Best or Worst Dress Contest

It starts by reading THIS quick column by Nicholas Kristof.  It will take you less than two minutes. 

Kristof followed up on his blog about a very practical way to actually help Jane.  Here’s where I know I can help, and I’m hoping to enlist the help of some friends.  Kristof writes this…

“I’m sure some readers will want to help Jane and her family, by digging out any old fancy dresses you may have in your basement. Her specialty is buying used wedding dresses or bridesmaid dresses on the second-hand markets of Nairobi (typically donated in the U.S. and then send in bulk containers to Africa), and then cutting them up and turning them into two or three children’s dresses. Finding this raw material is tough for her, and hours of prodding the used clothing markets in Nairobi may turn up only one dress. So when I mentioned to her that readers might have some dresses they’d be happy to send her, you should have seen her face light up.

The television documentary company that I’m working with (we’re filming a PBS documentary of “Half the Sky,” the book about empowering women that I wrote with my wife, Sheryl WuDunn) has agreed to accept parcels at its New York office. The company, Show of Force, will then trans-ship the dresses to Nairobi, paying the shipping costs and customs duties (which can be considerable), and get them into Jane’s hands. I hope to be able to run a follow-up blog item down the line with photos of Jane and whatever you send her.”

I’ve already found two prom dresses and one bridesmaid dress that I can send to Jane.  I think I can dig up some more.  If you’d like to get an old bridesmaid dress or prom dress off your hands, mail it to me, and I’ll send them to Show of Force’s NY office to be sent to Jane.  I won’t put our address right here on the blog post, but if you don’t have our address, email me (amandabeth2@gmail.com) and I’ll send it to you, or if you’d rather send your dress directly to NY, then I can give you that address also.  (I just thought sending them one big box of dresses might be easier for them than multiple boxes of single dresses.) 

Here’s where I’d like to make it fun.  If you have a picture or take a picture of yourself in the dress (the more hideous the better) and send it to me via email or mail, I’ll post it on the blog.  I’ll donate a new copy of Half the Sky, along with a Freeset poppy print wine bag to the one with the best photo.  The contest starts now!

*****Note: As of 10/13, the contest was updated a bit.  Check the more recent post for the latest.

                                   

Note:  For those concerned about the impact that sending used clothes to Africa might have on their garment industry potential, please consider Kristof’s perspective: 

“There are legitimate doubts about the value of sending things to Africa. The shipping and customs costs, while born in this case by Show of Force, tend to be considerable, and they’re one reason why shipping old stuff is rarely an optimal solution to poverty. In addition, shipping clothing tends to lower the price of clothing in Africa, which undermines local manufacturing. One reason there isn’t much of a garment manufacturing industry in Africa is that so much used American clothing already ends up there and is so cheap.

That said, there’s no significant market in Nairobi for wedding dresses/bridesmaid dresses that your clothes are going to undermine. And while this may not be the most cost-effective solution to the global problem of poverty, and it certainly isn’t a systemic solution – well, Jane will be thrilled.“