Dressember. I hope this blog post will give you some more information and help you decide if this is something you want to do. I hope you will consider joining or supporting me, last year was amazing and I know this year will be even better!

What is Dressember?

The goal of Dressember is to use clothing to declare a message while working to raise support for anti-human trafficking organizations International Justice Mission and A21. Participants commit to wearing a dress each day for the month of December, demonstrating the inherent freedom and femininity of all women.

The Dressember foundation states, "In its first year of fundraising, Dressember had 1,233 registered participants in 32 countries across 6 continents who collectively raised over $165,000. One hundred percent of the funds raised in 2013 went directly to International Justice Mission. In 2014, participation doubled, and the funds raised nearly tripled, at over $465,000 raised."

If you'd like some more information about Dressember, you can check out the FAQ page.

How can I help?

Last year I participated in Dressember by myself. This year, I've created a team that I hope you'll join if you decide to participate! The team is called World Changers, and is open to anyone, women and men.

And speaking of men, here's a note for the guys: If you want to join the team and be a voice for women, consider a creative way you can participate. You can wear a bow tie each day, share a dress photo each day on social media, or if you're creative, draw a different dress each day! It's totally up to you!

 
If you decide to join, go to dressember.org/participatex and create your own fundraising page. Make sure to set a goal for how much money you would like to raise. When you’re done, you’ll see a green box near the top right of your fundraising page that says “Create or Join a Team.” Find the team name “World Changers” in the drop-down list and click “Join Team.” After you join the World Changers team, I will add your personal goal into the overall team goal.

When things get going, make sure to tag your posts with #TheWorldChangersTeam so we can see what everyone is doing throughout the month. 

What if I don't want to participate?

That is totally fine! I know wearing dresses for 31 days during the winter isn't for everyone, so no judgement here! You can still help out in other ways, though. 

Please consider donating to my fundraising campaign and ask yourself what you can give to this cause. Every dollar you invest goes to IJM and A21 (and is also tax-deductible within the U.S.), no amount is too small to give to this great work. Plus it feels really good to know that you've done something to make a difference in the world.

Next, please share my page with others you think should join the cause. You can post a link to it on Facebook, share it on Twitter, and email it directly to friends and family members. The direct link is https://support.dressemberfoundation.org/elisemance. This is a simple way to raise awareness and to spread the message that human trafficking is a very real, very wrong crime.

I'm also working on coming up with some incentives and other projects related to Dressember. If you're interested in helping me with a creative project, a collaboration, or coming up with ideas, send me an email at eliseloyola(at)gmail(dot)com. 

I'm so excited for Dressember and can't wait to see how we'll change the world together!

Dressember Day 14: Christmas + A Collaboration

Christmas is a time of year marked by giving; giving which is a reminder of the ultimate gift given to us, salvation through Jesus. I've been talking a lot about giving since I started participating in Dressember, an initiative to raise money and awareness to help end human trafficking through International Justice Mission.

In the spirit of giving, I'm sharing some great ideas for holiday gift-giving that give more than once. The items featured on my Give & Give Back board below give back to great people, organizations, and causes.

Ornament: We Chose You. // Shoes: Toms. // T-Shirt: Sevenly. // Candle: Claro Candles. // Necklace: Sevenly.

Book: Bob Goff. // Sweatshirt: Walk in Love. // Cards: International Justice Mission. // Bag: I'm Me.

One item not included on the board is a gift I'm offering. For anyone who donates $25 or more to my Dressember challenge by December 19, 2014, at 6 p.m. CST, I will give you a unique, hand-lettered, frameable quote, like the one below.  

(This gift is contingent upon the donor providing his/her email address--at the time of donation--through which I can contact him/her to obtain a mailing address and preferred quote. For donors who are located within the Iowa City area, I will personally deliver your art to you.)

This art is completely one-of-a-kind, hand-written on premium 110 lb. cardstock with waterproof, light-fast Indian ink. It is not a print. I didn't include it on my gift board because I can't guarantee delivery by Christmas. However, if you are local, I may be able to get your art to you by December 25.

Want some art for yourself? Click here to be automatically taken to my Dressember donate page. Please make sure to include your email address and leave the opt-in box checked. Also, don't select the "make donation anonymous" box or I will not be able to contact you.

 

Dressember Day 14

Day 14 was a little different style-wise than pretty much every day before it, thanks to a Christmas party at our church's youth group! So, this is one way to wear an ugly Christmas sweater, Dressember-style. ;)

I wore my simple black Loft dress from day 3 and day 9, check them out for two other ways to style it. I paired it with leggings, boots, and this gorgeous sweater from Ragstock. And then topped it all off with a Santa hat, of course.

Dressember Blogger Collaboration

Through this wonderful thing called Dressember, I've had the pleasure of getting to connect with some other bloggers who are also participating in the challenge. We're all hoping to change the world through this campaign, and we love using our blogs to let the world know what we're up to.

I think again of this quote from the Dressember Foundation:

"Dressember is both an opportunity to advocate for the inherent dignity of others AND a chance to step into a creative + collaborative attitude that flies in the face of one of competition + comparison. We believe we are better when we join forces, when we get creative with what we have, and use it for good."

I'm so happy and excited to join forces with these women and turn our blogs into places to share what we're doing and why we're doing it. Dressember is about dignity, femininity, freedom, justice, and collaboration. I invite you to meet, and check out the blogs and fundraising pages of these fantastic ladies!

Beyoutiful Hope is an ethical fashion and faith blog. It features ethical, sustainable fashion, lifestyle, and travel tips through the lens of a sister in Christ.

Beyoutiful Hope's Dressember Fundraising Page

Cozy Reverie is an art and style blog. It features Amy Watkins's personal style, original artwork, and occasional adventures in sunny Southern California.

Cozy Reverie's Dressember Fundraising Page

To Live Beautifully is an inspirational blog about focusing on the uplifting and the beautiful things in life. Started by Kynley Michal as she sought after a happier and healthier perspective on life with posts about life lessons, fashion, beauty, decor, and local explorations around Denver, Colorado.

To Live Beautifully's Dressember Fundraising Page

 

Tea n' Hunny is a poetry and lifestyle blog. It features Safra Bacchus as she relays cultural fashion, emotional experiences, and her struggles as she tries to pursue her goals. 

Tea n' Hunny's Fundraising Page

Styled by Laurajane is a personal blog featuring Laura's outfits, photography work, and occasionally reviews of various ethical fashion companies. A lot of the posts revolve around Noonday Collection, the fair-trade jewelry company that Laura is an independent ambassador for. 

Styled by Laurajane's Fundraising Page